Cons: Odd appearance is not for everyone; bland steering, shifter and brakes
The Bottom Line: Although the Baja body style may not be for everyone, the turbo engine is a keeper. If you can look beyond the style, this is a fun, practical car.
My neighbor and I often get together and discuss cars. We both have sports cars, pickup trucks and -- until recently -- Audis. When I gave away my much-loved 1987 Audi 5000 Quattro recently and replaced it with my second Subaru, he sat up and took notice. Maybe there was something to these Subarus after all.
Like me, he can afford multiple cars and doesn't feel the need to cram all his automotive wants into a single car. He has a Corvette and a V8 4x4 pickup, but what he didn't have was a reasonable commuter car that had enough traction to get up the steep, bumpy dirt road to his house in the Virginia mountains. Four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive is a requirement up here, even in good weather, thus our affinity for Audi Quattros and Subarus.
He decided that a new Subaru fit the bill for a commuter car and he got a 2005 Baja Turbo. If you haven't seen one, the Baja is a sort-of sawed-off Legacy Outback that has two rows of seats and a stubby little open bed. The car is nicely equipped with power windows, locks and moonroof, cruise control, alloy wheels and upgraded seats trimmed with vinyl that does a very good impression of leather.
The centerpiece of his 2005 Subaru Baja is its 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine that's fitted with a turbo, generating a smile-inducing 210 horsepower (at 5,600 RPM) and 235 foot-pounds of torque at just 3,600 RPM. Handling the engine's power is a five-speed manual transmission. Like all Subarus, this car has all-wheel drive.
From the front of the car to just behind the rear doors, this looks just like a Subaru Legacy Outback. At that point, the top is chopped off and there is a tiny open bed (41.5 inches long), looking much like a pickup bed that hasn't yet reached adulthood. Two large chromed-steel bars angle from the roof of the car to the sides of the pickup bed to stiffen the body. The bed has an integral plastic liner and a standard rear tailgate, much like you'd see on a pickup truck. This Baja also has the "bed extender," which is a bent pipe frame that flips over to hold longer things in the bed.
A couple other important notes regarding the Baja Turbo's appearance include the big nostril on the hood, which scoops in cold air for the turbocharger's intercooler. It certainly adds a touch of menace to the car. On the vehicle's front bumper are a couple of big foglights and my neighbor says he was told that there is auxiliary wiring for "rally-style" lights on the Baja's roof rack. The crosspieces on the roof rack slide easily to support whatever you need to carry.
The paint on my neighbor's Baja is a gloss black with iridescent green metalflakes, an odd mix that made me wonder what sort of alcohol the paint guy was drinking. It is startling and attractive in the late afternoon sun, which is when I first saw the car. He had parked his 2005 Baja just a few feet from my 1995 Subaru Legacy wagon and a couple of differences were striking. In particular, the Baja is MUCH taller, mostly because the body rides much higher off the ground. This was particularly obvious at the wheel wells, where my older Legacy had just an inch or two between the top of the tire and the edge of the wheel well. The 2005 Baja had a good eight inches of space above the tire.
Inside, the 2005 Baja looks virtually identical to my 2003 Subaru Legacy sedan, which really surprised me. Just a couple days before I saw my neighbor's Baja, I read a bunch of stuff from Subaru about how the company made LOTS of changes for the 2005 model year. Apparently, the interior bits are among the things that didn't change. This is perfectly okay, as it is a comfortable, attractive and utilitarian interior.
The thick, sporty steering wheel can be tilted to get the best view of the gauges. The gauge pod features a large speedometer and tachometer, flanked by the gas and temperature gauges. Having such a big, visible tachometer is part of this car's entertainment system, which I will discuss more when I get to my driving experiences.
The center of the dashboard has the heater controls on top and a big (double-DIN) radio/CD player with large, easy-to-press buttons. On the driver's armrest are enough switches to justify an armrest operations manual. A small covered bin between seats doubles as an elbow rest. Two shallow circular wells in the console are for cups, although a tall cup will be rather tippy.
Like my 2003 Subaru Legacy, the 2005 Baja has a very comfortable driver's seat. Although there are just fore-and-aft and recline adjustments (all manual), the seat is comfortably firm and supportive. I'm 5'8" and have only about 1.5 inches of headroom to the ceiling. In one of life's unknowable mysteries, my neighbor is 6'3" and he also has about 1.5 inches of headroom. Obviously, the seat lowers as it is moved backward, and a steeper recline may also be a factor. I did not try the backseat in the Baja, but it should be similar to my 2003 Legacy sedan. I found the 2003's backseat to be comfortable and good on legroom, but short on headroom. These seats can't move or recline to improve headroom.
The rear seats do flip down and there is a large pass-through to the pickup bed. With the tailgate down and the bed extender flipped to the back, the Baja can carry eight-foot long planks and 2x4s. It cannot fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood through this pass-through, but it will work for long skinny things.
One more interesting thing about this vehicle's bed. The spare tire is carried under the bed, similar to many pickup trucks. However, the Baja has a place in the bed where there is a lowering bolt for the spare tire, so that you can be above the vehicle and lower the spare. If you ever had to crawl under a pickup on a miserable night to deal with the spare tire, you will know how good an idea this top-side lowering mechanism is.
My neighbor passed me the keys and I slid into the driver's seat, moving it far forward to make up the difference in our respective heights. Surrounding the ignition lock was a bright green light, making it easy to find where to insert the key. The engine started with a twist, sounding much like my 2003 Legacy's engine; quiet and surprisingly smooth for a four-banger.
I put it in first gear and was immediately impressed by the intuitive feel of the clutch, which is much more natural feeling than the grabby clutch in my 2003 Subaru. Almost immediately, the Baja is accelerating like crazy and I see the tachometer swing up to 6,000 RPM! Holy pistons, Batman, does this thing accelerate or what?!? I let out a whoop and stomp on the brakes at the end of my street, lest I dart across the intersection and visit another neighbor though his front picture window.
I have a fairly powerful sports car and have driven my neighbor's very strong 2001 Corvette but nothing prepared me for the immediate acceleration of the Baja in first gear. It's quiet, too, which is all the more surprising. I really haven't driven cars with turbos much and maybe this is a turbocharger thing. Whatever it is, I want it in my car!
I headed through the neighborhood at legal speeds, marveling at how the 2005 Baja is much smoother at slow, steady speeds than my 2003 Legacy. In fact, the 2005 Baja Turbo is perfectly tractable, easy to control and maintain speed around the neighborhood.
I pointed the car to the nearest Interstate and continued to enjoy the smooth, quiet engine that nevertheless had good torque at 2,000 RPM and ungodly pull when it got above 3,000 RPM. Accelerating on the entrance ramp put me at extra-legal speed in what seemed like the blink of an eye. No trouble merging with this car! Watching the tachometer swiftly reach for its higher ranges made the Baja Turbo very entertaining. Considering the car weighs 3,610 pounds, I was astonished by the performance of this smooth, powerful engine.
With its fairly tall tires (225/60x16 H-rated) and large amount of suspension travel, the 2005 Baja rides much more like a family car than my 2003 Legacy. The Legacy sedan is a rough-riding sports sedan compared to the 2005 Baja, which is smooth and composed on the Interstate. At both around-the-town speeds and on the Interstate, the Baja Turbo's steering is numb. I can point where I want to go but there is no sense of feedback.
The shifter, too, is more rubbery than my 2003 Legacy, although it's no worse than many other cars I've driven. In fact, it's probably a bit better than the shifter in my 1995 Legacy wagon. The Baja's brakes are somewhat spongier than the delightfully firm brakes in my 2003 Legacy, although both cars have plenty of stopping power.
Considering the highly entertaining nature of the Baja Turbo's engine, I was surprised that the rest of the vehicle felt so family-car bland. Would it have been that hard to engineer a more precise shifter and firmer brakes? A little stiffer suspension would also help with the sportiness factor. Stepping on the gas pedal made me forget those things though... this is one sweet engine. And the Baja Turbo's ride and comfortable seats are excellent for long trips. Since my neighbor is a pilot and his commute to/from Dulles Airport is 45 miles each way, long-distance comfort is important.
My neighbor reports gas mileage of 22-23 mpg on his first couple of fillups, and the sticker gas mileage is 19/25 for the manual transmission and 18/23 for the automatic. Considering that my normally aspirated 2003 Legacy is rated at 22/27, that's not much of a penalty for a very powerful engine.
Looking under the hood is a mechanic's nightmare. The scene is dominated by the large intercooler in the center of the engine; it and the plumbing for the turbocharger severely limit access to routine maintenance items such as spark plugs. However, the air filter is easy to reach, and checking and topping up oil and other fluids are a snap.
After looking at and driving the 2005 Subaru Baja Turbo, I was surprised at the price my neighbor paid: $23,000. From appearances alone, it looks more expensive than that. Drop the delightful engine into its snug space and this begins to look like a bargain. Granted, the oddly cut-off look of the Baja is not for everyone but it works for someone who needs to carry more than one passenger and still allow space for items in the bed. I can't see everyone with one of these but it meets a certain niche.
With the turbo engine, it meets that niche with panache. It amazes me how crisp steering and a precise shift lever become a little less important when gobs of smooth power are available with a press of the gas pedal.
I don't know that I'd consider buying a Baja Turbo, as I have a small pickup truck and don't see the need for having a little open bed in my car. But I certainly would consider the Baja's close cousin, the Outback Turbo. In fact, if the turbo is available in the Legacy sedan, it would be one hell of a sleeper and an astonishingly entertaining car.
The bottom line is that the engine in the 2005 Baja Turbo is a gem, and the rest of the car is comfortable and practical. However, it's the engine that I remember fondly. I want one in my car... please?
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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