After reading more reviews about the 2010 Surbaru Outback 2.5i Limited than I care to think about I decided that I would write my own. I read everything from this is the best thing ever to this is the worst thing ever. I find it funny that there seems to be little middle ground on this type of thing. If the review is bad the comment are even worse. If the review is great so are the comments for the most part.

Gail and I have been in the market for a new car for several months. We have looked at several very nice cars including the Volvo's the Toyota Venza and the Subaru Outback. I read the entire MotorTrend article several times and watched the video as well, I have to admit that they did seem unbiased and true to making a decision based on criteria they set out.

The Volvo was a very nice car but the price was more than my pocketbook could take. The Venza was a nice car too but we wanted the 4 cylinder model and found the 2 that we drove to be very bottom heavy on power with a rapid drop off after the initial take off (which practically gave me whiplash). Then we came to the Subaru.

We stopped by a few different Subaru dealers in the area and just looked things over, we liked the styling of the Subaru, it looked high enough with plenty of ground clearance. I liked the front end with the swept back headlights that are very visible from the sides of the vehicle. This seems to be unpopular with many of the authors that I have read but when you consider the safety aspects of the lights you can appreciate why they were designed like this. Also if this were on a Lexus we would be talking about how stylish they are not how ugly they are! Bottom line I like them. Also they are very bright when you drive at night. The road is very well lit.

I do like the roof racks and have read many articles that also talk about them. Bottom line is that eight out of ten will use them very infrequently so I like the fact that the crossbars are not cutting down on the aerodynamics of the car is a very good thing. I am sure that it adds to the 29 mpg highway rating for this car.

When you get inside the new Outback you feel like you have plenty of room, I am not a small person at 5' 11" and 240 lbs. but I don't feel at all cramped. There is plenty of legroom for both passenger and driver as well as hip room. If you notice how Subaru's engineers designed the doors with a concave design that adds to the interior width of the car to give extra room that definitely makes you less cramped. The same can be said for rear seat room I sat in the rear seat for about a 50 mile ride and was very comfortable. The interior of the car seems well designed to me, I liked the placement of controls. I am not used to this car but didn't have any difficulty finding what I need without taking attention from the road. I have felt in the past with many cars that headroom was compromised with a sunroof and have steered away because of it. Not so with the Subaru, head room in this car is extremely plentiful even with the sunroof.

I popped open the hood and looked inside the engine compartment. All major fluids are easy to find and color coded. The compartment is uncluttered and straight forward. No surprises here.

Now that we are clear that I like the interior and exterior lets take this car out on the road for a spin. Starting the engine is like starting any other but you notice that it is not noisy at all. The engine starts and just purrs. Shift the CVT transmission into drive and you take off. The car is very quiet to ride in and smooth over the northeast country roads in mid March with frost coming out. Now I have read on other reviews that this car is underpowered, this is just not true. If you are a sports car enthusiast this is just not the car for you and Subaru doesn't try to make us think it is a sports car, but this vehicle has all of the power that it needs to have. Also the power is linear and doesn't seem to be crowded at the top or bottom of the rpm range. The CVT transmission makes a very slight humming noise going down the road but if you are not listening for it you won't hear it.

We took it on a 200 mile ride yesterday and had no problems what so ever including passing cars on country roads. (in passing lanes of course) I read one review that said the driver had to try 3 times to pass a truck that was going 55 mph. We passed a truck in a passing zone and brought the car from 45 to 65 in no time at all. Then of course we slowed back down to the legal speed upon returning to our lane. We drove on some winding roads and I noticed that I did have some feel for the road so it was pleasant but not sport car like. The handling was sure and stable. I will try to give more information as we get more used to this car. We have about 600 miles on it now. The average MPG for this trip was 29.7, this was some highway but more secondary road than highway.

I hope this helps you with any choices you are trying to make with the purchase of this car. I will revisit this after I get more time in it!