Automotive Einstein

It used to be the case that if a customer walked into a Subaru dealership hoping for an Outback or a Forester, but the customer’s finances didn’t quite stretch to allow the purchase of one of those perennially popular Subaru models, the salesperson would gently guide the customer to the back of the showroom and present to them the Impreza. The Impreza was the forgotten Subaru, the one no one cared about, the price leader. It was bland, it was boring, it wasn’t remotely competitive with compacts like the Mazda 3 and the Honda Civic, and it didn’t even offer very good fuel economy, but at least it was a Subaru, and it was one of the cheapest ways to get an all-wheel-drive car. So, even though it was the bastard stepchild of the Subaru lineup, it found a few takers, people who really, really wanted a Subaru and were willing to live with the Impreza’s aesthetic, performance, and efficiency weaknesses. (The Impreza also formed the basis of the popular WRX sports car, but that’s another story altogether.)

Photo Gallery: 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Limited – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Sport Limited – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

Driving the WRX brought me back four years to when the current generation was just making its debut and I was car shopping. Though the WRX was high on my list, I ultimately ended up buying a Mazdaspeed3 instead. Why? Because the kind of fun you have with a WRX is the kind of entertainment found best on unpaved, muddy, and/or snow-covered back roads where you blast past rows of trees, shoot up and down hills like a roller coaster, and go sideways as much as possible; it’s the kind of fun where the distinctive note of the turbocharged flat-four rings out through open fields while you do your best impression of an stage-winning rally racer. When I left the office with the keys to the WRX, its dark gray paint was sparkling clean from the car wash; when I arrived home, the yellow light of my garage only helped to show off the more fitting coating I’d added onto the lower half of the WRX: dirt and mud, the product of sheer driving fun.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

On a 22-degree winter morning, the Outback is the sort of vehicle you want to find in your driveway. When I got in the car, I had no problem finding the seat controls, the seat heater button, the sideview mirror control, and the climate controls; everything was transparent. The way Subaru has this car geared, off-the-line acceleration with the boxer six-cylinder is almost startling; you’ll have no problem dashing around town or dusting many cars at stoplights. I accidentally breezed past a couple of traffic cops in Ann Arbor speed traps at more than 10 mph over the posted limits, but I think the fact that I was in a station wagon caused them to not take much notice, thankfully. So, hey, here’s your low-profile family speed wagon.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

We will admit that we never thought of Subaru as a sports-car maker. Yes, Subaru has made sporty, high-performance cars — the WRX and STI, of course. But they were not sports car. Neither was the SVX, although it was cool in its own way, and the XT coupe before it, which was sort-of cool in a very weird way, was no sports car, either.

Photo Gallery: Driven: 2013 Subaru BRZ – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: Driven: 2013 Subaru BRZ – Automobile Magazine

The Impreza is the least expensive Subaru, and one of the least expensive four-wheel-drive cars you can buy. Previously, those were pretty much the extent of its selling points, but a redesign for 2012 has made the Impreza a much stronger offering.

Photo Gallery: Driven: 2012 Subaru Impreza – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: Driven: 2012 Subaru Impreza – Automobile Magazine

The Legacy is a hidden gem in the mid-size-sedan segment. New in 2010, the Legacy offers a class-leading ride and handling package along with standard all-wheel drive, which isn’t even an option on most of the Legacy’s mid-size competitors. The Legacy is available in a large range of models, from the basic 2.5i powered by a 170-hp horizontally opposed four-cylinder to the sporty 265-hp 2.5GT, which is outfitted with a turbocharged engine mated to a slick six-speed manual gearbox. Subaru also offers six-cylinder power in 3.6R models. The 3.6-liter six-cylinder makes slightly less power than the turbocharged 2.5-liter in the 2.5GT, but the six doesn’t require the use of premium fuel. Buyers who don’t want to deal with the manual transmission in the 2.5GT might instead enjoy the five-speed automatic transmission in the 3.6R. The automatic provides paddle shifters for those times when manual control of the transmission is beneficial. We like the Legacy and its wagon cousin, the Outback, and we greatly appreciate the increase in rear-seat legroom that came with the changes for 2010. Overall, the Legacy competes well with better-known mid-size cars such as the Honda Accord, the Volkswagen Passat, and the Toyota Camry. It’s worth a test drive, especially if all-wheel drive is on your wish list.

Pity the Tribeca. Subaru’s people mover debuted for the 2005 model year and has received very little attention since. For instance, the only change this year is a revised head-restraint design, and last year saw only a new shade of bronze paint. It seems as if Subaru has forgotten about this vehicle. However, the Tribeca, from the beginning, has been a highly capable, car-based crossover vehicle. It can tow up to 3500 pounds; its flowing, twin-cockpit interior is well designed; its modified Outback platform and hefty eighteen-inch wheels give it good on-road dynamics; and Subaru’s stalwart standard all-wheel-drive system is ready to tackle any terrain or road condition the driver may encounter. The Tribeca’s principal drawback when it was introduced was a lack of horsepower, but that has been addressed with a new, larger 3.6-liter engine that produces 256 hp. The only other negatives are that the third-row seats are suitable only for kids, and the fuel economy is dismal. We genuinely enjoy driving the Tribeca, but it’s an easy car to forget when we aren’t behind the wheel. It’s to Subaru’s credit that it continues to build the Tribeca, but the vehicle’s weak market presence does not bode well for its future.