The Subaru Outback has always had a certain chunky appeal, although the styling of the
previous model wasn’t – shall we say – to everyone’s taste.
For 2015, though, Subaru have made substantial changes – not just to the way it looks,
but also to the interior, and the way it drives.
Most obvious is the new look at the front, with the Outback now sharing the hexagonal
grille with the rest of the Subaru range, along with more aggressively-styled LED headlights.
The new Outback is a little wider and longer than before, and its lines are a little more
chiselled, particularly the shoulder line that runs the length of the car, while sporting
elements have been emphasised, such as the more pronounced roof spoiler and new rear
lights with part LED illumination.
The rufty-tufty sill extensions are now black instead of body-coloured, a look we prefer,
and there’s now a choice of either 17 or 18-inch alloy wheels.
The interior of the Outback sees perhaps the most substantial changes, however.
Most noticeable is the feeling of space in here.
Front seat passengers are now 10mm further apart, shoulder room has increased by 42mm,
elbow room by 43mm and hip room by 35mm.
There’s a huge range of adjustment for both seats and steering wheel, too, so drivers
of all sizes shouldn’t have any trouble getting comfortable.
Subaru has made much of the use of new higher quality materials, and certainly compared
to the old model, this feels like a proper premium interior now.
The instruments are now deeply hooded and feature coloured illumination around their
outer rim that changes to red when the car detects an obstacle, orange when the auto
transmission is in manual mode, or you can choose one of 10 colours yourself.
The new ventilation controls are much more intuitive, and we like the Max A/C button
that comes in handy on hot days.
The big news, though, is the arrival of a new infotainment system.
We’ve been critical of some of the systems used by Subaru in the past, but this new one
is pretty neat.
Its design reminds of the single-sheet-of-glass look used on high-end plasma TVs, and we particularly
like the touch-sensitive buttons down each side.
The menus are all easy to get your head around, and if you’re a tinkerer there are all kinds
of info screens to play with.
There’s even a maintenance reminder system that tells you when to have the tyres rotated,
for example.
Of course, the usual stuff is here, too, such as Bluetooth connectivity, but there’s also
the ability to hook up with Starlink to your smartphone, although curiously there’s no
DAB digital radio.
As standard, the Outback is equipped with a pretty decent navigation system with full
UK post codes, traffic information and the ability to calculate the most efficient route
as well as the usual quickest, fastest, etc, plus a reversing camera that gives a good
view of the rear bumper making it easy to hitch up a trailer.
Rear seat passengers will be better off than in the old model, as there’s now substantially
more shoulder, elbow and hip room, plus more legroom and foot space, too.
And, of course, there’s still the facility to recline the seat backs for longer journeys.
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s now 33 litres more boot space at 559 litres, a
new 47-litre underfloor compartment where, incidentally, there’s still space to store
the load cover when not in use, and the seats fold easily thanks to a pair of levers in
the boot walls to convert the boot into an area with a flatter floor than before, now
measuring a massive 1,848 litres.
Oh, there’s also a new power tailgate, too, and it includes a handy memory feature that
stops you clouting a low ceiling.
Under the bonnet, there’s a choice of two engines, starting with the familiar 2.0-litre
boxer diesel with 150PS and 350Nm of torque, plus a 2.5-litre petrol unit with 175PS and
235Nm.
Subaru says they’ve been substantially reworked, with both delivering more torque lower in
the range as well as greater efficiency.
The petrol engine is only available with Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT transmission, while the diesel
is also available with a six-speed manual.
On the road, the diesel is much quieter than before, thanks to more sound-deadening in
the engine bay, and once you’re on the move, it settles down to a distant rumble that – at
times – is barely audible.
While we’re not fans of CVT transmissions in general, when hooked up to the diesel engine,
Subaru’s Lineartronic does at least resist the urge to peg itself at the redline when
you put your down, and unlike other CVT units its overtaking ability is actually pretty
credible.
There is a manual mode that allows you to use the steering wheel-mounted paddles to
switch between seven ‘fake’ pre-set ratios, but to be honest, the Outback prefers to just
take things easy, and that means it’s best to leave it in auto mode.
That’s not to say the Outback can’t be hustled along, because it can.
You wouldn’t think a car with 200mm of ground clearance could handle so well, but Subaru
have made substantial changes to the suspension aimed at improving turn-in and reducing body
roll, and I have to say, we’re impressed with the results.
It helps that they’ve also implemented an active torque vectoring function that applies
the brakes to the inside wheels during cornering to help reduce understeer, plus of course
there’s Subaru’s trademark all-wheel-drive system that maintains a 60/40 front/rear split
on auto models, 50/50 on manual cars.
The new suspension also features a number of changes to improve the ride, and this,
too, impresses.
The Outback makes the most of its long-travel suspension to absorb the worst of the bumps
with ease, and it’s surprising just what you can drive over without having any impact
on those in the cabin.
Also new for this year is Subaru’s EyeSight system, although it’s only available on
cars with Lineartronic transmission.
It uses a pair of cameras mounted by the rear-view mirror to detect other vehicles and obstacles
up to 110 metres ahead, and can take control of the throttle and brakes to help avoid a
collision, but the system also adds functions such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure
warning and a few others.
The cruise control is pretty effective, with the system applying the brakes or accelerating
to match the speed of the car in front.
We did find the lane departure system to be a little paranoid, though, often sounding
a warning about crossing a white line even when we were indicating, and although you
can turn it off, it switches back on again when you restart the car.
Prices for the new Outback start at £27,995, with all models getting LED headlights, heated
seats, and satnav as standard.
Premium models gain a sunroof, keyless entry, 18-inch wheels, power tailgate and leather
seats for three grand more.
Pick of the bunch for us would be the entry-level diesel model – it’s a great engine, we
prefer the manual transmission to the Lineartronic, and the Outback is so well equipped the top-spec
Premium model doesn’t seem necessary.
Plus, of course, if you want practical, go-anywhere capability but don’t want a full-sized SUV,
let’s not forget the Subaru Outback is the original crossover.