Thoughts from the Curb: Up the Coast in a 2010 Subaru Outback
The beauty of the California coast is well documented -- from the first missionaries making their way up on donkeys to the countless films that took advantage of the spectacular scenery. With 1,264 coastal miles, there's also a whopping amount of beauty, accounting for 10 percent of the United States' total coast line. To see it all would take a long time, longer than I had in one weekend, and to truly experience it all would probably take a lifetime.
With San Diego to Santa Barbara already in the bag, I decided to venture further north than I have before. I've been to San Francisco, but that was on Interstate 5 through the central valley. My buddy and I would head beyond Santa Barbara up Highway 101, veering off onto the Pacific Coast Highway to San Simeon, then back inland to Paso Robles. To make the journey, I would employ the all-new 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i, a car that has been overfilling our readers' mailbox with inquiries about how it does in the real world. A full Edmunds test drive is still a few weeks away, though, so hopefully these thoughts will sate their appetites in the meantime.
My buddy and I departed Los Angeles at 5:30 Friday night, on essentially the same course as the one taken by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church in Sideways. In fact, our final destination was the same Windmill Inn featured in the film. The Outback was the absolute base model with a six-speed manual transmission and without a single option. No navigation, no power seats, no leather and just a simple auxiliary audio jack.
Yet, for $22,995 you get an awfully big car -- one that thoroughly dwarfs its predecessor in virtually every dimension. The back seat is enormous, head room is cathedral-esque and there's more maximum cargo capacity than a Ford Edge or Subaru Forester. However, we didn't exactly need all of that capability -- nor the 8.7 inches of ground clearance -- with only two golf bags, two duffle bags and two grocery bags of snacks.
After a night indulging ourselves at Pea Soup Andersen's (guess what we ordered) and the 
Windmill's hotel bar (also featured in Sideways), we set off up the coast toward San Simeon and more specifically, Hearst Castle. Just north of Buellton on the 101 is an impressive strip of road -- not coastal, but gently winding through groves of trees in a manner atypical for a freeway. Such winding roads are hardly the new Outback's forte and indeed those who live in mountainous regions will find that this wagon boasts little to no handling advantage over crossover SUVs. The steering is uncommunicative and can be twitchy, almost like an electric system even though it's hydraulic. This set-up seems much better when venturing off-road, however.
Stopping in Morro Bay for coffee, I drove the Outback around Morro Rock, an ancient volcano 
eroded over millions of years down to its hardened "plug." Fascinating stuff if you're into geology, but you're probably not, so onto San Simeon along PCH. It's here where you begin to enjoy long stretches of undeveloped coast line with broad plateaus leading gradually up to the rolling hills peaking to the east at about 1,400 feet. While the rest of California was baking in 100-degree heat, it was a beautiful 72 degrees along the coast in San Simeon, enough to roll down the windows and turn off the Outback's disappointing stereo. Aux jack and FM sound quality is particularly poor, making my giant CD portfolio a must-bring (though even they were far from ear-pleasing).
This stretch of coast was impressive enough for William Randolph Hearst to purchase thousands of acres of it to build his dream castle. It's a pretty interesting and visually stunning place, but if I was Mr. Hearst, I'd be much happier with my dream road -- several miles of black top winding its way from the visitor center near PCH up to the castle. Though it has no guard rails and you run the risk of ramming into the odd free-roaming cows, sheep and zebra (!), this is a truly spectacular road that would make a multi-billionaire's car collection even more special. Sadly, one can only experience it via shuttle bus, not that the Outback would have any business on such a road. With only 170 
horsepower pumping from its 2.5-liter boxer-4, hilly terrain required liberal use of the pleasant six-speed manual. Even gentle freeway hills usually led to a drop from sixth to fifth or even fourth.
From Hearst Castle to Paso Robles (pronounced gringo-style like nobles), we stopped at the Eagle Castle Winery not to sample wine, but just because it looks awesome (bottom). We also stopped at Aron Hill Winery because I'm a nerdy Blue Jays fan and at the Firestone Walker Brewery so that my buddy could partake in beer sampling and I could watch him. Although we were on a Sideways-like journey, I wasn't about to recreate the distressing amount of drunken driving on display in the movie.
After a night of discovering that Paso Robles is essentially a small Midwestern town transported to California, we headed home. The pavement along the 101 is far from Autobahn-smooth -- especially the closer you get to Los Angeles -- so the Outback's wonderfully compliant ride was appreciated. Ditto the seats, which were fantastic during the more than 500 miles covered. The driver seat could use a bit more adjustment, though, which you'd get by stepping up to the 2.5i Premium and its eight-way power driver seat.
In total, the Outback proved to be a fantastic road trip car for two dudes to make a dent in the California coast. It may not be the sexiest road trip selection, the most ideal for winding California coastal roads or a red Saab, but the Suby was comfortable, quiet, spacious and economical. In fact, we averaged 27.68 mpg for the journey, which is better than the EPA highway estimate. This is certainly one of the main selling points for the Outback -- with the optional continuously variable automatic transmission, which will be the volume seller, the all-wheel-drive Outback 2.5i is more fuel efficient than the front-wheel-drive Toyota Venza 2.7. It's also better than the Subaru Forester with the same engine, but with a four-speed automatic.
When I filled up Monday morning, the car provided a distance to empty range of 550 miles based on my preceding fuel economy. That got me to thinking: If I would have left Santa Monica then and there, the Outback would have theoretically had enough fuel to get me to Sonoma Coast State Beach north of San Francisco. I smiled at the thought, but filed it away for a future journey within a lifetime of possible California coastal journeys.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor
"Thoughts from the Curb" was my weekly editorial column that appeared every Wednesday at 6 a.m. Eastern. It delved deeper into whatever automotive topic popped into my bizarre mind. James Riswick shall return in From A View to a Kill.
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- James Riswick September 2, 2009, 3:00 AM
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Great writing! Sounds like a fun trip.
even though I'm a manual guy (it's good to hear the 6 speed is "pleasant) I was kind of wishing you had the CVT to see what you think of it. The stereos in all base subaru's are horrible. It was the first and only thing to get overhauled in my Legacy after a few weeks of ownership.
I saw the new outback at a gas station when I was filling up my 06 legacy wagon. The new car is friggin huge compared to mine!
Good trip.
Its Aaron Hill, is it not?
Thanks for the post, that was fantastic.
A couple of weeks ago my stepdad got one of the first 2010 Outbacks off the truck in Santa Fe. I was interested in looking up the stats, so I went to the Subaru website -- where the 2010 Outback was not even listed! Ditto for one week ago, although I haven't checked today. WTF, Subaru?!?
My stepdad got the 2.5 Premium with the Harmon Kardon stereo, so I'm very interested to find out if Subaru has finally made a decent stereo available.
I also kinda wish you'd taken the CVT, just to get some impressions. The mileage is certainly better than any other Subaru, although that's not hard to do.
Doug, the second baseman is Aaron, the winery is Aron.
As for the CVT, check out Chris Walton's first drive for thoughts about that. It's the top link in the text.
Thanks -- don't know how I missed Chris Walton's review earlier.
Santa Fe is at around 6000' elevation, so I figured the new 2.5i would be doomed there. But my stepdad said there was no meaningful difference in performance from his '07 Outback 2.5.
I was surprised that Subaru did not increase the displacement for 2010, but considering how massive the car is now, it's incredible that it only gained about 100 lbs. Very impressive. But c'mon give us a turbo!!
Don't mean to quibble, but Santa Fe is ~7000 ft elevation. I test-drove the CVT there. It felt very polished both on pavement and off-road. Hardly felt the significant bumps off-road. Perhaps real offroaders will be disappointed by the isolation from the terrain? The CVT is a different animal from the usual automatic. It takes a little getting used to, but it does its job very well. It is much maligned because many don't get the rush of the RPM needle going frantically back and forth as you accelerate as in conventional automatic. If you are not a speed devil or a one-up-man at the traffic light, you'll be more than happy with the CVT. Don't know about reliability/durability though. Anyone can speak to this?
Lax
well Nissan has been running CVT's for years (since 03 in the murano I think) and they haven't seem to have many troubles with them. In fact they put CVT's in all their cars now. I hope Subaru tore one of the Nissan units apart while designing theirs!
I drove my '97 Outback around Morro Rock (the town) this summer. There's no road around the rock itself, so that's a pretty good trick the '10 pulls off. :-)
nice car but lousy roof rack. Its looks nifty but the bar spread is minimal if you want to put a kayak or big box on top. It would be dangerous to carry a boat on top.