That 50/50 power distribution is only the case on the manual transmission cars. On the older automatic models of the Legacy, it is more like 75/25. Which wasn't as good an arrangement.

My experience with the old-model Outbacks wasn't as happy as yours. I purchased a 2000 Legacy Outback wagon new, and drove it for 7 years and about 86K.

I did not like the car. I thought it had very uncomfortable seats -- I used to get terrible backaches if I drove in it for more than an hour. And besides being sluggish and underpowered -- at least up here at high altitudes in Colorado -- the car was expensive to maintain, got mediocre gas mileage, and was not particularly reliable.

The AWD system was good at keeping the car out of trouble on the highways, but it was NOT good at getting the car out of snow and ice. Notoriously, our car get stuck in an icy parking space at a ski lodge -- it was nose-down on slight downhill slope, with its front wheels on ice. The rear wheels didn't have enough power to even budge the car an inch.

Our Subaru had a number of annoying recurring problems. Like the electrical glitch that kept blowing out the right front headlight over and over again, or the leaky rubber door seals that emitted wind noise.

Four months ago, we finally had enough. All at once, the car developed a coolant leak and an oil leak on the 2.5L engine, bad front ball joints, bad CV joints, and needed new brakes ... and it was also due for another expensive service on the AWD system. Instead of pouring in more money, we traded the Subaru in for a Hyundai Santa Fe (which we like much better).

The new Subarus are better than the old ones, but I still find them expensive for what you get.

-- Bokonon