Subaru Outback H6-3.0 VDC - Car And Driver

From the January 2001 issue of Car and Driver.

In the interest of full disclosure—as any politically correct journalist says before admitting that he's shorted the stock of the company he's set to trash or is sleeping with the wife of the politician he's about to ruin—I must admit that I am the only U.S. car writer to have bought and paid retail for a brand-new, pearlescent-white Subaru XT6 coupe, which sat in my driveway audibly rusting for five years before I was able to unload it.

The quixotic and unloved XT6 and its successor, the SVX, were the only Subies ever to beat six to the bar, with flat-six engines that moved Subaru to advertise that they were "like Porsches." Which is much like my claiming that because I have matched pairs of arms and legs, I am like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Times change. The era of Subaru weirdness is long gone, as dead as a BRAT, as passé as the SVX's window within a window, as forgotten as the 356 cc microcar that was Subaru's unfortunate first entry into the U.S. market ($1297 took it away, top speed 50 mph). The company has gone decidedly mainstream after 32 years of making flat-four cars that thrummed like motorboats and were favored by Libertarian Vermonters and penurious grad students.

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HIGHS: Torquey new engine with all the right pieces, superbly transparent all-wheel drive system.

Subaru's initial success came when the company pioneered the practical all-wheel-drive small car, initially to fulfill a Japan Interior Ministry contract for an economical little on/off-roader for its forestry department. Subaru figured that it was a cinch to drive the rear axle of a longitudinally engined front-wheel-drive car with a simple driveshaft and diff rather than add a front-wheel-drive transfer case and independent front axles to a conventional rear-wheel-drive car.

More recently, the simplicity of that concept led to the Outback, the first crossover vehicle to link at least some of the capability of a truck-based SUV with the on-road comfort of a car.

When the SVX went away in 1997, Subaru was left with only a 2.5-liter DOHC flat-four to power its Legacy Outback and Forester, plus an SOHC 2.2 for the base Impreza. The larger of the two platforms, particularly, always begged for a bit more power than its 165-hp four could provide, and now Subaru has responded with a brand-new four-cam (chain-driven, to the company's credit), 3.0-liter flat-six of 212 hp and 210 pound-feet of torque.

Subaru's new H6-3.0, as it is styled, is not simply the old four with two more cylinders, which is what gave birth to my little-lamented 2.7-liter XT6 mill. The new engine's bore centers are entirely different, and Subaru has managed to stack all six cylinders onto a block less than an inch longer than the four's. Deploy a chain hoist, and it sneaks right into the standard Outback engine compartment with only the addition of a bigger radiator and a reinforced crossmember.

If you were blindfolded and fired up the new Outback, you'd assume it was a V-6. The exhaust and the muffler design have eliminated the last vestiges of Subie sound, and certainly the engine is as smooth as most V-6s. At interstate speeds, it lopes along easily—3000 rpm produces 80 mph—although the cracks between superslabs can produce a moderately harsh ride. Acceleration is up noticeably, but it won't take your breath away: 0.8 second faster to 60 than the last four-banger Legacy we tested, 7.5 seconds better to 100, and a top speed increased 14 mph to 124.

LOWS: 1990s style and substance in a 2001 model, deluxe bucks for a blue-plate car.

The only transmission available with the H6 engine is a four-speed automatic, but it does drive a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system that powers all four wheels continuously—with a 45/55 percent torque split front to rear under normal dry-road conditions—through an electronically controlled hydraulic transfer clutch. That army of electrons plus electronic traction control also allows Subaru to fit the new Outback with a torque-splitting, individual-wheel-braking stability system. And, yes, Subaru points out that the combination of all-wheel drive and a stability platform puts it in the same league as—you guessed it—Porsche.

As advanced as its hidden systems might be, the reengined Outback nonetheless suffers from a certain lack of tangible style and sophistication. This is clearly a 1990s car with a 2001 engine, and the brown-and-beige interior is bland and unimaginative, its only touch of uniqueness the presence of an excellent 200-watt, five-channel, 11-speaker McIntosh audio system. (Aging boomers should love it. If they were lucky, they had a Mac in their dorm room; if not, they always wished they did.)

More on the Subaru Outback

• Driven: 2010 Subaru Outback
• Tested: 2005 Subaru Outback 2.5XT Limited
• Tested: Eight-Way 1997 Off-Road Challenge

The Outback's other failing is its price: $32,390 puts it into the near-luxury battlefield, head-to-head, for example, with the new Volvo V70 T5 wagon. Or to put it another way, that's $2200 more than a 240-hp Nissan Pathfinder XE, $11,000 more than a similarly sized V-6 Ford Escape XLT. You can argue levels of equipment, for the phony-wood-trimmed Outback is fully equipped, the only variation being an appropriately leathery L.L. Bean signature model. Subaru may still be overreaching, since the nameplate has yet to entirely shed its quirky and economical image. Still, remember when Saabs were economy cars?

But 'ang on, 'ang on, as Eric Clapton would say, there is more to the Subie than a callous glance around the cabin might suggest. Its all-wheel-drive system is generations beyond that first add-a-driveshaft concept, and the car is state of the art in terms of its Vehicle Dynamics Control stability package. Although you won't be carrying studs and plywood four-by-eights, the cargo area is compact-SUV size (with 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks), and the rear seats are adequately roomy and comfortable.

VERDICT: The flat-six Subie is ready for prime time, if you can accept its $32,000 price.

Anybody who would choose a tippy truck over a car like this has some strange priorities. You can't go off-road with it, you say? Buehlchit. In Australia and New Zealand, both of which are four-wheeling paradises that I've liberally sampled, there are only three kinds of vehicles that routinely hazard the many off-road tracks: Land Crushers, Land/Range Rovers, and Subies. There's not an Explorer, Bravada, Tahoe, X5, ML320, QX4, or RX300 in sight, mate.

Counterpoints

In July 1997, we subjected an Outback to our patented "Festival of Filth"—an Olympics of off-roading for eight disparate vehicles. Alas, the Outback struggled only 150 feet up our loose-shale hillclimb before it ran out of steam and we ran out of the courage necessary to file an implausible warranty claim. Now, however, with 212 hp tucked into its boxy nose, this baby climbs like Hillary. That flat-six, in fact, evokes memories of one of my all-time favorite coupes: the Subaru SVX. Know why that Batmobile tanked? Because no one could abide telling his neighbor, "I drive a $32,000 Subaru"—precisely the H6-3.0's major malfunction, too. Did you know that automatic-trans Outbacks start as low as $19,490? Now that's a Subaru I can love. —John Phillips

I've liked plenty of Subarus, especially the reasonably priced Impreza 2.5RS, which is distinctively tough-looking, practical, and fun to drive. Now I get the feeling that Subaru product planners have been swept away by the stock-market euphoria of the late 20th century and have decided it's their turn to cash in. I mean, come on, a $32,000 Outback? The new engine finally makes the Outback move with some zest, but by the seat of my pants, it still feels like a $25,000 car. Subaru must think its Outback brand is worth more than I do, because for similar money, I'd go to the Audi store and pick up an A4 Avant. —Larry Webster

Attention, Subaru guys! Cars are not per-pound commodities! I raise this point because it seems you may think your new flat-six Outback wagon ought to weigh enough to justify its astonishing price. It works out to $8.60 a pound—about what you'd pay per pound for a New York sirloin steak. However, unless you're into exhuming woolly mammoths, you're not gonna find steaks in this inertial weight class. Absurd? Sure. But so is this car's curb weight, which pretty much suffocates the power increase that goes with those extra cylinders. So let's do a little butcher-shop bargaining here. Trim about $4345 worth of fat, and you have a deal. —Tony Swan

Specifications

Specifications

2001 Subaru Outback H6-3.0 VDCVehicle Type: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon

PRICE Base/As Tested: $32,390/$32,390

ENGINEDOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 183 in3, 2999 cm3 Power: 212 hp @ 6000 rpm Torque: 210 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm 

TRANSMISSION4-speed automatic

CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink Brakes, F/R: 11.4-in vented disc/11.3-in disc Tires: Firestone WildernessP225/60R-16

DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 104.3 in Length: 187.4 in Width: 68.7 inHeight: 63.3 in Passenger Volume, F/R: 52/40 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 69/34 ft3Curb Weight: 3766 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 8.8 sec 1/4-Mile: 16.8 sec @ 83 mph100 mph: 25.2 sec Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 9.2 sec Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 5.0 sec Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 5.8 sec Top Speed (drag ltd): 124 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 197 ft Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.77 g 

C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed: 21 mpg

EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/City/Highway: 20/27 mpg 

C/D TESTING EXPLAINED