The Subaru Outback has come a long way from the quirky Legacy wagon based with some grilles over the fog lights… actually.. okay maybe that’s still very much the formula, but hey it works. It works so much that we don’t even have a non-Outback Legacy wagon anymore. The Outback is generally Subaru’s best-seller here in the States, typically neck and neck with the compact Forester.
What’s New About The Wilderness?
New for 2022 is the Outback Wilderness. Wilderness is a new trim to the Outback model, and the start of a more rugged sub brand within the Subaru lineup. Subaru has recently launched the Forester Wilderness, with more to come I’m sure. The Outback Wilderness brings a factory lift kit to raise clearance to a substantial 9.5″ and slightly reshaped front and rear bumpers for better approach and departure angles (this means something for those who go off-road). There are knobbier tires courtesy of Yokohama on 17″ wheels, down a size from the 18″ wheels typically found on Outbacks, but this is actually better for those who might head off the beaten path. They’ve beefed up the roof rack, I don’t know if it’s the anodized copper, but whatever they did, it can now support up to 700 lbs when parked at a campsite for your roof top tent of choice. Mechanically the Wilderness features a tweaked X-Mode for deep snow, sand and mud, while the drivetrain gearing is also enhanced for low-speed climbing. Electronically, Subaru, safety minded as they are, also maintains proper functionality of its EyeSight safety tech suite, something that may or may not apply when you use aftermarket modifications to ride height, etc. So yes, this is more than just a simple badge and graphics job.
What’s Good About the Outback?
What’s good?? What isn’t good about the Outback? While some still brush off the Outback as a lifted wagon, it’s pretty much the same stance as many of the other midsize crossovers out there. I love the height, not too high to step it and definitely not falling down into it, just a nice lateral slide in and out. If you’re getting in and out of your car a lot every day, this is what you want and you still get a nice view down the road and around traffic. You can get a base 4-cylinder gas engine with 182 horsepower, but luckily there’s a bit of old Subaru magic left alive and they offer up the XT turbo 4-cylinder with 260 horsepower, and that’s what is standard on the Wilderness trim. Forester does not offer an XT at the moment. While I find the typical compact utilities like Forester, Toyota RAV4, etc. a bit on the small side, the Outback slots nicely between the Forester and then the 3-row Ascent. Overall room inside is similar to the Forester, but you get more cargo room in the Outback, both overall and behind the 2nd row of seats.
Key Features
The Outback range covers a wide spread, from the base Outback around $27,000 to the Touring XT just around $40,000. In the middle are Premium and Limited trims, with special trims like the Onyx XT and Wilderness as well. All-wheel drive is standard, as typical on any Subaru not named BRZ.
Also standard is the Subaru EyeSight driver safety and assistance tech suite. This is one of the better all-around systems on the market today. No it doesn’t promise anything like hands-free driving, but it offers daily items such as limiting your initial gas pedal input if there’s still a car ahead of you that you’re not paying attention to, or chirping at you if that car ahead of you has driven off from a stoplight because you’re looking down at your phone. Well I know YOU would never do that, but for the others that do. LED, Steering responsive headlights and LED foglights are also standard and earn a Good rating from the folks at IIHS where it earns a Top Safety Pick+ rating for the year.
The Wilderness comes standard with the vertically oriented 11.6″ touchscreen unit, but a vehicle embedded navigation system is optional. Also optional are things like a moonroof (single pane unit, no panoramic here) and a reverse automatic braking (this is a hate it or love it feature in most cars today). Nicely standard in the Wilderness is the front view camera, presumably to help when off-roading, as is a full-size spare tire, pretty much a unicorn in cars today. Subaru still doesn’t offer a top down 360 degree camera system in any of its vehicles, but it’s supposedly coming on their new Solterra EV this Fall, and hopefully to other models soon.
Subaru feels the Wilderness customers are more inclined to “rough it” I guess, as fancy items such as memory seats, a factory navigation system, ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel and the premium Harman Kardon audio system are not available, you’ll have to go to the Limited and Touring trims for those items. Also no CD player available in case you still have your 10 CD sleeve wrapped on your sunvisor.
Quick Drive
The Outback Wilderness is truly the peak, non-STI, Subaru experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s without fault. The ride is cushy and comfortable, with just a hint more roll than I suppose a standard Outback would have. But it’s still a willing partner on city streets, which is where we did all of our quick spin experience, and I imagine where most of these Outbacks will live for 90%+ of their miles. As I drove this, I did love that they stepped the wheel size down to 17″ units. The extra tire height helps preserve that ride comfort and should protect your wheels around town too from potential pothole damage and/or curb scrapes. YES! BRING BACK THE SIDEWALL!
As mentioned earlier, the Wilderness is equipped with the turbo XT powertrain featuring 260 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. This is a healthy bump over the base Outback power and I think more befitting with the price tag as it climbs close to $40,000. That torque is available across a wide portion of the engine band, from 2,000 rpm to 4,800 rpm. It’s channeled to all 4 wheels through the Subaru CVT transmission. CVTs get a lot of flack from enthusiasts, especially when paired with a turbo, when both can act a little bit like alternating yo-yo’s. The Wilderness is no different, but in day to day driving needs, I don’t think anyone will really notice enough to make it a detriment. I’d still love for a traditional automatic or even a manual transmission, but those just aren’t in the cards. Is it as refined as something like the Volvo V60 Cross Country? No, but it’s also quite a bit cheaper while providing much more in terms of capability and utility.
Note, if you don’t intend to utilize the revised transmission gearing and off-road clearance capabilities, you might be better suited with the Onyx XT or the Limited or Touring XTs, as there is a not insignificant fuel economy penalty, particularly on the highway, where the Wilderness is rated at 26 miles per gallon and the others can all stretch it to 30.
Improvement Points
Interested to see if Subaru brings a next generation of transmissions beyond their CVT before we see more and more vehicles just jump to electric. Also wouldn’t mind seeing some more of the “luxury” features offered together with the Wilderness, at least the heated steering wheel and maybe the memory package. Additional things like wireless phone mirroring (CarPlay/Android Auto) and the previously mentioned 360 parking camera and front parking sensors would also be good to see in Subaru’s lineup. But the Outback is pretty dialed in at this point, at least for this product generation, so not holding our breath for any of these changes soon. Subaru’s loyal owners and fans will undoubtedly keep their Indiana-based production facility humming along.
