2020 Subaru Outback First Look
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Date: 2019-05-30
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Comments and reviews: 10
Stephen Hendricks
I live near Seattle. I have friends and neighbors. Therefore, I have friends and neighbors who own Subarus, some of whom own Outbacks. Around here Subar-ites constitute a cult. A harmless cult but a cult nonetheless. Ive considered an Outback a couple of times. Back in 2012 my wife and I looked at the version with the 3. 6L boxer 6. It was a close contest between the Outback and the KIA Sorento we purchased. The deciding factors were the fact that the Outback felt more cramped than the KIA and my wife found it difficult to find a comfortable position in the drivers seat. (The family crossover is my wifes daily driver so I get a veto but she has a bigger voice in our selection)When we replaced the Sorento last year we looked at the Outback again but it was long in the tooth by then and overdue for a redesign. And then there was the CVT. Im aware that CVTs are much improved over the horrible unit I first experienced in a Nissan Murano in 2012. And Im also aware that all CVTs arent created equal. But while I accept that theyre the wave of the future, I still prefer a traditional geared transmission in a vehicle weighing close to two tons or more. So once again, no sale. We purchased another Sorento. All in all, I like the 2020 models updated looks. And I love the tweener size of this category, around 188- 191 long. And like many others in the abused minority of wagon lovers, I appreciate the wagon-ish style even if Subaru doesnt want to hear it mentioned. The interior is VAST improvement both in terms of materials and bells and whistles. Subaru seems to have reduced the amount of cost-cutting a buyer has to endure to get its full-time four wheel drive. And I have no doubt that if the family dog had a vote, hed go for the Outback as enthusiastically as he reacts to Subaru commercials on TV. If I were shopping this forthcoming year, Id give it a more serious look than last time. I suspect Id still opt for the KIA Sorento; the occasional use third row of seats is a huge convenience from time to time despite the fact that we keep it stowed about 90%+ of the time. And though Im fond of turbo 4 cylinder engines, I think a naturally aspirated six cylinder is a better choice in vehicles this size. That and the CVT also took the Ascent off our list last year. Im sure Ill be asked by at least one friend to comment on their new Outback over the next year so Ill practice my oohs and ahhhs and swallow my reservations when that happens.
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I live near Seattle. I have friends and neighbors. Therefore, I have friends and neighbors who own Subarus, some of whom own Outbacks. Around here Subar-ites constitute a cult. A harmless cult but a cult nonetheless. Ive considered an Outback a couple of times. Back in 2012 my wife and I looked at the version with the 3. 6L boxer 6. It was a close contest between the Outback and the KIA Sorento we purchased. The deciding factors were the fact that the Outback felt more cramped than the KIA and my wife found it difficult to find a comfortable position in the drivers seat. (The family crossover is my wifes daily driver so I get a veto but she has a bigger voice in our selection)When we replaced the Sorento last year we looked at the Outback again but it was long in the tooth by then and overdue for a redesign. And then there was the CVT. Im aware that CVTs are much improved over the horrible unit I first experienced in a Nissan Murano in 2012. And Im also aware that all CVTs arent created equal. But while I accept that theyre the wave of the future, I still prefer a traditional geared transmission in a vehicle weighing close to two tons or more. So once again, no sale. We purchased another Sorento. All in all, I like the 2020 models updated looks. And I love the tweener size of this category, around 188- 191 long. And like many others in the abused minority of wagon lovers, I appreciate the wagon-ish style even if Subaru doesnt want to hear it mentioned. The interior is VAST improvement both in terms of materials and bells and whistles. Subaru seems to have reduced the amount of cost-cutting a buyer has to endure to get its full-time four wheel drive. And I have no doubt that if the family dog had a vote, hed go for the Outback as enthusiastically as he reacts to Subaru commercials on TV. If I were shopping this forthcoming year, Id give it a more serious look than last time. I suspect Id still opt for the KIA Sorento; the occasional use third row of seats is a huge convenience from time to time despite the fact that we keep it stowed about 90%+ of the time. And though Im fond of turbo 4 cylinder engines, I think a naturally aspirated six cylinder is a better choice in vehicles this size. That and the CVT also took the Ascent off our list last year. Im sure Ill be asked by at least one friend to comment on their new Outback over the next year so Ill practice my oohs and ahhhs and swallow my reservations when that happens.
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Brett A
Nice review: -) I do not get all the CVT bashing still going on, I have been a car enthusiast since I can remember and have driven a great variety of vehicles when I was a mechanic, I think CVTs were a long time in coming and the natural evolution to the automobile as they are light years ahead of the old school geared transmissions unreliability and poorly thought out design and performance, but that was the level of technology then, now CVTs are here to stay due to the advancements in efficiency, fewer parts, reliability and lighter weight. The only complaint I have with CVTs is how they are programed, as so many haters have complained some brands including Subaru have cow towed and programed mimic gear shifting like in the Accent to please the old school folks who like the annoying clunk of the gears trying to compensate for the power transfer. My 2014 Outback CVT has perfect programing to squeeze out the maximum efficiency, but I am worried that since the turbo on this new Outback is from the Accent it will have inefficient programing with fake gear shifts, so I say have a switch marked old school for mimic gears and max performance for people who like cutting edge technology. My 2004 STi had a bad synchromesh design and I did not like the ratios. The other concern on the New Outback is the infotainment system is modeled after the failed Tesla portrait aspect ratio design instead of the ergonomic landscape view that Tesla now adopted, duh that is like the first thing you learn in graphics class. Having an almost 12 inch vertically oriented screen means you will mostly have to split screen to make two 6 inch screens hardly adequate as that is way to small to see easily while driving and I do not see any place to wirelessly charge a cell phone, that feature should have been in all Subarus for the last 6years by now. I also do not like all that flat silver trim inside due to being a glaring safety hazard in the bright sun, I had to black out all the dashes in my Subys Forester, Outback, Sti, Impreza, B9 Tribeca with its horrible German made old school transmission Bosh shifting solenoids went out on me 3 times before 100k miles. Anyway Subys to me are the best all around brand I have ever owned and worked on and I can not wait for the Onyx version of the Outback but I will gut out the infotainment system with a 10 inch horizontal aftermarket system like I did on my 2014 Outback if I do not like the new one.
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Nice review: -) I do not get all the CVT bashing still going on, I have been a car enthusiast since I can remember and have driven a great variety of vehicles when I was a mechanic, I think CVTs were a long time in coming and the natural evolution to the automobile as they are light years ahead of the old school geared transmissions unreliability and poorly thought out design and performance, but that was the level of technology then, now CVTs are here to stay due to the advancements in efficiency, fewer parts, reliability and lighter weight. The only complaint I have with CVTs is how they are programed, as so many haters have complained some brands including Subaru have cow towed and programed mimic gear shifting like in the Accent to please the old school folks who like the annoying clunk of the gears trying to compensate for the power transfer. My 2014 Outback CVT has perfect programing to squeeze out the maximum efficiency, but I am worried that since the turbo on this new Outback is from the Accent it will have inefficient programing with fake gear shifts, so I say have a switch marked old school for mimic gears and max performance for people who like cutting edge technology. My 2004 STi had a bad synchromesh design and I did not like the ratios. The other concern on the New Outback is the infotainment system is modeled after the failed Tesla portrait aspect ratio design instead of the ergonomic landscape view that Tesla now adopted, duh that is like the first thing you learn in graphics class. Having an almost 12 inch vertically oriented screen means you will mostly have to split screen to make two 6 inch screens hardly adequate as that is way to small to see easily while driving and I do not see any place to wirelessly charge a cell phone, that feature should have been in all Subarus for the last 6years by now. I also do not like all that flat silver trim inside due to being a glaring safety hazard in the bright sun, I had to black out all the dashes in my Subys Forester, Outback, Sti, Impreza, B9 Tribeca with its horrible German made old school transmission Bosh shifting solenoids went out on me 3 times before 100k miles. Anyway Subys to me are the best all around brand I have ever owned and worked on and I can not wait for the Onyx version of the Outback but I will gut out the infotainment system with a 10 inch horizontal aftermarket system like I did on my 2014 Outback if I do not like the new one.
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George L
Great car, as it always was, but its woes continue on as well. The base engine is simply too weak for the weight and size of the car. Both have been increasing from year to year over the last few generations. This is especially true for the higher trims. Unfortunately, Subarus 2. 5L non-turbo engines have also been plagued by premature head gasket failures (since the mid-1990s) and CVT failures. Subaru has now programmed the engine output to be cut off when facing high resistance to save that CVT, making the car far less capable. What its added are Direct Injection (a well-known mechanical issue) and Auto Start/Stop, which aside from being annoying also makes the engine unreliable down the road (as it is rated/tested for only 3-5 times more starts than an engine without the feature. That means the turbo engine is the only reliable choice. Unfortunately, its very expensive for what it is and requires premium fuel.
reply
Great car, as it always was, but its woes continue on as well. The base engine is simply too weak for the weight and size of the car. Both have been increasing from year to year over the last few generations. This is especially true for the higher trims. Unfortunately, Subarus 2. 5L non-turbo engines have also been plagued by premature head gasket failures (since the mid-1990s) and CVT failures. Subaru has now programmed the engine output to be cut off when facing high resistance to save that CVT, making the car far less capable. What its added are Direct Injection (a well-known mechanical issue) and Auto Start/Stop, which aside from being annoying also makes the engine unreliable down the road (as it is rated/tested for only 3-5 times more starts than an engine without the feature. That means the turbo engine is the only reliable choice. Unfortunately, its very expensive for what it is and requires premium fuel.
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sdrcorbu
Alex, another clear and to the point review, but I think this is a very disappointing design. We have a 2015 3. 6R, which is such a terrific vehicle - well appointed, understated, streamlined body, excellent interior design, and of course functional throughout - perfectly balanced This new 2020 iteration truly lacks inspiration with its ungainly, bulky, plain ugly bumpers, over stylized, Japanesey-gaudy head and tail lights and overbearing dash screen. This car is not about form following function, but design by committee - so unfortunate. YUCK Sorry Subaru, Ill wait for 2025 for the next version, while being exceptionally content with our stunning 2015.
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Alex, another clear and to the point review, but I think this is a very disappointing design. We have a 2015 3. 6R, which is such a terrific vehicle - well appointed, understated, streamlined body, excellent interior design, and of course functional throughout - perfectly balanced This new 2020 iteration truly lacks inspiration with its ungainly, bulky, plain ugly bumpers, over stylized, Japanesey-gaudy head and tail lights and overbearing dash screen. This car is not about form following function, but design by committee - so unfortunate. YUCK Sorry Subaru, Ill wait for 2025 for the next version, while being exceptionally content with our stunning 2015.
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wind7sailor
Did Subaru handicap the Forester this year, by killing its turbo and not offering this more powerful 2. 4 turbo, to sell more Outbacks this year? Why cant Subaru at least offer this regular gas, Turbo, as an option in the Forester for those of us that have rush-hour highway commutes? Five percent more sales on one of your top selling vehicles means more money in your corporate pockets and customers in your vehicles. People that may have to go elsewhere, due to your SLOW accelerating, base-only engine. Id take 5% more sales all day, especially if Im already making this engine anyway. Maybe Subaru doesnt need the extra business.
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Did Subaru handicap the Forester this year, by killing its turbo and not offering this more powerful 2. 4 turbo, to sell more Outbacks this year? Why cant Subaru at least offer this regular gas, Turbo, as an option in the Forester for those of us that have rush-hour highway commutes? Five percent more sales on one of your top selling vehicles means more money in your corporate pockets and customers in your vehicles. People that may have to go elsewhere, due to your SLOW accelerating, base-only engine. Id take 5% more sales all day, especially if Im already making this engine anyway. Maybe Subaru doesnt need the extra business.
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Shawn Warnick
Like seriously I do not understand why we keep calling the outback a wagon. I get it shares the legacy platform but most crossovers share the same platform as a car so why do we still call it a wagon. It is a midsized crossover. Like the bad boy has 8. 7in of ground clearance and you still want to call it a wagon? Is the maurano a wagon? The escape a wagon? The honda passport or crv? All the outback appears to be is a slightly streatched out forester. and a forester is a compact crossover.
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Like seriously I do not understand why we keep calling the outback a wagon. I get it shares the legacy platform but most crossovers share the same platform as a car so why do we still call it a wagon. It is a midsized crossover. Like the bad boy has 8. 7in of ground clearance and you still want to call it a wagon? Is the maurano a wagon? The escape a wagon? The honda passport or crv? All the outback appears to be is a slightly streatched out forester. and a forester is a compact crossover.
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Molly Lenore
I love everything about it BUT it having so many controls on that touchscreen Im more of a hardware girl, I find touchscreens tedious and I hardly ever touch mine except to choose the audio source I need before I start driving. Thats it. With knobs, you dont even have to look, you can just grab and turn. With the touchscreen, youll have to take your eyes off the road in order to look where you need to press so you dont accidentally press the wrong thing. Ugh. I wish they hadnt done that
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I love everything about it BUT it having so many controls on that touchscreen Im more of a hardware girl, I find touchscreens tedious and I hardly ever touch mine except to choose the audio source I need before I start driving. Thats it. With knobs, you dont even have to look, you can just grab and turn. With the touchscreen, youll have to take your eyes off the road in order to look where you need to press so you dont accidentally press the wrong thing. Ugh. I wish they hadnt done that
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Maximaniac72
The CVTs had reliability issues with the puny 175hp 2. 5 mated to them. The added HP of the turbo engine will make it even worse unless Subaru has seriously beefed them up. Btw, anyone looking to buy a turbo version, whatever you do dont go over 3500 miles for oil changes. I did 3500 mile ocis on my 05 Legacy GT and the engine and turbo ran as good the day I sold it with 115k miles on it as the day I bought it. 7500 mile ocis kill turbo engines.
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The CVTs had reliability issues with the puny 175hp 2. 5 mated to them. The added HP of the turbo engine will make it even worse unless Subaru has seriously beefed them up. Btw, anyone looking to buy a turbo version, whatever you do dont go over 3500 miles for oil changes. I did 3500 mile ocis on my 05 Legacy GT and the engine and turbo ran as good the day I sold it with 115k miles on it as the day I bought it. 7500 mile ocis kill turbo engines.
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MGJMiller1995
Subaru will sell one million of this new generation. It is a nice maturation of the current external design on the superior new platform. The taillights here are better than those besmirching the 2019 Forester. The piano black plastic around that screen getting scratched to hell bothers me; thankfully the USB-under-armrests is gone Ive always thought theyre a pain in the ass (2010 Forester owner)
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Subaru will sell one million of this new generation. It is a nice maturation of the current external design on the superior new platform. The taillights here are better than those besmirching the 2019 Forester. The piano black plastic around that screen getting scratched to hell bothers me; thankfully the USB-under-armrests is gone Ive always thought theyre a pain in the ass (2010 Forester owner)
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TJ Speach
I gotta say, the removal of buttons on the center console is a pretty annoying trend these days. I drive a Crosstrek, and its nice having the buttons for X-Mode and the switches for the heated seats within arms reach and activated with one finger (plus, the action on them is just satisfying as hell. Minor gripe, maybe - but having to navigate a menu to do those things is just not as intuitive.
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I gotta say, the removal of buttons on the center console is a pretty annoying trend these days. I drive a Crosstrek, and its nice having the buttons for X-Mode and the switches for the heated seats within arms reach and activated with one finger (plus, the action on them is just satisfying as hell. Minor gripe, maybe - but having to navigate a menu to do those things is just not as intuitive.
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