Vehicles like the Subaru Outback, which has been in continuous production since 1994, demonstrate the keen powers of precognition possessed by Japanese automaker Subaru. At a time when SUVs represented a much smaller share of the market, before crossovers had truly come into vogue, the company released a more adventure-ready version of its Legacy station wagon, effectively splitting the difference between wagon and utility vehicle. A cursory glance at today’s new car offerings will tell you just how ahead-of-its-time that decision was.
Now, some 25 years later, there’s a brand new sixth-generation Subaru Outback on the market, and my, how things have changed. While mechanically the Outback is still little more than a lifted, five-door version of the Legacy, the Outback of today is a true crossover utility vehicle with 8.7 inches of ground clearance and plenty of space and versatility. The newest iteration rides on the Subaru Global Platform, giving it significantly more torsional rigidity than the vehicle it replaces, and like all modern North American Subarus (save for the BRZ), all-wheel drive is standard.
It also has a richer feature set than any previous iteration (go figure), offering Subaru’s first-ever power liftgate as an option and, remarkably, standard Subaru EyeSight driver assistance across all trim levels. EyeSight is a suite encompassing distance-pacing cruise control, automatic lane-centering, lane departure/sway warning, and pre-collision braking.
The Subaru Outback is a hugely important model for the automaker in the North American market. Last year, the Outback represented just over a quarter of the brand’s U.S. sales, at a time when the brand as a whole seems unstoppable.
For the North American market, the Subaru Outback is built at the automaker’s Lafayette, Indiana assembly plant alongside its sedan cousin, the Legacy, as well as the Impreza and Ascent models.