Subaru Outback

Remember Dick Tufeld? No, come on, you do. Dick was the voice of the robot in the 60s TV series Lost In Space. “Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson!”

If Dick were alive today, I might have suggested to Subaru they use his voice as part of their EyeSight^® Driver Assist system. Every time I see that dashboard light up and an alarm sound, I think of Robot.

Subaru’s recent leading 96% rating for Safety is all about a fundamental principle of safe driving: situational awareness. There is no substitute for an alert driver, but that driver needs help. Cabin visibility is better than ever, for example. The way your side mirrors tilt to make sure you don’t miss objects or people close to the ground when reversing*. They call that Primary Safety – the first of the four pillars.

But where Subaru has made extraordinary progress is in Preventative Safety. EyeSight^®, a pair of cameras located behind the windscreen are seeing things you often cannot.

Also, importantly, it’s watching you. The Driver Monitoring System*.

The one I really like is the “Keep Your Eyes On The Road” signal. I couldn’t help it. On a very quiet rural back street, I deliberately turned my head away, without losing focus, until it lit up.

Come on car, I was still looking!

Years ago, I joked with a mechanic as he plugged his laptop into the car management software that one day, we’ll get behind the wheel and cop a critique of our clothing. “Don’t like that tie.”

Says the flashing dashboard. “Pink’s not your colour.” “And those wide lapels – so 90s.”

Well, we’re not quite there, but I admit to feeling offended if my Outback doesn’t say “Hello Bill”.

The other one I like is when it tells me I left something in the back seat. Oh, that would be my mother-in-law. Did you have to remind me?

Given the nature of today’s road accidents, EyeSight^® is so much more than a nagging robot. The really cool stuff is evident when you encounter obstructions that pop up during roadworks. That’s where you realise your Outback can see things that are not supposed to be there and gives you a gentle tug on the steering wheel, or a flashing signal and alarm.

“It’s alright ,” I find myself saying, “I’m on it.”

But the day will come when you are not. We all like to think we’re better drivers than we really are. Even great drivers make mistakes, lose concentration, or face unexpected incidents. EyeSight^® is there to help manage those moments.

Mind you, I’m yet to take up the suggestion from another Subaru owner to drive at a brick wall, knowing the car will stop itself. It’s not a trust issue. It just seems like a stupid thing to do.

But for once, those salespeople weren’t kidding when they said, “this baby has all the bells and whistles!” Most of them are telling you when there’s danger, Will Robinson.

I confess, and I’m not ashamed to talk about it now, I had a real thing for the six-cylinder Outback of the past decade or so. I’m sure the feeling was mutual. The way it comforted me in its warm seats and tranquil surrounds, guided me through those high-speed corners without a hint of doubt, carried all my stuff faithfully to camp sites and lugged timber and tools from the hardware store.

The love just grew naturally over time, as all great relationships do.

Subaru has always been clever at producing cars that are immensely enjoyable to drive without compromising their practical features. It’s simply the Symmetrical All Wheel Drive philosophy.

Everyone who makes the transition gets it. There has never been a better example than the Outback. When a car handles so well without sacrificing luxury, space and versatility, that six hour run down the coast with the family and luggage actually becomes part of the holiday, not just a means to get there.

Anyway, this year, my loyalty was tested. With a wink of its EyeSight^® and the siren call of a Harman Kardon sound system, it seduced me. The 2021 Outback.
Surely, I couldn’t be happier than I was with my liberated 3.6?

Wait till you get hold of that cheeky 2.5, they said.

Well, confession number two, and what goes on the road, stays on the road. I was unfaithful.

2021 Outback dazzled me with a new array of preventative car safety features. It talked to me. No, I mean talked to me. Look, call me fickle, but that kind of intimacy is hard to reject. I felt like it knew me from the first “hello.”

But here’s the thing – aside from an amazing sound system with unrivalled separation and clarity – I’ve never felt safer in a Subaru, and that’s a big deal for the brand that tops car safety ratings in Australia .

They have taken the handling and power delivery to new levels. This engine is tuned differently to the previous 2.5s. No-one is pretending it has the outright numbers the six produced, but it’s how the power is transmitted, down below, just when you need it, with a throaty, reassuring voice.

I also couldn’t believe how they upped the ante with handling. I’ve tested all Subaru models for years on racetracks, dirt roads and winding, climbing highways. The new Subaru Outback has amazing grip for a wagon – especially when it also offers the clearance to take its talents off road. The suspension tuning is remarkable, and the horizontally-opposed Boxer engine provides a low centre of gravity.

The Subaru Global Platform has delivered a versatile, luxurious drive coupled with exceptional responsiveness to give you that all-important confidence.

Not that I’m the controlling type, but let’s say that I’m totally committed, and when you get it on the road, so is the 2021 Outback.

It’s a sad but common sight in Australia – our national symbol bounding into your vision as you travel at high speed on a dark, lonely road. What happens next depends on so many factors, each holding your life, and others, in the balance.

Aside from the obvious distress of killing the animal, this all-too-common scenario is one of the reasons why Subaru’s world-leading car safety ratings are so important.

I can’t stress enough the value of advanced driver training – the type that emphasises safety. Your vigilance, concentration and skill cannot be compromised even when you’re driving Australia’s safest car.

The best, most cautious drivers must expect the unexpected. What the Car Safety Ratings do is give you confidence to make better decisions.

Subaru was the first brand in Australia to achieve 5-star safety across the range . Since then, it has applied the latest technology to four “pillars” of protection: Primary, Active, Preventative and Protective.

The Protective strategy is the last resort, for the stuff you have little control over. Kangaroo territory.

A lot of roos can be spotted in the reach of Subaru’s extraordinary steering responsive headlights – just another of their cool ideas – but some roos have a nasty habit of racing up to a road just as a car passes, without pausing to give you a sighting.

A few years ago, my wife and I had a heart-stopping experience in our Outback late at night on the Princes Highway, just north of Batemans Bay. I was at the sign-posted speed of 100km/h on a long straight and suddenly, leaping from dense roadside bushes, not one, but two kangaroos landed in front of us.

Armed with All-Wheel Drive, I figured that with a slight turn of the steering wheel under hard braking I could stay in my lane and probably avoid the first, much larger animal. Passive safety would have to take care of the rest. A sad outcome for the young roo trailing behind, but Subaru’s impact protection enabled us to keep driving to our destination with only the front bumper assembly needing to be replaced. The impact bar had done its work.

Every case is unique. Sometimes you don’t have any time to respond. You brace and let the Subaru Global Platform do its thing: the shock-absorbing ring-shaped passenger safety cell that protects the cabin, crumple zones, multiple airbags, headrests and safety belts. Faced with an unavoidable collision, Subaru’s top-scoring performance in the latest ANCAP* testing gives you a the best chance of living to talk about it.

ANCAP* safety score of 91% for Child Occupant Protection. 84% for Vulnerable Road User Protection.
Subaru is proud of its most important safety vision yet – working towards zero fatal road accidents in a Subaru vehicle by the year 2030.

Of course, the best way to survive a collision is to avoid it. In that department, Subaru’s 96% rating is way ahead of its rivals. But that’s another, rather unusual conversation…with your car.

Bill Woods

Subaru Ambassador

Why choose to water your tomato plant in a heatwave? Why choose prawns over flathead or Apple over Android? You can choose between a puppy and a kitten, AFL or NRL, golf or tennis? And, you can choose an Outback. 

 I’ve heard it said for the important decisions, we should choose with our hearts, for a full heart is the key to our happiness. My practical father might say, ‘Choose with your head you Goose, your hearts got no brains.’   

 He might have something there, but not when it comes to choosing the family wagon. 

 I like to think of the Subaru Outback as a very smart heart choice – one of the rare times in a major family purchase where I don’t have to choose between practicality and style. To put things in perspective, we have three kids, two dogs and the occasional cat.   

 We need everyday space for everyday things like shopping and schoolbags and golf clubs. Then, there’s special occasion space, to carry all those things we probably don’t need to take with us on holidays. Boot space for bags, roof space for surfboards, floor space for feet and spare shoes. Secret spaces for things we don’t want to see like phones and their chargers.   

And, it’s a large-sized SUV disguised as a wagon, or is that the other way around? Well, with the Outback, I choose both.   

 I choose a vehicle my eighty-year-old parents can get into and out of without grunting. Sheesh, I choose that myself as well.   

 I don’t have to creep up to steep driveways and worry about scraping things because the clearance of this SUV is fantastic – and when there is a worry about the state of the road – or off road – it’s a simple case of dialing the family wagon into X-Mode. (I announce X-Mode to the kids in a fairly absurd TV Voice over voice. “Kids, we’re going into X-Mode.  I like to think they think I’m a cack.)   

 I choose to tow, as well. Pretty much whatever I want: a trailer, or a boat or even a horse float: It’s my choice, right? 

 And there are reasons to choose the Outback that you don’t have to think about – and these are my favourite reasons.   

 Safety is key for Subaru, and always has been.  With the Outback we have driver assist innovations like Eyesight^® and Vision Assist. They’re like a peace of mind passport for the entire family. The in-car infotainment pleases everyone – Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.* The rear camera has saved me where my depth perception would otherwise have failed, I may have run over surfboards or bikes or cricket bats that have no place being left about to fear for their safety. 

 How can you not choose a family SUV that easily accommodates your golfing fourball and their golf bags? We all agree it’s the car of choice for golfing getaways because it’s classy, inside and out and there’s enough car chargers and USB bits to keep everyone happy. 

And. And. Maybe best of all – I have convinced my four-year-old neighbour that I am a Magic Man by opening the boot simply by casting a spell on the family car – without touching it. The no-touch sensor opening for the tailgate is a neat trick.*

 It’s more than that. It’s genius.  

 About as smart choosing the Subaru Outback.   

Andrew Daddo

Subaru Ambassador

‘It’s a Wagon.’ 

‘SUV’  

‘Wagon!’ 

‘SUV!’ 

It’s the old devil v angel routine – one on each shoulder and the wickedest thing is, they’re both right.   

The Outback is a wagon disguised as an SUV, or maybe that’s the other way around? 

It’s an SUV when I visit my friend with the steep driveway, for there is no fear of scraping the front on arrival, or the rear on departure. Not even the tow bar. My mate’s got a wagon, and he can’t do that, so that’s one point for SUV given the ground clearance.  

But then, my wife and I can see over the top of the wagon with ease. You know the drill, you arrive at your friend’s place with the steep driveway and before going in you have the chat across the car. ‘What’re their kids names, again? Really? Surely that’s the dogs’ name.’ So, given we can converse across the top of the Outback, that would make it more of a wagon.   

Interesting, isn’t it? 

There’s the interior space of an SUV without the loaf of bread like drivability up the freeway on a windy day. To be fair, that’s more Kombi than SUV, but you get the idea. Given the Outback is flatter and more streamlined than a typical SUV, it seems to drive more like a sedan: less drag, you know? But it’s definitely not a sedan because I can climb into the boot looking for lost golf balls without feeling as if one of my kids might turn practical joker and shut me in. Not that they would – or could – because the Outback* has the automatic boot button, so it’s a nice, smooth open and close. Given my spy like reflexes, I’d be out before getting stuck because just slowing the process of the boot stops the automatic close and the joke would be over. Mooohahahaha. 

The cabin space is massive, by the way. I always get tagged for driving to golf – four sets of clubs in the boot (there’s one guy I’d like to put in there, too) and there’s a stack of legroom for four adults as well. I’m not convinced there’s room for all of their stories, but that’s a subject for another day.  

We’re past the pram stage, but I’m confident we would have managed easily with our big old pram, and certainly the kids’ bikes. As they got older we went for the bike carrier which is a must if you’re wanting to take everything with you on holidays.  

So internally, it has a distinct SUV feel, which is magic, because if I was after a sports car, I’d be surprised to find myself in the Outback. Having said that, it does have the gear changing paddles, soooooo… Sports SUV, maybe?  Sports Wagon? 

The worst thing to say about the Outback is possibly the best thing. It’s absurdly practical.  It’s literally perfect for the whole family, regardless of who is using it – and given all the safety features, it’s perfect for our Learner and P-plate drivers. 

But is the Outback a wagon, or an SUV? 

It’s practically both.    

Actually. It is both. Wagon and SUV. Maybe it depends who you’re bragging about your Outback to.   

Andrew Daddo

Subaru Ambassador

‘Do it, Dad. Do it.’ 

‘I don’t know, Son. I just don’t know.’ 

‘Dad, come on! Put this bad-boy all-wheel drive SUV into X-Mode.’ 

Let’s back up a moment. On the road south from Crescent Head is another, less inviting turn off. It heads to a beach where the wind and the waves were almost certain to be on the ‘epic’ side of ‘fully sick.’ With boards on the roof and thoughts of grandeur in our heads, we were on a surfing type safari. 

But then, I had been down this road before (the surf safari and this particular road) in a less appropriate vehicle. To be fair, it was a wagon from the 60’s, and things hadn’t ended particularly well.   

So now, faced with the exuberance of youth and a head full of future surfing memories I was pressed to re-enter the fray. ‘I’ll do it,’ said my son, swatting my hand away from the screen. And he did. Just like that. He pressed the X-Mode button. 

Woo-hoo! We were off. 

I’m not sure what I thought would happen. Maybe there’d be bells or whistles or a ring-a-ding-ding. A clown might jump down from the roof rails, a marching band could emerge from a pothole. But there was nothing, just a light that indicated “X-Mode” was activated.  

To be fair, I’d done the reading. At my heart, I’m my father’s son and a car nerd so whilst I haven’t committed the entire 500 or so pages of the owners’ manual to memory, I was excited about “X-Mode” for it basically turns the Outback SUV into a beast that can go “out back.”   

The Outback already has full time Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, but with “X-Mode” engaged, rough or treacherous or simply slippery conditions are sorted. The road ahead was no issue. The brakes, CVT and Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive all work together to ensure that me and my son with the fresh mullet haircut are free to chase the bombs rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. 

With nothing to fear, I was a little surprised to feel a few butterflies bashing into the walls of my guts.  

What if the waves are actually as good as he suspects? What if we can actually get to them without any genuine sense of worry? At 213mm, the ground clearance is excellent, this gnarly dirt road with potholes and mud and sand is no longer a reasonable excuse to hang back and talk up the old days when I was a charger.   

Oh, God. I might actually have to try and surf, that would be a disaster. 

So, with fingers crossed we went. The road was worse than I remembered, but more fun. It was actually great fun. We went deep, as the saying goes. And whilst the surf wasn’t quite what we expected, the drive in and out more than made up for it.    

Andrew Daddo

Subaru Ambassador