Arriving Down Under in March, the new Subaru Outback has broken cover boasting a beefier engine and better towing.
The new Subaru Outback will go on-sale here in March boasting a largely new 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine making a little more power and torque, up to 138kW and 245Nm of torque (7% and 4.2% more respectively). Of more interest will be the increased towing capacity which is now 2000kg (up from 1800kg).
All Outback variants will get Subaru’s clever dual function X-Mode traction system which is probably the best on the market in this segment. The dual function allows you to choose from, say, deep snow and mud, or dirt and slippery grass, etc. The system adjusts things like speed of response from the traction control, throttle and transmission actions.
There’s a new 11.6-inch infotainment screen that’s oriented vertically. Safety wise, the new Outback gets the latest-generation EyeSight system which has added in lane centring, autonomous emergency steering, emergency lane keep assist, speed sign recognition with intelligent speed limiter and more. Also available is Subaru’s Vision Assist which includes blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert and more.
An interesting addition to the safety suite is a new passenger seat airbag that in the event of a frontal collision will push up the base of the seat to prevent forward movement of the occupant’s waist.
Subaru is still keeping key details under wraps but claims the new Outback offers the largest cabin ever (for an Outback) and that it’s the first Subaru ever to be designed to handle the new Mobile Progressive Deformable Barrier (MPDB) crash testing. Oh, and it’s built on Subaru’s global platform which underpins the XV and Forester.
Blair Read, Subaru Australia General Manager, said: “Based on customer feedback, we’ve made a conscious decision to take Outback considerably up market, confirming its status as the flagship in the Subaru range.
“The aggressive rugged design, along with the suite of luxury features, technology, infotainment and safety inherent in every Outback will only add to its rock-solid reputation for value and whole-of-life costs.”
Starting price for the new Outback is $39,990+ORCs through to $47,790+ORCs for the top spec Touring variant. The mid-spec Sport is likely to be the most popular:
- Water repellent sports seat trim;
- Heated front seats;
- Heated rear outboard seats;
- Front View Monitor (FVM);
- Side View Monitor (SVM);
- Black exterior highlights (exclusive to the Sport AWD variant);
- Handsfree powered tailgate with memory height function ;
- Roof rails with green highlights;
- Satellite navigation; and
- Dark metallic finish for alloy wheels.
Subaru is still confirming how the new Outback will be launched to the media, but we’re hoping to bring you our thoughts soon. Stay tuned.
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