Subi Vrs Xc70

[IDAHDOO]

Howdy,
Ive been lurking here for some time now and just wanted to jump in and say hey you've got a great forum here. Im a BIG outdoor gear guy and have been looking at the xc's for many years. I ALMOST bought one two weeks ago. I hope the adminstration dosen't pull this too fast but I thought it would be good info for all of you to know.
I looked at and drove ALOT of cars ! Heres a quick list
Volvo XC 70, V70, v70R $45K VERY nice but over kill right now.
ACURA MDX $43k nice,kinda big,not very sporty.
HONDA PILOT
DODGE MAGNUM RT (HEMI) fast!handled great! Fit and finish was crap. $34k
ISUZU AXIOM,nice but "trucky" $28K
05 SUBARU OUTBACK XT ( BOXER 4CYL TURBO )
05 SUBARU LL BEAN OUTBACK (BOXER 6 CLY 250HP 219LBS TORQUE )
SUBARU GT WAGON
and a few outhers. I own a GMC Youkon so I wanted something "sporty " for my wife and I to drive.
AND THE WINNER WAS......
......
.......
THE 05 SUBARU OUTBACK XT LIMITED TURBO
This car won hands down. I bought it for $29 and change, stickered at $33,900 where the 04 XC WITH THE $5000 REBATE WOULD HAVE COST ME $5K MORE.
THIS CAR ROCKS ! I COULD'NT BELIVE I WAS COMPARING VOLVO WITH A SUBARU ! Heres some reasons why.
XC, motor at idle was rough even felt through the accelerator. Felt even rougher during accelerating. Subi,cant even tell its running.
ride..the xc was rough almost "trucky" I felt like I could'nt drive it very hard.The Subi's ride was considerably better. Did I just say that ?
The Subi rails like the roller coaster at six flags! Just out of Boise theres a little town Called Loman and on the way from there to Id City it climbs about 5k'with about 100 20 mph switchbacks I was taking at 50 with my two kids ASLEEP ! in the back seat and my wife never once told me to slow down. It NEVER felt like I was pushing the car. Awsome.
power Volvo 208/238lbs torque developed at 1500 rpm witch I liked BUT ! Subi is 250/250. with 45/55 distribution witch makes it feel like a rear wheel drive.
Warranty..Volvo 4yrs/50k Subi 3/36 but 5/60 powertrain.
sport shift on both cars BUT the Subi has botton shifters at both 3 and 9 oclock positions ! G force and throttle sensors in "drive" to hold a gear in the cornors. In drive you can use the buttons to down shift and after the compression ceases it returns to drive. What does this mean ? you dont use your brakes much in the mountains. The front air bags sense the seat position,weight of the occupant and the amount of the impact to determine the ammount of force of the air bag. cool huh.. Side and curtian bags standard also. 6 disc in dash. 2 huge sunroofs ! 4 level heated seats.
Both front seats power. I could go on forever But I would have paid the 5k diff to buy the SUBARU. You owe it to yourself and your bank account to go ckeck out the roo ! EVERY ONE I HAVE SHOWED THIS CAR TO AGREED.
shhh ( even xc owners ! )
Happy trails !
cheers

ps. I forgot to mention a few things.
the 05 Roo has been totally redesigned from 04, alittle wider 3" I think., a little taller but Lower center of gravity.
I also thought the steering on the 04 xc was very stiff.It needs the speed asist the 05 have, but its it standard. The Subi has speed AND throttle sensitive steering standard !

[Outrageous]

I'm glad you're happy with your Outback. We test drove one and it reminded me a bit too much of my wife's old '84 Subaru turbo wagon, which I have mixed memories of. I'd go into more detail about my quibbles with the new Outback, but I don't want to rain on your parade (or is it a rally race?)

[leadingedge]

I haven't driven the new Outback, I did sit in a new Legacy at an auto show. All reports are that they are both great cars. The car I sat in had a decent interior, much better than before, but I still think the XC is nicer. To each his own, enjoy the car.

[IDAHDOO]

Outragous,
My wife has had a 97 GT Wagon and a 03 Outback and they were NOTHING like this car. They were both nice cars but the 03 had only168/168lbs of torque which made the car feel heavy,slugish. This car also has pressure sensors in the tires.Led lights built into the mirrors.Clear lenses front and rear
with projector headlights.Dual climate control that uses infra red sensors to sense body heat not air temp. Im so glad my wife chose this car. I would not have been happy driving the xc after driving this. What do you think a 84 Volvo must have been like. Ill bet Subaru sells 100 to 1 over the xc this year.

[deccher]

IDAHDOO,

LOL, I just traded my '03 Suby Outback for an '01 XC70! I definately wanted to drive one of the new turbo Subys, but the wallet would not allow (knew I would have to buy one if I did). I have been a loyal Suby owner ('00 Outback Sport & '03 Outback Wagon), but fell in love with the XC.

Hey, I live in Meridian, and loved taking my OBS on those windy roads to Loman and McCall!

If I buy another Suby (which I will never hesitate to do) I will by from Tom Scott....hate that Larry Miller service dept.

Good luck with your new Suby!

[KnowItAll]

Idahdoo,

At the end of the day...it's still a su-bah-rooo.

I wish you lots of luck and safe driving, but to compare an outback to a new XC is like comparing a Honda to a BMW.

[gibbons]

We have an XC and a Subie. A Subie ain't no XC, let me tell ya. I do my own maintenance and stuff like that, I know how each is built. For example, I have had the inner door panels off both playing with speakers. Look at the suspension components. Look at the fit and finish under the car. There is an incredible difference, I am surprised that an XC doesn't cost twice as much, because the design and construction is at least twice as good.

Here's a problem we faced when we considered buying another Sube. You dropped $29K for a $33K sticker car. However, you can get a base Subie wagon for $22K, and with incentives, you're looking at a sub-$20K car. Most people won't know the difference between yours and the cheapo. DON'T say it doesn't matter what others think: sure it does!

We love our Subaru, it's just not a Volvo. As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for." If you had worked the incentives better, for a few thousand more, you could have had a Volvo. I paid $33.8K for a fully loaded XC. The safety factor alone is worth it.

[Silky]

I'd go into more detail about my quibbles with the new Outback, but I don't want to rain on your parade (or is it a rally race?)

Hardy Har Har! At least the Outback has the capability to perform like a rally car would

Ill bet Subaru sells 100 to 1 over the xc this year.

I never make bets I'm gonna loose, so I'm not taking that one!

At the end of the day...it's still a su-bah-rooo.

I wish you lots of luck and safe driving, but to compare an outback to a new XC is like comparing a Honda to a BMW.

I agree, the Volvo probably breaks down all the time as it is a Ford product and its parts & service are both far more expensive

My wife and I actually stopped and looked at the new Subarus after 8 months of XC ownership. The salesman, who saw our car, said the new Subaru was aimed directly at the XC. I grinned and said, "they missed, didn't they." He grinned too, like "yup, you got me there." They had the full-tilt model and the $22K model both in the showroom. I asked him to describe the $11K difference between the two. No response.

I find that story a little hard to believe, unless the salesman was a total numbskull Let me think now, the Outback was the original wagon made to compete with the SUV and then low and behold everyone including Volvo, Audi, etc had to jump on their bandwagon. Aimed at the XC my foot, the Outback is it's granddaddy I still applaud that superb saleman at failing miserably in persuasiveness...

Try one of these sometime.
snakeriverscca.org
You might actually learn how to drive your XC.

Yea right, how many of these snoots would take their pretty little Volvo's to an autocross First off their XC's couldn't handle it and secondly they'd just get laughed at driving to the start line!

Listen, I think someone needs to just come out and say it. I'm not a moderator or an adminstrator of these boards, but I have posted a fair amount and I feel like I have some ownership in this online community by nature of my participation. IDAHDOO, you are certainly welcome to participate if you want to discuss topics related to the XC70, even if you want to mention your Subaru. But, if not, then take your love of your Subaru to a board that has other people who love Subarus. This board is about Volvo and about Volvo owners. I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly don't care what you think about Subaru and I don't appreciate the tone you have used in your postings. Either participate in a constructive manner or do us all a favor and stop participating.

Hater... if you don't like it don't read it
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As far as the safety, Ron has clearly shown that Volvo isn't quite the stalwart it has a reputation as and that some people here may be wrong in putting their XC's above the Outback. Mind you I will not stick up for the Legacy's poor IIHS ratings although that being said the Outback has 3 more inches of ground clearance which would make a considerable difference in a collision. The NHSTA has given the Outback its highest rating, where is the XC for testing?

Personally I have nothing against Volvo or anyone here, although I'd never own a product thats under the Ford banner as Ford is the #1 automotive outsourcer in the America. When one of my buddies told me about this thread I thought I'd come to see it and was amazed by how snooty many people here are about their cars. I don't like the "holier-than-thou" attitudes towards Subaru hence why I came to stick up for the car. I'm not trying to hate on all the members here or anyone that participated in this thead or any Volvo owners...

[AWD*V70XC]

Hardy Har Har! At least the Outback has the capability to perform like a rally car would

I don't like the "holier-than-thou" attitudes towards Subaru hence why I came to stick up for the car. I'm not trying to hate on all the members here or anyone that participated in this thead or any Volvo owners...

Silky, for a 22 year old you have a lot to learn, people who race rally cars do not drive the same car as their family car also you seem to fail the reasons for buying or even driving a XC, or any other Volvo for that matter. I wonder how a S60 R AWD would fair on the rally track with your Subi , for a start the build of the S60 would not require it to have a roll cage as it has one as standard.

Secondly, any posts are done on a comparision basis as to the cars we buy/drive and what else was around at the time. The Outback may be designed for a area of land that it's name suggests but as far as family life is concerned it would not touch the XC70 in regards to passenger comfort let alone safety.

As you said, "I'm not trying to hate on all the members" cause you would have tears in your eyes if you sat at the lights trying to beat me in my other car , but that's another story, because this is a Volvo XC site I never mention my other car. But to give you pound for pound, my insurance premium is over £15000, it has a 6.2l V12 engine, 0-60mph in 3.6 secs 580bhp @ 5400, the tank holds 100lts it has permanent 4WD, adjustable suspension etc etc, and it would pi$$ all over your Subi and the XC70 any day.

Why do I drive a XC70? because I can't get the kids in the back of the Murcielago.

BTW, I do take it over autocross sites but because my insurance does not allow me to "race" in it, I do it for fun. AND yes landrover give me a very funny look at the start but always check it out afterwards because they thought it would need pulling out!!!

Dry your eyes, Mate.

[Silky]

Well Sir I do not doubt Volvos are built to a higher standard than Subarus, I never questioned that. For the money you spend I just feel you get a better value for your dollar. I would hope that for as much money as you would spend on a Volvo that you would get a few extra goodies, besides we're not talking about S60s other than what Ron had brought up about their safety shortcomings in the past.

As far as the XC's safety, we'll I thought it had already been covered here... or at least proven that Volvo has yet to step up to the plate

And yes your other car is another story, so save it. Although I see that you must tout it for whatever reason, but just to humor you I'm no racer boy nor would I even attempt to embarrass myself trying to take a Lambo on... well maybe I would for S&G

And yes I feel your need for a wagon, I came from a hopped up Trans Am Firehawk Although the rollers seemed to have taken a liking to having little roadside chats with me very frequently... hence why I'm a racer boy no more. Besides all my hockey gear never quite fit into the Hawk, so the Hero Wagon is working nicely

Dry my eyes? The "snootyness" of some people here kinda does reek of onions