I dropped off the Outback for servicing yesterday and they gave me a new Ascent Touring as a loaner for the day. Overall I surprised how much it was like our 18 Outback, looks pretty similar in the drivers seat with the same steering wheel and gauges. The steering is lighter than the Outback which is already pretty light, but the Ascent somehow has a bit of road feel left. The engine and chassis sounds and feels very close as well until you use alot of throttle, then the Ascent moves out pretty quickly compared to our car. Neither the door or centre arm rest are close enough to the steering wheel though as it kind of feels like they just spaced out the Outback seats and interior a couple inches for the extra width of the Ascent.
This was my first experience with the eyesight system, and initially the lane keep assist was kind of annoying, especially if you had too light a touch on the steering wheel as it ping pongs between lane lines. After a while you learn to know when its going to turn for you and when its not, and kind of start relying on it, but it doesn't take much of a corner for it to quit. When I got my car back for the first mile I found myself waiting for the light nudges on the wheel but its not like keeping the car in its lane is very challenging to do. I didn't go on any roads suitable to try the adaptive cruise but I suspect on a long interstate trip the lane keep assist and ACC might become nice to have. For 95% of my driving I can't say I'd want to pay anything for eyesight, I guess perhaps the emergency braking might save you if you are a distracted driver and are looking at your phone too much, but that isn't me.
The CVT and engine seem well matched and feel plenty strong and I can imagine the same drivetrain in the 1000lbs lighter Legacy and Outback must be more impressive. In Canada though, both the Legacy and Outback have to be optioned up to get the 2.4 turbo to more than the base Ascent in which case I'd probably just get the Ascent over the Outback as the mileage is pretty close.
This was my first experience with the eyesight system, and initially the lane keep assist was kind of annoying, especially if you had too light a touch on the steering wheel as it ping pongs between lane lines. After a while you learn to know when its going to turn for you and when its not, and kind of start relying on it, but it doesn't take much of a corner for it to quit. When I got my car back for the first mile I found myself waiting for the light nudges on the wheel but its not like keeping the car in its lane is very challenging to do. I didn't go on any roads suitable to try the adaptive cruise but I suspect on a long interstate trip the lane keep assist and ACC might become nice to have. For 95% of my driving I can't say I'd want to pay anything for eyesight, I guess perhaps the emergency braking might save you if you are a distracted driver and are looking at your phone too much, but that isn't me.
The CVT and engine seem well matched and feel plenty strong and I can imagine the same drivetrain in the 1000lbs lighter Legacy and Outback must be more impressive. In Canada though, both the Legacy and Outback have to be optioned up to get the 2.4 turbo to more than the base Ascent in which case I'd probably just get the Ascent over the Outback as the mileage is pretty close.
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