As a proud owner of a MY 2023 Outback Touring in Australia I must say I agree with many of your comments. What you reviewed was MY 2022 here. Are you getting the same engine tune as us (138kW at 5800 RPM and 245 Nm at 3400-4600 RPM)? I find it certainly not fast but powerful enough for our speed-limited conditions (110 KPH limit on freeways). Coming from a hydropneumatic Citroen C5, the drop in ride comfort is significant, but to a large degree depending on tyre pressure. At 30 PSI front, 27 PSI back it is quite good. We have some horrible coarse chip road surfaces here, so I noise deadened the car a bit to avoid the loud road noise - but I did it with all my previous cars. It is very quiet on good surfaces and good enough on the dreadful stretches of our freeways now. Engine and transmission I find actually quite good and the most enjoyable part is the lack of delay on take off (no turbo to spool up) at intersections. The recent fishing trip proved the superb ability of Subaru's off-road drive system. To summarise, there is no better car in Australia not costing a fortune for a person, who enjoys long country trips with some off road component, but lives in a city.
Recently upgraded my Gen 5 Prem to Gen 6 Touring in Magnetite Grey. Turbo engine would be better, but mine gets around the highlands of Scotland fine, and handles winter conditions very well with the std tyres. Highly recommend all weather mats and boot cover. Watch the lane assist when on narrow roads, better to turn it off.
I am in the Cairngorms. Lane assist only gets switched on south of Perth :) Full rubber mats all round for me too, but also a set of winter wheels as well. I live 900 feet up a hill, along a single track road that’s not ploughed, so I really do need something that will handle snow. I have a Premium SE but take delivery of a Gen 6 Field in a few weeks. Having waterproof seats swung it for me. I often step out the river straight into the car with waders on. ☺️ This will be my third one.
Looks a really interesting left field choice and I quite like how Subaru have remained individual and quirky (boxer engines etc), CVT kills it for me though, torque converter auto or manual would be fine but CVT is a deal breaker for anyone remotely interested in driving (in my humble opinion)... Thanks for the review!
Actually not bad fuel economy. The 4 wd system is permanent 4 wd drive, not ”on demand ” system. 4 wd drive adds normaly aprox 1l/100km to fuel economy.
Can't believe they're not popular in the UK. The poor condition of the roads here and the weather this should be a winner. In Australia & America they're extremely popular. Especially in Aus where reliability is a massive issue whether you arrive alive or not if taking country roads where there can go months without another vehicle. Brits would rather buy a Range/Land Rover where Aussies need reliability not social cred.
Uk relative economy not great. Servicing costs heavy on cost, OEM parts expensive, tyre renewal 4 at a time due to AWD. That said if I was rich I’d have one in a heart beat. Not a working class car in UK unless your bonkers
incorrect. It's not a Porsche but its more than adequate - Dully loaded, 4 adults, boot full and mountain bikes on the Thule bike rack, no problem driving to the high country here in Australia.
@@Studat What absolute rubbish, I have a 1971, 911, the latest gen WRX and a v6 Grand Cherokee in the garage so I understand engine outputs, power to weight etc... and whilst its no sports car, the Outback is more than adequate fully loaded on the freeway and driving up steep mountain passes here in Australia. Did 400k's round trip yesterday and it was a dream, I wouldn't have taken any of the other cars - its the swiss army knife of cars
