There are plenty of competitors in the SUV and crossover segment, but it’s the differentiation from these ubiquitous vehicles that gives the Outback its appeal. These are luxury cars and are priced accordingly the new Outback delivers better value for money, and its quality and durability make it an excellent long-term buy. The Touring has no factory options except the 6-cylinder engine, which brings the price up to $39,070.Īs with most good ideas, the Subaru Outback is not without competition: Audi has permanently Outback-ized its A4 wagon, the Allroad Quattro, while Volvo offers the Cross Country treatment to the smaller V60 and bigger V70. This is a move that we at Autobytel applaud-some automakers still insist on pairing their top-of-the-line models with their most thirsty engines, and we’re glad that luxury seekers have the option of the less powerful but more fuel-efficient engine. The Touring comes with Subaru’s EyeSight safety system as standard, and, as with the Limited model, Subaru is offering it with both the 4- and 6-cylinder engines. For 2017, Subaru is upping the ante with a new top-of-the-line Touring model, priced at $36,870, which features unique trim and wheels, available brown pearlcoat paint, and a “Java brown” leather interior with contrasting stitching and unique wood trim. The Subaru Outback is available in base ($26,520 including destination fee), Premium ($28,570), and Limited ($33,265) models all three come with the 2.5i 4-cylinder engine, while the Limited can also be had with the 3.6-liter flat-6. The constant beeping is more annoying than it is informative. There’s no need for an auditory alert each time this happens, and besides, like most cars, the Outback has an indicator on the display. One complaint: Subaru’s system beeps every time a car in front comes into (or goes out of) the system’s range.
The IIHS named the Outback a “Top Safety Pick Plus.” The Plus part of that award requires a suite of active crash-prevention equipment, and the Outback has it: Subaru calls the package Subaru EyeSight (it’s based on cameras rather than sonar or radar), and it includes collision warning and mitigation with automatic braking, lane-departure warning and correction, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, automatic high beams, and (for reasons we don’t quite understand) a power-operated liftgate.Īs with most of these systems, EyeSight includes adaptive cruise control, which automatically slows down to match the speed of cars ahead. When it comes to safety, the 2017 Subaru Outback is a strong performer: This Subaru has a perfect five-star safety rating from the US government, while it earned the best-possible “Good” rating in all five of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crash tests, including the difficult small-overlap crash test. We’ve had the opportunity to do some pretty serious off-roading in an Outback, and we were surprised and impressed with the rugged terrain it could tackle-not at all what you’d expect from a high-riding station wagon. As such, the 2017 Outback offers an impressive 8.7 inches of ground clearance, more than many SUVs. Still, we’re impressed with the way the Outback grips the road in rain and snow.Įven more of a surprise is the Outback's off-road performance: Although this AWD Subaru wagon/SUV may not look very burly, most of its mechanical bits are tucked up under the bodywork (as opposed to pickups and some SUVs, which have them dangling down). And in this review of the 2017 Outback, we’ve found that this Subaru doesn’t distribute power quite as quickly (or as proactively) as some of its rivals. Subaru used to be the all-wheel-drive specialist, but the rise in popularity of SUVs means that more and more automakers are developing their expertise. All 2017 Subaru Outbacks feature a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system, which delivers power to all four wheels and can move power away from wheels that slip and transfer it to those with grip.