Subaru is adding a tougher trim level to some of its vehicles for 2022, and the first to get the Wilderness treatment is the Outback crossover, or as I like to think of it, the Outback station wagon. Subaru started this whole tough-guy, jacked-up wagon thing in 1995 when it slapped some body cladding on the Legacy wagon, raised its ride height and dubbed it the Legacy Outback. Cue the Volvo Cross Country, Audi Allroad, VW Golf Alltrack, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain.
Now Subaru is doubling down on this strategy with the Wilderness by taking the already rugged Outback and, you guessed it, adding more body cladding and jacking it up even higher. The downside is that it makes for a rather ungainly looking rig, but the upside is an Outback with an extra helping of legit off-road capability.
The 2.0 cm lift garners a ground clearance of 24 cm, and with the Wilderness’ lower front corners tucked in to avoid contact with terra firma, it enjoys a 20.0-degree approach angle, with 21.2-degree breakover and 23.6 degree departure angles. The underside is protected by a full complement of skid plates. The 225/65R-17 Yokohama Geolandar A/T tires look the part and will aid traction when the going gets mucky. Should you shred a tire far from civilization, fear not as there’s a full-size spare under the floor.
While lesser Outbacks run with a 182-hp naturally-aspirated flat-four, the $41,995 Wilderness gets a turbocharged 2.4L flat-four generating 260 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque. Hooked to a CVT (continuously variable transmission) that makes a noble attempt at impersonating an eight-speed auto, the Wilderness doesn’t exactly jump off the line, but once the engine and transmission come to an agreement, it moves out smartly.
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
With adventure in mind, my wife and I threw our bikes into the “hose-out” back of the Outback Wilderness and headed to the Elora Cataract Trailway for a bit of fall cycling.
The Elora Cataract Trailway is a 47-kilometre recreation trail that follows an old railway bed from the town of Elora to the Forks of the Credit. Or in more appropriate Wilderness-speak, it connects the Grand River Watershed to the Credit Valley Watershed. There are various spots along the way where one can park and jump on the trail, and we picked a dedicated Cataract parking lot in the town of Erin for this outing.
Sadly, I had no chance to test the Wilderness’ wildness, but I did manage to splash through a few puddles in the parking lot and take some pictures that looked somewhat outdoorsy. This, ironically, is likely the most challenging terrain many Wilderness buyers will ever negotiate.
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
We jumped on our bikes and headed east toward Forks of the Credit on this hill-less trail — once a railway line that operated from 1879 to 1988. Originally the Credit Valley Railway and later adopted by CN, it was built to service the burgeoning quarries and mills of the region, and it featured a 349-meter wooded trestle bridge at the Credit Forks. In the railway’s heyday, when local limestone and sandstone was used to build downtown Toronto, this was a busy freight corridor. There were up to four daily passenger trains as well.
Things are considerably quieter up here now. Other than the occasional hiker, dog walker, and cyclist, Claire and I have the route to ourselves on this chilly afternoon. Things get more interesting when the rail bed ends and blends into the tangle of trails of the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. Heading down to the river valley, we cross The Baily Bridge which reaches across the babbling Credit River.
This bridge was built in 1999 by members of the Canadian 2 nd Engineer Field Regiment as part of the “Bridges for Canada” project. And it’s called The Baily Bridge because it is a Bailey Bridge. Near the end of WWII, a British military engineer named Donald Baily designed a new type of portable, prefabricated bridge system that, with its strong and relatively lightweight metal truss system, could support the new heavy tanks of the period. He was knighted for his efforts.
Negotiating some rugged woodland trails, we arrive at another bridge that crosses over what looks to be the remains of an old dam. There’s a small waterfall here, cascading with picture-perfect ebullience to the continuing river below.
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Photo by Peter Bleakney
We make our way back to the Cataract Trail and head west to our parking lot where we load up the Wilderness and motor to the un-wilderness of the GTA. The Subaru’s cabin features comfortable front seats, a large 11.6-inch portrait-oriented central touch screen and rubberized floor mats emblazoned with the Subaru Wilderness crest. The bronze accenting seen on the Wilderness’ exterior makes its way into the cabin via accent stitching on the seats, console and dash, and bronze plastic trim on the steering wheel and shifter. Yeah, it’s a bit garish, but we active-lifestyle Wilderness types embrace this stuff.
The touchscreen interface has big touchpoints, is pretty easy to negotiate, and thankfully is flanked with real volume and tuning knobs and hard buttons for temperature adjustment. Sadly, despite having an upgraded audio system, sound quality is sub-par.
As with most Subaru products, the Outback Wilderness delivers competent handling and a compliant ride, the latter certainly helped by its increased spring travel and high-profile 17-inch tires.
In the Subaru Outback hierarchy, the $41,995 Wilderness rests four rungs up the ladder from the base 182-hp $31,195 Convenience, and is the entry point for the 260-hp turbo engine. Above the Wilderness sit the more luxury-oriented $42,396 Limited XT and $44,195 Premier XT.
Nonetheless, the Outback Wilderness makes for a decent all-round daily driver, and while high-riding around town and staring over that anti-reflective matt black hood graphic, one can fantasize about pressing the X-mode button, tackling some real terrain and spending a night on the tent-ready rooftop while the odd black bear sniffs those Yokohama all-terrain tires.
Keyword: Exploring Ontario: 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness to Elora Cataract Trail