Outdoor vs. Touring

[musicsucks]

I'm starting my hunt for a new car and zeroing in on a new Crosstrek. I don't drive much in the city, and I'll mostly be using this for biking/snowboarding/camping trips- so lots of highways and mountain passes, maybe even the occasional forrest service road. I'm not an aggressive driver, I won't ever be towing anything heavier than a couple bikes, and I don't have any real urge to buy something with a bigger faster engine. But, it seems like every review I read suggests the 2.5 over the 2.0. The price difference between the two really isn't that big in the long term. Can anyone make a pitch for why I should buy one over the other? Will the bigger engine be more reliable in the long run? Will I appreciate the bigger engine on the rare occasion that I'm on a rough steep dirt road? Should I be concerned that this is the first year of the 2.5's in the Crosstrek?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JD10367]

I test drove both and sprung for the 2.5, and I’m 1500 miles in and pretty pleased. From what I understand, this is the 2.5 engine from the Forester so it’s pretty tried and true. For the extra 2 grand it’s worth it, and gets almost the same MPG as the 2.0.