term
Review
No more Bimmer? Bummer!
By Brian Armstead
The BMW 540i served us well during
the past year. Okay, enough with the
standard long-term mumbo jumbo.
BMW, please don't take the 540i away.
There is very little not to like about the
540i. But for my money, all conversa­
tions begin and end under the hood.
There you will find 4.4-liters of sweet V8
muscle.
If you don’t believe the hype, visit
your local BMW dealer and pop the
hood on a 540i. The presentation is most
impressive. The engine sports valve cov­
ers with the BMW logo and a massive,
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She Ain't Pretty, But She Can Work It
By Blair S . Walker
For the life of me, I have a hard time
imagining why anyone south of the
Mason-Dixon line would get worked
up over our 2001 Subaru Outback
Limited long-term test vehicle.
The Subaru seems designed solely
for fighting OF Man Winter, for
devouring snowy roads that send
motorists into ditches, fumbling for
their cell phones. Standard equipment
like windshield wiper de-icers, heated
side mirrors and a heavy-duty raised
suspension seem a little incongruous
in, say, Miami Beach.
But given the proliferation of Sport-
Utility Vehicles in states where it never
snows, Subaru is betting some SUV-
weary drivers are ready for all-wheel-
drive without a gas-guzzling, barge-like
body attached to it.
Like most other Subaru's, our
$26,490 Outback Limited has a face
only its designer could love. It sits fair­
ly high off the ground, befitting a vehi­
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make you more fuel-efficient
as you drive. Trust me, if you
buy this car, you won’t care
about miles per gallon.
Driving the 540i is about
smiles per mile. BMW would
be wise to incorporate oil pres­
sure and voltmeter gauges into
the instrumentation.
Another concern is the very
small glove box with a lock that
has very sharp edges. I once reached into
the small opening to pull out the owner’s
manual, and the lock mechanism took a
nice chunk of skin from my ring finger.
Quibbles aside, we’ll miss this
Bavarian beast’s myriad abilities.
very sophisticated intake/fuel injection
cover that makes it look much larger
than it really is.
Put your foot heavy on the throttle
and the engine instantly lets you know
that this “looker" is a serious performer.
Drive a 540i and you will never want to
drive another six-cylinder
Specs at a glance
car again.
One complaint is the
Base Price:
$53,900
lack of full dash instru­
Price as Tested: $57,045
mentation. Aside from
Engine:
32-valve, 282-horsepower V8
fuel, water temperature,
Transmission: 6-speed manual
speedometer
and
Acceleration:
0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds
tachometer gauges, there
EPA mileage:
15 mph city, 23-mpg highway
is a silly miles per gallon
Miles to date:
12,804
indicator. It’s supposed to
though dealing with a mere
dusting. Very impressive.
The interior gets high
marks for comfort and there’s
plenty of legroom for two rear
passengers. Interior controls
emphasize ease of operation,
and the simple dash layout is
anchored by a 120-mph
speedometer and a tach
redlining at 6,200 rpnt.
When you see a Subaru on the road,
generally a white driver is at the wheel.
If more brothers and sisters looked into
these ungainly looking vehicles, they’d
be pleasantly surprised to discover
technical sophistication, standard fea­
tures and safety touches typically found
in cars costing a lot more than $26,490.
The Joneses, however, are unlikely to
be impressed.
cle with 7.3 inches of ground clear­
ance. The resulting high center of
gravity makes the Outback Limited
feel somewhat top heavy during quick
maneuvers.
A two-tone paint job -maroon on
top, beige on the bottom - typifies
Subaru’s quirky approach to automo­
tive styling. Mammoth fog lamps nes­
tled in the front bumper appear larger
than the headlights on
some vehicles.
Specs at a glance
All of this is irrelevant
$25,995
Base
Price:
when it’s cold and nasty
$26,490
Price
as
Tested:
outside. During one
2.5-liter, 165-horsepower 4-cyl
Engine:
Maryland snowstorm, I
Transmission: 4-speed, automatic
sought out an unplowed
0-60 mph in 9.8 seconds
Acceleration:
parking lot covered with
22 mph city, 27-mpg highway
EPA mileage:
five inches of white stuff.
The
165-horsepower
4,817
Miles to date:
Subaru cavorted about as
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