IMPREZA OUTBACK 1999 REVIEW

1999 IMPREZA OUTBACK SPORT 5 Speed

I recently test drove this car to compare it to the Audi A4 1.8T and several other Subaru's. On a scale from 1-10, I would give this car a solid 9.

The first thing to note is the difference between the Impreza L Wagon and this car - relatively small. You get "sport" suspension, a rubber thing for wet ski boots in the back trunk, different color package, ABS, slightly larger wheels, and a hood scoop which my girlfriend thinks is tacky. Is this worth the $2k in difference? Probably not for most people, but enough for some.

I've driven both cars extensively on the test drive and here are my results:

ENGINE:
Both the L wagon and the OUtback Sport have the same 2.2 liter boxer style engine. It provides a lot of horse power compared to many cars in this price range. 142 bhp is a lot for a small-mid size car and the Impreza get's up and goes fast just fine. On a related note: my friend and I were driving a very fast Probe GT up the big climbs to Tahoe(at non-legal speeds) last year and were surprised to see that an Impreza sedan pass us. We saw another Impreza have no problems keeping up as we passed many many other SUV's and sedans. There is a good amount of torque in the engine.

The shift lever had a good feel to it, without a whole lot of slop which can be found in some other cars (the A4 had a little more slop in the shift linkage than I would have liked). It was very similar to my CRX, and we had no problems shifting at all or finding reverse.

INTERIOR:
The interior to this car is not quite as nice as the Audi A4 that I also reviewed, but it's not bad. Basically, it get's the job done with a minimal of confusion. I never had to guess twice what a control did, everything worked, although the windows rolled down a bit slower than I would like, it seemed to be functional and not likely to break. It felt comfortable and I was able to adjust everything to fit my 6 foot frame. At first I didn't like the size of the side mirrors, as they are smaller than the ones on my CRX, but I got used to them, and my girlfriend pointed out that she likes smaller mirrors because she feels that it doesn't take away from her view out the side. There are also a typical compliment of cupholders in the car, but the one in the console between the two seats is (to me) useless because I'll just end up elbowing my drink all the time like I did for the cupholder they had in my 1995 Nissan Pathfinder.

The back seats are comfortable and can fit some adults, but might not be that great for long rides up to Tahoe. However, I should mention at this point that the FORESTER has great back seats which ACTUALLY recline a bit to make up for that.

DRIVE:
The Outback Sport does indeed have noticably stiffer suspension than the Impreza L wagon - it's a nice feel. Is it worth the difference in price? It might be, because if you like that type of feel, you will pay some $$ upgrading your suspension to feel like that. Does it really matter when driving in the snow? - not much unless you are driving offroad or are driving hard and like to feel the road a bit more. At this point (sept 1999), many dealers are stuck with Outback sports from 1999, and are probably willing to cut you some good deals for them (at least that's what the sales guy said).

The car is relatively nimble, and the AWD system makes it stick to the road exceptionally well. I tossed the car into a few hard turns at < 40mph and it stuck really well with no sliding or anything. I guess what they say about AWD helping even in the dry is true.


SUMMARY:
Subaru's are definitely more popular now, and the cost to repair them has gone way down in the last few years; down near the level of your average japanese car. This is something to consider when comparing it to some other cars that have AWD. For example, when I was thinking about buying a Mitsubishi, my insurance agent said that the insurance would be more because the parts were harder to get. I don't think this is a problem anymore since the Outback has come out. There are a lot more subaru dealers and places around to work on the cars. Not that you will have any repairs needed - I recently was looking at the Edmund's guide website and the ratings for used Subaru's for reliability were stellar - I believe I saw that most of them were in the high "9" range! Subaru's are definitely bullet-proof and well designed.

Now if you are looking for a sports car, look at the Impreza 2.5 RS, but you won't find it in the OUTBACK sport. If you are looking for a cheap($15k-17k), but nice AWD car that has a healthy amount of horsepower, then this car might be for you (and maybe for me!).