My rental last week was a 2005 Subaru Forrester. Overall I was impressed with the vehicle. Fairly quiet, firm yet compliant ride quality, a little low on power but decent fuel economy and back seat room.

My gripes for the car really just surrounded the interior

 

The outback wagon is heavier than the Forester 200-220 lbs that could explain why it feels a bit slower

 

What's the difference between an Outback and a Legacy Wagon? They look indentical from outward appearance, just different paint schemes.

 

the outback has a few extra inches of ground clearance

 

The ground clearance on either is still mostly pointless.

In fact the Forester I had last week already sustained some damage before I got it -- the under tray just aft of the front bumper was gone and both a-arms were scraped.

As for off-road -- they don't do it, commercials that say otherwise or not. I backed mine into a hill on a logging trail last week. It put 2 wheels in the air (FR, RL). Trying to pull forward resulted in a lot of smoke from one of the tire wells in the air (clutch type diff I assume? -- not good for it you can bet). Ended up putting a log under one of the tires in the air, getting out and remembering not to be an idiot in general and in particular not to take a car with car tires into the woods expecting positive outcomes.

Now the old Subarus that you could lock the center diffs in ...

 

try the WRX

 

We just bought a Forester for my wife. She absolutely loves it and I personally think it is the best "smaller" SUV/wagon out there. Subaru puts a real AWD system in all their vehicle's, not some frumpy FWD based system that usually works mediocre at best when needed (CRV, RAV-4, Escape, Santa Fe are but a few examples). While I agree with Steve on some respects regarding the interior, the Forester is a hell of a functional vehicle at a very reasonable price. I would easily take a Forester XT over the pathetic, overpriced and not so practical BMW X3 and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

I would take the Forester XT, buy hey that is just me!

 

If you mostly liked the Outback, try the Legacy which is basically the same car but no "offroad" suspension.

 

I thought the Outback was bigger than the Forrester. I've taken Outbacks out in the snow and off road, and they've always been a blast and fully capable. I did hot center while trying to crest a ridge, but that can happen to any truck provided you lack ground clearance.