The car handles nice on dry pavement but seems to have no traction on ice. It is as if the traction control is confused and at a total loss as to what to do. Ice around the freezing point is virtually frictionless. It is at that temperature and a few degrees below freezing when the car feels like it has no traction whatsoever. We used to have a front-wheel drive (FWD) vehicle with 80 series all season tires and it handled ice better than the the Outback with its lower profile 60 series tires. Less weight per square inch of tire contact is the last thing needed on ice and yet that is what low profile tires do. A friend who bought an Outback around the same time took a three day drive through a winter storm from Montana to Phoenix and had never been so terrified in their life due to the absence of traction. Whereas winter tires were an option on our former FWD vehicle, they appear to not be an option on our Subaru. If winter tires do not substantially correct the problem then the car will have to go for safety reasons which would be unfortunate because it is otherwise a premium vehicle.