[pwd72s]

Strides in the perfomance area? I'm not sure. GM came out with the Corvette while still making Chevrolet station wagons. I'm thinking that the Subaru execs and bean counters consider this to be "broadening the market". Much the same as Porsche is doing with the Cayenne. In other words, "sell what you can, while you can, and the bottom line is everything." When a car company takes on that attitude, quality gets ever so gently shoved into the back seat...