Subaru's 2001 Outback VDC, powered by the company's new H6-3.0 six-cylinder engine, is coming my way soon, but the Japanese carmaker's venerable 2.5-liter four-cylinder "boxer" engine will continue to power most Subarus for the foreseeable future, and that's the ride we're going to take today.

Subaru introduced its 4-wheel-drive Limited four-door last year, touting it as "The world's first sport-utility sedan," a marketing ploy that extended the SUV concept about as far as it can go.

Come to think of it, that claim isn't even true when you consider that BMW, Audi and others have for decades offered 4WD versions of their sedans and wagons. Audi called its version "Quattro" and marketed it as a civilian version of its rally-winning European racers. But rally-racing has never really caught on in this country, so neither did the Quattro.

Besides, Audi put a hefty price premium on its Quattros, whereas Subaru now makes nothing but four-wheelers so it can't charge extra for 4WD, although it probably just factors the extra cost into the base price.

Which, when it comes to the Outback sedan, begs the question of what, exactly, is a sport-utility vehicle?

That used to be an easy question to answer. A sport-ute was a truck that had been converted into a passenger-hauler by building a roof over the place where the pickup bed should be and installing some seats and a rear door.

And most people believe SUVs have to have 4WD, although most manufacturers offer 2WD versions of their SUVs for sale in places where it never snows, such as Houston, Miami and Phoenix.

But a four-cylinder SUV sedan? Where's the sport? Where's the utility? Can a vehicle qualify as a sport-ute simply by virtue of 4WD, raising the body an inch or two (for additional off-road clearance), attaching some body cladding and calling it an Outback?

I don't know, and maybe it doesn't matter. Consumers have made it clear that many of them prefer a "carlike" SUV to a "trucklike" SUV, and it seems that what they really want is a minivan. But, of course, minivans have been tainted as "mom wagons," so we end up with hybrids like the Pontiac Aztek.

Moreover, plain ol' four-door sedans are almost as bourgeois imagewise as minivans, but they're still kind of useful, what with a separate trunk to stash the cargo, so we end up with the Subaru Outback Limited sedan.

That's the car I've been driving this past week, and while I don't really believe it's a sport-utility vehicle, it's an impressive automobile in every way but one: It's pretty sluggish for a vehicle priced at $26,490.

That price gets you pretty close to "near luxury" car territory, and while the Outback sedan certainly has most of the convenience and luxury goodies normally associated with the class, all of the competitors that I can think of in that price range have V6 engines that will do a much better job of launching you off the line or around a triple-trailer truck on the freeway than does the Suby.

What this means is that you can buy the four-banger Honda Accord for thousands less and get a car with better resale value, fuel mileage and as-good-as-it-gets reliability. True, you give up the 4WD, but to me it's a worthwhile trade-off. To those who find the

possibility of being stuck in a rush-hour blizzard too horrifying to contemplate, it is not.

Speaking of fuel economy, the Outback sedan is rated at 22 mpg in city driving and 27 on the highway, just what my old V6-power 13-year-old Acura Legend manages only with acceleration that would leave the Subaru receding in my rear-view mirror.

Other than that, it's one fine automobile, particularly in the area of ride and handling. Subaru has managed to reach an absolutely perfect blend of American car comfort with European car firmness in its ride quality, a pretty neat trick for a car with 4WD, or any car for that matter.

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And, as noted, you get all of the luxury goodies that, to my mind, make sense, including AC, leather upholstery, steering wheel and shifter, 6-way power driver's seat, power moonroof, heated front seats, power windows and outside mirrors, six-speaker AM/FM cassette/CD sound system, intermittent wipers and keyless entry — although I wish the horn didn't honk quite so loud when you push the lock/unlock button on the keyfob remote.

My tester had a four-speed automatic transmission, which works well enough but robs power from the 2.5-liter engine. I don't care much for the Mercedes-esque gated shifter that looks upscale but is not as convenient as simply pushing a button and pulling the shifter straight down into Drive or Reverse or one of the lower gears.

Since the Outback sedan was a new car for last year (introduced as a 2000 model in 1999) there aren't many changes for 2001 other than some additional safety enhancements, including a new dual-stage front passenger airbag and larger front disc brakes. Front-seat mounted side airbags are standard, as is an anti-lock brake system.


E-mail: max@desnews.com

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