Lots of Subaru enthusiasts back in CO, not the wisest bunch and were often the brunt of jokes from fans of other makes lol. One of my peeves how fans of advanced tech think they are somehow better and smarter because they drive/use stuff that is more complex, expensive, exotic etc. OK mini-rant over lol...
The Subaru design is cool being based around AWD architecture but that causes restrictions on how the engines can be made. The engine on Subarus (and most Audis which in a way Subaru kinda ripped off their AWD idea) literally hangs off the front of the front axle so the front/rear weight distribution is pretty bad; that requires the engine to be as light and short as possible hence the short and wide boxer layout with lots of aluminum and plastic.
I came across this a while back and found it interesting, from an older guy who's spent his life building racing engines for Asian imports...