Subaru Outback Review

Unsurprisingly, the new Subaru Legacy Sports Tourer and Outback have a great deal in common; not least is the fact that they both house the world’s first Boxer Diesel engine.

As I said in the Sports Tourer report, this new unit is a thing of beauty when it is in action and a work of art when it is idle. But unfortunately, it is hidden away under the bonnet so an enterprising Subaru dealership in Carlisle decided that it would be a great idea to show it off. They had photographs of the engine, symmetrical AWD system and part of the exhaust, printed onto transparent vinyl panels, which were applied to the bonnet and sides of an Outback, giving the impression of a transparent body. A cunning plan, which certainly attracted attention.

But even without the gimmicks, the Outback gets some admiring looks - more so than the Sports Tourer. Perhaps it is due to the fact that the Outback stands almost three inches taller, with two inches of that as extra ground clearance. The front end is more ruggedly styled, which might also have something to do with it.

A closer look shows that the Sports Tourer is definitely the more stylish option while the Outback is clearly designed for the rougher stuff. The Outback has more defined wheelarches, although the wheelbase, track and 17-inch alloys are the same for both cars.

The Outback has a different grille with chrome bars in place of the single ‘wing’ motif, while below, the foglights are set into a more functional front bumper with black under-cladding that extends along the sills to surround the two tailpipes, at the rear. The doors also have extra protective mouldings at the base, which further indicate the car’s workhorse nature.

The test car was the base model, R, which bears a price tag of £22,495. The RE trim adds £2,000 and the REn (for navigation) adds a further £1,400.

The interior of the R doesn’t have the luxury of leather seats and instead, has a more functional, cloth covering. As with the Sports Tourer, the fascia is made from soft-touch materials with wing-like, aluminium-effect strips that flow out from the broad, flat centre console. Where the navigation screen would be on the more expensive models, there is a small, flip-top cubby between the central air vents. Below, is the main panel where the integrated audio system and dual-zone, climate control is housed. The audio system comprises a 6-CD Autochanger with MP3/WMA playback and a stereo radio (RDS) with four speakers, two tweeters and a window aerial.