Anyhow, on that top of gas mileage, I’ve been averaging around 23.5MPG or so. While I’m sure there’s some of you who would probably be appalled at such “low mileage” from a mere 2.5i, realize that I have a lead foot, plus a 70+hp deficit from my previous car has taken some getting used to. One observation I’ve made is the ideal driving conditions I’ve encountered were trips to and from my parents, all on fairly clear county roads. Those trips I can do in the 50MPH range, usually with the windows open and I’ve averaged 30MPG+, so that’s definiately the car’s sweet spot. Unfortunately, those trips are severely nullified by my typical commute into work as well as some excursions on the Interstate with, shall we say, spirited speeds hurting the MPG bottom line.

As much as most people wouldn’t be too satisfied with the mileage I get, I’m fairly happy. The win for me is twofold — first, it’s around 4-5MPG better mileage than I got with my Grand Prix. Secondly, I don’t need premium fuel, which is commanding at least another 20 cents per gallon, if not more. That’s win-win in my book.

Keith has been documenting his mileage with greater detail and came up with a nice pdf I’d like to see him post if he ever gets around to creating a wordpress account. You’ll see how his particular driving style changes things significantly.

Now… I’ve been wanting to replace my car for the last six months or so. There’s just been a bunch of tiny little nits I’ve had with it and this was finally the proverbial straw. Since I’d been looking for a while I pretty much knew what I wanted and I was down to either a Subaru Outback (sans Legacy by now) and the Mazda 6 wagon. I wanted the space and hatch, but not quite the fuel consumption of an SUV — though admittedly I really wanted an Explorer — but after the 2006 butt-ugly redesign, I decided against it.

Long story short, after looking at both the 6 and the Outback, I ended up going to Nitti Subaru and purchasing a Champagne Gold Opal Outback 2.5i Limited (try saying that three times fast!). Here’s the rub (and the premise behind this blog)… after riding along on the test drive I believe it sort of pushed Keith over the edge and he ended up buying one a few days later! By chance, Nitti had two identical — and I do mean identical, same color, options, everything — Outbacks on the lot! He’d joked that it’d be hilarious (and possibly a bit disturbing) if we both ended up with the same exact car, and that we should start a blog to compare (and contrast) our experiences. That brings us to the cult of Outback.

See… we work in an area that could be considered Outback-infested. I think it has something to do with the people living here, but for some reason, there’s a lot of these things on the road. For a long time I’ve joked that it’s a cult. People get brainwashed into buying them and well, I think I’m the latest member in the Cult of Outback.

I’m getting a little tired of writing, so for now that’s my introduction. My name is Leigh, and I’m a Outbackaholic. Once I get ahold of Keith and let him know his “joke” idea has come to fruition, I’m sure he’ll make a post ridiculing me, so stay tuned!