This is from Motor Trend,
This is from Motor Trend, their testers trashed the XT:
Those who want to see what the 260-hp XT engine has to offer will need to stick with the Onyx XT, Limited XT, and Touring XT trims. Although we found the Onyx fun to slide around off-road, the 2.4 powertrain proved underwhelming on the road. To 60 mph, the engine impresses, with a 6.1-second time that easily improves on the 2018 Outback 3.6R's 6.9 seconds. That's not the full story, though. On the road, we called the engine "unrefined," and the power delivery proved uneven. For a few MotorTrend editors, the engine-transmission interaction is rough enough that we'd select the 2.5-liter engine to avoid it.