The new Subaru Outback made quite an impression on us when it was launched in the South Island just before Christmas. Now we have a look at it in a workaday situation. 

It’s one thing to climb mountains in the new Subaru Outback. You’re bound to get excited about that. But how does it stack up when you’re commuting to and from town, or doing a longish trip – you know, the stuff most of us do most of the time?

Well, short story, extremely well!

The latest Outback has evolved over the years. It started out as a bigger alternative to the Forester, more or less a Legacy wagon on steroids. Now, though, it’s begun to sniff around the edges of the executive class, with high quality finishes including beautiful seat stitching and soft surfaces, including  leather seat trim, a high degree of occupant safety, excellent driver aids, and lots of comfort.

Fact is, I could fill up most of the available space just listing what it has got, especially our test vehicle, the Outback 2.5i Premium.

High on the list of the Outback’s safety features is its EyeSight driver assistance system, which includes a pre-collision braking system (primes the brakes ready for a quick stop), adaptive cruise control (slows the vehicle to match the car in front, and will even bring it to a stop), lane departure warnings (when you start to cross over the line), and lead vehicle departure alert (lets you know if the vehicle in front has started to move off, so you don’t get hooted at by the driver behind). EyeSight uses a camera setup to compute all this.

There’s also a reversing camera, hill start assistance, light-sensing headlights, rain-sensing wipers, and X-Mode, which sets the car up for easier off-road driving, and includes hill descent control.

And then we get to the comfort and convenience features. Such as an excellent infotainment system which includes Bluetooth, voice commands, and a radio/CD with USB and aux inputs, and six speakers.

There’s a leather-rimmed steering wheel with tilt and reach adjustment, and satellite controls for the phone, audio, and the cruise control (the latter allowing you to set how far behind the car in front you want  to be). There’s also an electric sunroof as well as dual zone aircon, plus satnav.

Entry is via proximity key, which means you can keep it in your pocket and just open the door. There’s a pushbutton starter.

With electrically-adjusted (and heated) seats and tilt plus steering wheel adjustment, it’s easy to find the right driving position. Push the button, and you can just hear the Outback’s great engine beat, but you struggle unless you’re really driving hard. And you CAN drive it hard, thanks to its all-wheel drive system that keeps all the wheels firmly planted on the ground.

There’s 213mm of ground clearance, which could make some 4WD utes blush, but there’s no discernible body roll.

At the same time Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT gearbox is probably the best of its type, with paddle manual changes possible if you don’t want the car to do it for you, and two-mode SI-Drive so you can set the car up for either sporty or normal driving.

The rear seat passengers are comfortable too. They can recline their seats slightly to get really comfortable, and they have their own aircon/heating outlets.

Loadability is a key point on the Outback, with a spacious boot area that expands to a huge 1,801 litres if you fold the 60/40 split rear seat down.

One of the areas the Subaru engineers have worked on over the past few years has been to improve fuel economy, and, with a stop-start system to assist in saving fuel around town, and significant changes to the intake, exhaust and combustion systems, fuel economy has come down to excellent levels. Subaru claims an overall average of 7.3L/100km; I saw 7.9, without really trying!

All-in-all, I really enjoyed my time with the Outback, and once more I began to wonder about the SUV craze when you can drive a smart, stylish car which will outperform most of them, without having to waste energy punching a big hole through the air like a rounded brick!

What don’t I like? I find those clunky roof rails really ugly and out of keeping with the car. The good news is that they have built-in cross bars which swing through 90 degrees to become a useful roof rack. Which is a great idea!

Specifications:

Body type                        Five-door station wagon        

Drive                               All-wheel drive

Engine type                     Flat four petrol                      

Engine capacity               2,498cc

Max power                       129kW/5,800rpm

Max torque                      235Nm/4,000rpm

Fuel consumption             7.3L/100km

C02 emissions                 167g/km

0-100km/h                        10.2 secs

Front suspension             MacPherson struts

Rear suspension              Double wishbones, coils

Roof rack                        Rails and bars

ABS brakes                     Yes

Air bags                           Seven

Stability programme         Yes

Air conditioning                Dual zone climate

Lap/diagonal belts            Five

Satellite navigation           Yes

Electric seats                   Yes

Burglar alarm                    Yes  

Boot release                    Yes

Cargo cover                     Yes

Boot capacity                   512/1,801 litres

Wheel type                       18 inch alloy

Spare tyre                        Full size

ANCAP rating                   Five star

Price                                $49,990