Thai
Elite Member
Hey all,
Our family is expecting our 3rd child later this year. So, in preparation for this new addition, we decided to have two cars in our garage that can fit 3 car seats in the back (2 booster and one infant). (The other car is my Sienna.) At the same time, i want to get good fuel economy given that gas prices are rising. My wife will now drive my Prius since she does a lot of city driving. This new car/SUV will be my daily driver since i kinda need something more substantial on the Texas highways (aka filled with trucks and SUVs). And i want something that has AWD because my job needs me to be there under all weather conditions. Safety has to be top as expected. For 1-2 months, i have been debating over various options, from used to new, from SUV to cars. Speedy is not a concern since i have been perfectly happy with a Prius! My two options came down to a Toyota Avalon Limited (with the huge backseat) and Subaru Outback.
Well, in the end, i bought the 2012 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited. It is safe. It has AWD (and a good one at that!). It satisfy my SUV need (somewhat) with a higher ground clearance (but no contest to real SUV in terms of approach/departure/breakover angles). And it gets great fuel economy for how big it is with AWD...22/29 mpg on regular gas. So, with some apprehension (since Acura TSX has been flawless), we traded in our 2009 TSX with 55k miles for the Subaru Outback.
So far, i can easily get the EPA mileage...and i am still under 100 miles. My average today is around 26 mpg in mixed driving. Again, i drive like a grandma these days after living with the Prius for 2 years!
It is soooooo smooth and soooo quiet! Wow. It does not lag behind the Avalon in these two categories at all! Power is adequate...far lagging behind the Avalon for obvious reason. I would bet that for sportier folks, the 2.5 Outback is slow. As long as i can keep up with traffic, then i am happy...and the Outback is OK in this regard.
Too much talk...here are the pics:
Our family is expecting our 3rd child later this year. So, in preparation for this new addition, we decided to have two cars in our garage that can fit 3 car seats in the back (2 booster and one infant). (The other car is my Sienna.) At the same time, i want to get good fuel economy given that gas prices are rising. My wife will now drive my Prius since she does a lot of city driving. This new car/SUV will be my daily driver since i kinda need something more substantial on the Texas highways (aka filled with trucks and SUVs). And i want something that has AWD because my job needs me to be there under all weather conditions. Safety has to be top as expected. For 1-2 months, i have been debating over various options, from used to new, from SUV to cars. Speedy is not a concern since i have been perfectly happy with a Prius! My two options came down to a Toyota Avalon Limited (with the huge backseat) and Subaru Outback.
Well, in the end, i bought the 2012 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited. It is safe. It has AWD (and a good one at that!). It satisfy my SUV need (somewhat) with a higher ground clearance (but no contest to real SUV in terms of approach/departure/breakover angles). And it gets great fuel economy for how big it is with AWD...22/29 mpg on regular gas. So, with some apprehension (since Acura TSX has been flawless), we traded in our 2009 TSX with 55k miles for the Subaru Outback.
So far, i can easily get the EPA mileage...and i am still under 100 miles. My average today is around 26 mpg in mixed driving. Again, i drive like a grandma these days after living with the Prius for 2 years!
It is soooooo smooth and soooo quiet! Wow. It does not lag behind the Avalon in these two categories at all! Power is adequate...far lagging behind the Avalon for obvious reason. I would bet that for sportier folks, the 2.5 Outback is slow. As long as i can keep up with traffic, then i am happy...and the Outback is OK in this regard.Too much talk...here are the pics:
