I race a CVT car (F500) and my daily is a 2.5i 6 speed manual Outback and I would say go with a manual. As an ADD poster kid the manual keeps me engaged in traffic, with nothing to attend to my mind starts to wander.
The flat 4 has good midrange and I short shift it between 2-4k. I'm also getting 27mpg in mixed driving, as high as 32 hwy if I keep it to 70 or under. These things blaze the 1/4 mile in something like 17 seconds. At 1/2 throttle they do well it's only when you're at full throttle that you wish for maybe 20-30 more horsepower but you'll find you seldom use full throttle. I've used the Outback for some light off roading and it's fine, the only issue is 1st is a touch tall
One of the reasons I hate automatics is not so much the shifting but that disconnected feel, roll off the throttle and the car doesn't tighten its line instantly like a manual car does. I find being able to alter your line with the gas pedal very handing on freeway interchanges as well as long sweepers.
Tom
