I traded in a 2003 Outback for a 2016 Outback. Alot has changed – the technology is great – especially the adaptive cruise control. It works down to 0 mpg because you really set ‘speed dependent distance’ between you and the car in front of you. I use it alot for both highway and city driving – it does all the speed matching work and does it very well.
I got a loaded Limited that was a demo model – saved a bunch of $$$ and got options I wouldn’t have selected but I’m very glad they came with the car..
The eyesight is great – it does a great job of warning you about vehicles surrounding you. I turned off the ‘lane assist’ – too much beeping. The CVT is good all around, but especially for climbing hills – the downshifting is very smooth (thanks to the CVT) instead of abrupt.
My old outback has lots of room and so does this one. It was a basic requirement because I occasionally carry alot. To get the same capacity in another vehicle I would have had to go really big.
The only bad thing is when coasting the engine matches its speed to the speed of the car. I used to coast down the hills in VT but now the revs stay high and coasting down’t save anything. A funny little oddity.
