Subaru Outback review

• Overview
• What is it?
• THAT SOUNDS GREAT TO ME. WHAT ARE THE POWERTRAIN OPTIONS?
• THAT BLACK PLASTIC CLADDING ISN’T JUST FOR SHOW THEN?
• WHAT’S IT LIKE INSIDE?
• HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME?
• Our choice from the range
• What's the verdict?
• Dacia Duster
• Skoda Octavia Estate
• Jeep Wrangler
• Driving
• What is it like to drive?
• How’s that CVT gearbox?
• What else do I need to know?
• Is it efficient? 
• What about off-road driving? 
• Interior
• What is it like on the inside?
• Buying
• What should I be paying?

Overview

What is it?

It’s a car that used to be almost completely anonymous. TG always maintained that the Subaru Outback was the perfect car for those old money, landed gentry type folk who didn’t want to show off their wealth. Drive a new Outback in 2023 though and you’ll be inundated with questions about what it is and praise for how cool it is. It would seem the Outback is now a car for extroverts.

You see, the jacked-up estate market has all but disappeared in the UK, particularly since Audi took the A4 and A6 Allroads off sale in 2022 due to a serious lack of sales. This means that the Outback – which was refreshed for a new sixth generation in 2021 – now stands out among a sea of identikit crossovers and SUVs.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT TO ME. WHAT ARE THE POWERTRAIN OPTIONS?

Perhaps less great is the fact that there’s now only one powertrain option available in the UK. It centres around a 2.5-litre petrol-powered boxer engine and a CVT gearbox (and yes, we’ll come back to that later).

The four-cylinder engine only manages to produce 167bhp, and that’s paired with 186lb ft of torque and sent to all four wheels.

THAT BLACK PLASTIC CLADDING ISN’T JUST FOR SHOW THEN?

It isn’t. Subaru still instils the Outback with some proper off-road ability as standard. You get permanent 4WD, Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud drive modes, hill descent control and 213mm of ground clearance. There’s even mention of approach and departure angles in the brochure. Proper.

WHAT’S IT LIKE INSIDE?

Given the rough and ready exterior, the interior is actually a bit of a surprise. You can read more on the dedicated Interior tab of this review, but essentially there’s lots of leather available, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and a large 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen slap bang in the middle of the dashboard.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME?

Well, you’ve got three trim levels to choose from – Limited kicks off the range at £36,990, Field will set you back £40,990 and the top-spec Touring is £42,490.

Our choice from the range

Subaru

2.0D SX 5dr

£29,760

The Outback may be slightly let down by its rough boxer engine and lack of a manual gearbox these days, but it’s still a big hit at TG towers. It’s a rough and ready estate car that can get further off-road than most modern SUVs, and its on-road manners are surprisingly refined as a result.

It also seems like very decent value in this world where everything seems to cost £50,000, and the interior retains a good balance of physical buttons and a decent touchscreen. Beware though, because the Outback now has so few rivals that it stands out and gets plenty of attention. Looking for a discrete new car to get around the country estate? The Outback might not actually be the answer. For the rest of us it’s a properly cool bit of kit.

Dacia Duster

£10,770 – £18,930

Skoda Octavia Estate

£19,030 – £40,115

Jeep Wrangler

£38,620 – £55,820

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Driving

Driving

What is it like to drive?

Let’s start with the engine, shall we? There’s no longer a diesel-powered Outback available in the UK, so as mentioned the 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol boxer is your only option.

It’s not the most refined engine and has quite the grumble on start-up, but it does feel strong and perhaps a little brawnier than the 167bhp and 186lb ft of torque headline figures would suggest. The 0-62mph sprint is more like an amble though, taking a full 10.2 seconds.

How’s that CVT gearbox?

Hmm, yes, there’s no doubt that the CVT does let the side down slightly. It means the rough-sounding engine is often worked quite hard for a relative lack of acceleration, and the wheel-mounted paddles and ‘manual’ mode that are supposed to add steps into the transmission don’t seem to have much effect. Overtaking in the Outback isn’t the most pleasant experience.

What else do I need to know?

Whereas the gearbox might be a bit of a sticking point, the Outback’s ride quality and suspension setup is excellent. The raised ride height and tall sidewall tyres are really there to help the Subaru’s off-road ability, but they also make for an extremely comfortable car on the road. Surprising lack of roll through corners too.

There’s decent brake feel, and the steering has enough about it to make the Outback an enjoyable – if rather old-school – thing to drive on the road. It’s no WRX STI, but it’s good enough for a lofty estate and much more satisfying to drive than a lardy SUV. Remember, this thing only weighs around 1,640kg.

Is it efficient? 

Ah, slight issue here. Subaru claims 33mpg and 193g/km of CO2 emissions for the petrol-powered Outback, but in our time with the car we managed… 18mpg. Not great.

What about off-road driving? 

The Outback really is excellent at that. There’s huge amounts of grip and Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud drive modes. This thing would get you further down a ruined farm track than most modern SUVs.

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Overview

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Interior

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

Being a proper estate car, the Outback majors on practicality. There’s plenty of space in all five seats plus a giant, rubber-lined 561-litre boot. And that jumps up to a remarkable 1,822 litres with the seats folded if you don’t spec a sunroof. Impressive.

If you go for the base-spec Limited trim you’ll get fabric seats, while the mid-range and off-roady Field gets hard-wearing, water-repellent synthetic leather and the top-spec Touring gets proper Nappa leather. All of those seats (both front and rear) are heated in all trim levels though, and all get a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

The dash is dominated by an 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen that’s actually more reactive than you might think, but there are some good chunky physical buttons too. There’s also wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the sound quality from the optional Harman Kardon 11-speaker audio system is very strong indeed.

Our main bugbear on the inside of the Outback would be with the Driver Monitoring System. It can apparently recognise the faces of five different drivers and remembers things like your seating position and climate preferences. Sounds great, but as soon as you get in the car you get a strange, Mission Impossible-style scanning face graphic that does feel a bit intrusive.

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Driving

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Buying

Buying

What should I be paying?

The Outback is now pretty much in a class of one in the lifted, rugged estate market. Whereas previously you had Audi’s Allroads, a Golf or Passat Alltrack, Volvo’s Cross Country models, the Skoda Octavia Scout and the Merc E-Class All-Terrain, your choice is now between the Subaru or a whole heap of much less solid SUVs.

That does make it rather difficult to assess whether the Outback is good value these days though. Prices start at £36,990 for the entry-level Limited trim, before jumping to £40,990 for the Field trim and £42,490 for the Touring.

It’s worth noting here that all trim levels get Subaru’s EyeSight active safety system as standard, although the more interesting colours like Autumn Green Metallic will cost you an extra £595.

In terms of PCP deals, you’re looking at £339 monthly repayments over four years for the base-spec Limited, if you put down a deposit of £7,290. That seems fairly reasonable for something this capable.

And speaking of capability, the Outback gets a towing capacity of up to two tonnes.

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Interior

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Specs & Prices

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