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Outback 4 cylinder capability
I need a family vehicle that is useful for everyday driving around big city and one that can handle the once a year big vacation across country.
I would really like to get the 4 cylinder Outback because of better gas mileage and cheaper cost, but can it handle the cross county trips being fully loaded with a family of 4, camping equipment, and bike rack? Or will I stall and blow the radiator going over the rocky mountains?
Would love to hear some thoughts, experiences, and feedback on the 4 cylinder. Thanks.
I would really like to get the 4 cylinder Outback because of better gas mileage and cheaper cost, but can it handle the cross county trips being fully loaded with a family of 4, camping equipment, and bike rack? Or will I stall and blow the radiator going over the rocky mountains?
Would love to hear some thoughts, experiences, and feedback on the 4 cylinder. Thanks.
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Keep in mind its rated to tow a trailer, and you didn't mention one, so you're well below its maximum capacity.
Make sure it has enough space - the new ones are huge so it should be fine for an average sized family.
Since we tent camp, I'm a little worried about space for all of the camping equipment but I would most likely get a car top carrier to help out. I will certainly be fully loaded, but its only for the once a year vacation, so hopefully we could find a way to manage.
You get 3% back in Subaru Bucks on the first $17,000 you spend her year, and can earn $500 per year.
You can buy that roof top cargo carrier out of the Subaru catalog in the very first year.
You can also pay for maintenance, repairs, or your next Subaru.
We have a Forester after "downsizing" from a minivan. I had much the same concerns regarding cargo capacity, especially since we tend to take long drives across the continent now and again. While the cargo area of the Forester is quite modest, the addition of a roof carrier more than doubles total capacity. I also added a class three (2") receiver to the car, which will allow the towing of a trailer or the inclusion of a hitch-mounted cargo carrier. With both the roof and hitch carriers, capacity is more than tripled.... as long as I am sure to add pressure to the rear tires and not overload the poor beast too much.
Even heavily loaded, power remains adequate.
I also had an '08 Outback (2.5L w/ 4EAT) that I loaded heavily with a family of four and had no problems driving it several thousand miles around Oregon, Washington, and back home to Fairbanks, Alaska. Fuel economy was ~22:
Not all CVTs are created equal, though. And not all customers feel the same way about them.
I like Nissan's, but didn't like Mitsubishi's. To be honest I have not driven Subaru's. The one in my friend's Altima was fine, it certainly wouldn't stop me from buying a car I liked.
The paddle shifters in the Subaru may resolve the issue above, any way.
I find the paddle shifters useful when going down a slope. I recently drove a Chevy Suburban and found the outback engine to be smoother than it. I have also owned a '05 Altima (CVT) and found the Outback to be smoother than that as well.
For our family vacation, we spent the past week driving up and down Colorado (Great Sand Dunes and Glenwood Springs) with our fully loaded 4 cylinder 2011 Outback.
I'm happy to report, the fully loaded Outback handled the workload perfectly. Even with a full load, cruising along at 80 mph was no problem at all. Once the 4 banger gets moving, it does great. Obviously going up steep grades with the full load required a bit more work, but it was kind of fun to put it in manual and work the paddle shifters.
As others have reported, the only problem is that with such a heavy load, it is difficult to pass anyone if your on a single lane county road. But that was really never an issue. There were only a few vehicles I had to gather up speed to pass. But if you are an aggressive driver you may not be happy with the four in such situations.
Gas mileage was not great (around 20), but we had a full load going up mountains and a wind advisory coming back across Nebraska. Only problems on the trip were a cracked windshield (grrr) and the Yakima Rocketbox 15 wouldn't stay shut with the speed I was driving and the winds. So I had to stop and buy some rubber bungee cords to hold it down.
I couldn't be happier with how the Outback 4 cylinder handled the vacation. It did everything I needed it to do with safety and confidence. Its an awesome vehicle. Would highly recommend this vehicle for any family of four.
Can't wait for the next time I get to load her up and go on the next excursion.
Would post picture of the loaded Outback, but can't figure out how to attach.
Thor
I recently drove 1000 miles in our 2010 OB w 4 banger & CVT towing 2000 lb bass boat. This included crossing two Cascade Mt passes -3,00 & 4,000 feet high. It did fine even on the passes, never felt stained, rarely exceeded 4,2000 rpms on the passes to keep it at 60+ mph.
Gas mileage wasn't great - 19.2 overall - but considering I drove 60-70 mph & had 10-30 mph cross & head winds with driving rain on about 30% of the miles + the passes, I am satisfied.
19 ain't bad at all - some trucks would yield 12mpg.