Subaru Outback Turbo makes its way Down Under

In many ways, the term SUV might have been invented for Subaru. Was a Subaru an SUV before the term SUV was enshrined in popular culture? If a 4WD is actually a proper four-wheel drive in real terms, then Subaru’s take on all-wheel-drive sedans and wagons with capability and practicality might be the purest definition of what a sports utility vehicle actually is.

Now, in 2023, the Subaru Outback sits – somewhat strangely – in the large SUV class, but provides a decidedly car-like alternative to the other competitors in that segment. Even pitted against sharp drivers like the Mazda CX-9, Subaru’s Outback is very much car-like in the way it feels from behind the wheel.

The Outback – and indeed Subaru as a brand – is a mainstay on the Australian motoring landscape. Owners go back multiple times, having owned vehicles that have been largely trouble-free. Try talking a Subaru owner into something else. It’s usually a fruitless endeavour.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether said Subaru is a little outdated in terms of the tech, cabin ergonomics or infotainment. A Subaru is solid, it’s reliable, and it does exactly what the buyer wants. And that brings them back in droves. All manufacturers want conquest (or new) business, but retaining customers and keeping them happy is a significant part of any brand’s success story.

Despite that, Aussie buyers have wanted an Outback Turbo for some time now. Quite vocally too. That’s the case whether they are current Subaru owners or potential buyers thinking about switching brands.

The turbo model had been on sale in the States before we were able to get our hands on it here, and our 2023 version isn’t exactly the same as the model on sale in the States either. Finally, though, it has arrived, and we’ve been looking forward to driving it.

While the engine is the headline element of both our launch drive and the new model itself, the Outback will need to deliver the same flexibility, quality, capability and practicality as the old model always has. Plus, it will still need to drive more like a car than a truck.

That’s not too much to ask is it? Let’s find out.

The Subaru Outback range is – thankfully – an easy one to decipher. The turbo engine we’re concentrating on here is available in the two top specification grades. More on them in a minute. Subaru officially names each Outback as ‘Outback AWD’ so that’s what we’ll do here too.

The range starts from $42,690 before on-road costs for the price-leading Outback AWD, while stepping up to the Outback AWD Sport means buyers start from $47,190 before on-road costs. Next up is the Outback AWD Touring, which starts from $50,990 before on-road costs.

Top of the tree are the two Turbo ‘XT’ models, which is what we’re focusing on for this launch review. The Outback AWD Sport XT starts from $52,190 before on-road costs, while the Outback AWD Touring XT starts from $55,990 before on-road costs. Post launch, we’ll delve further into the options available and the costs associated with them, and the pricing in the table below reflects the Sport XT model.

The 2023 updates bring revised interior technology and some other minor changes. Turbo models get a 2400kg braked tow capacity, which is up 400kg from the non-turbo, retuned suspension, mild exterior changes, and a 22 per cent cut to the sprint from 0–100km/h. As is par for the course, Subaru doesn’t quote what that exact time is… so we have to take their word for it. We’ll get a 0–100km/h time for you once we spend some time with the Outback in the Drive garage.

Stepping up to the XT grades brings dual exhaust tips, XT badging, and unique LED foglights. Style-wise, I like that the Outback looks like an Outback, albeit with some new touches to the exterior design, minor as they are. If you like the Outback for its conservative styling and muscular and rugged appearance, you’ll be happy with the turbo version.

Cabin comfort is a strong point for the Outback, especially given its positioning in the large SUV segment. Visibility in the front two seats is excellent, as is the driver position and comfort level, even when you’re behind the wheel for long stints.

The seats themselves, whether you’re in Sport XT or Touring XT, are both excellent, and it’s easy to get into a comfortable driving position no matter how tall you are. It’s a key part of ensuring the Outback is ideal for typical Australian touring duties, not to mention practicality around town.

The second row is comfortable for adults, too, with room for six-footers behind six-foot occupants up front. You’ll fit three adults across the back as well, if need be, and they won’t be screaming to get out either.

Extra-tall drivers can get the seat low enough into the cabin that they won’t feel like they are stooping to try to get their head under the roof lining. Unlike most other competitors in the large SUV class, the Outback only seats five, but instead of being an impediment, the cabin is configured to make the best use of the space available.

Move into the luggage space and you get a useful 522L with the second-row seats in use, and a whopping 1675L when you fold them down. The load lip isn’t a nasty one, and the floor is effectively flat right through, and there’s a full-size 18-inch alloy spare under that floor as well. Another real-world bonus for touring drivers. If you head out of the city confines, a full-size spare is a huge benefit.

Upgrades for 2023 included improved software for the 11.6-inch touchscreen, with improved user-friendliness according to Subaru, and new shortcut buttons. The control systems and menus certainly seemed easy to use on test.

For the 2023 model year, the Outback range scores an upgrade to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, replacing the previous wired system, and the smartphone mirroring is integrated for the full screen as well. On test, we used CarPlay for a few hours and it was faultless.

The portrait-orientation screen is a good one as well, clear and easy to use, even in direct sunlight. It makes sense that it mirrors the way we look at our phones most of the time too, and the mapping via CarPlay, for example, integrates neatly into the system’s screen. I remember being hesitant at first with portrait-orientated infotainment screens, but the more I use them, and the better they get, the more sense they make.

You get USB-A and USB-C ports up front, as well as revised steering wheel controls, upgraded voice recognition and altered navigation functionality too. The native satellite navigation also worked faultlessly for us at launch, directing us to preloaded destinations clearly and accurately.

With a full five-star ANCAP safety rating, the Outback gets the expected safety inclusions – and scoring – that buyers have come to expect from Subaru. Subaru has hung its hat on safety for some time in Australia, and this new model is no exception.

The Outback range scores highly across the ANCAP testing criteria, too, with 88 per cent for adult occupant protection, 91 per cent for child occupant protection, 84 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 96 per cent for safety assist systems.

As you’d expect, the new Outback comes with a full suite of Subaru’s safety tech. It even has a passenger seat cushion airbag, which in the event of a frontal crash pushes up on the front section of the seat base, and prevents the front passenger’s waist from moving forward or sliding beneath the seatbelt.

Also standard across the range are dual frontal, side chest and side head-protecting airbags, as well as a driver’s knee airbag. There’s no centre airbag, though. Subaru’s suite of electronic safety tech is comprehensive, and across the range the Outback comes with autonomous emergency braking (car-to-car, vulnerable road user, junction assist and back over), lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, emergency lane keeping, and advanced speed assistance system.

Outback is covered by Subaru’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with a well-articulated five-year/75,000km service scheme also available. Over the first three years, servicing will cost you $1343, while that runs out to $2577 for the full five years. The most expensive service through that time is the four-year/60,000km service, which costs $819.68, while the cheapest is the 12-month/15,000km service that costs $376.61.

Our insurance quote is based on the Sport XT. That cost is $1456.89 per annum based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

In regard to the real-world usage against the claim, the Outback is quite efficient. The claim is 9.0L/100km on the combined cycle, and we used an indicated 10.1L/100km on test, largely punting reasonably hard on country roads at 100km/h.

That’s not too bad in the real world, then, and you could expect the fuel consumption to drop if you were taking a more relaxed highway cruise and not working the engine so, um, enthusiastically. However, and we’ll test this more post-launch, we’re not exactly sure what to expect around town in heavy traffic.

On that note, with a 63L tank, touring range is useful, and plenty of Aussies will want to do exactly that with their Outback, so that’s a noteworthy point. Keep in mind, though, that turbo models require 95-octane as a minimum, in contrast to the non-turbo engine that will happily consume regular 91-octane. The non-turbo uses a claimed 7.3L/100km as a comparison.

We’ll run some numbers and put the Outback under the gun when we get some more time behind the wheel, but the turbocharged engine feels sharp and responsive over the duration of our launch drive. 183kW and 350Nm are decent outputs for a 1730kg SUV, and peak torque is available from 2000rpm, which is right in the middle of the action from take-off. As such, the Outback feels punchy off the mark.

The engine has Subaru’s trademark boxer punch, with no hesitation from the drive-by-wire throttle system, and a decent rumble from the exhaust as the revs rise. There’s a lack of the really meaty boxer noise we’ve loved in the past, but that’s more to do with 2023’s expectations for noise pollution and exhaust requirements than it is a taming of the engine itself.

I don’t love Subaru’s stop/start system in that it jars a little when it fires the engine back into life. I am aware, however, that most owners will leave it active and take no issue with it.

As we thought back when we tested the non-turbo variant, the CVT automatic is neatly matched to the engine in this iteration too. You get eight theoretical ‘steps’ in the CVT, but that’s less relevant than how the transmission works with the engine, and it doesn’t offer up any of the nastiness we used to dislike in earlier CVTs.

You can get off the mark sharply, and keep accelerating up to the speed limit, without the engine feeling stressed. There’s plenty of meat left on the bone for roll-on overtaking too. We didn’t get to do any towing at launch, but we’ll test that when we get the Outback for a longer period as well.

Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system remains, despite the advancement of electronic control in other drive systems, a highlight. On any surface, wet or dry, gravel or bitumen, the Outback is sure-footed, planted and secure.

There’s a relaxed nature to the drive experience that comes with a quality AWD system, and Subaru’s is, and has always been, one of the best. On sealed roads, you’d have to try pretty hard to push the Outback out of its comfort zone, such is the way it puts drive to the ground.

While the turbocharged engine is the highlight of this launch drive, both on paper and in terms of what you the potential buyer wants to experience, it’s the ride once again that most impresses me. Rural NSW roads remain a mess after the recent deluge they have had to endure, and as such, it’s a lottery driving on them in anything other than a fat-tyred SUV. And, even then, plenty of SUVs deliver a bone-rattling ride.

Not so the Outback, which floats over these nasty road surfaces with ease. Not even the nastiest of unexpected potholes mid corner can properly unsettle either the road composure or comfort inside the cabin, such is the excellent balance between ride and handling that has been struck. A suspension engineer would probably tell you it’s not perfect, but it’s damn close to it.

Combine the punchy engine, easy transmission, and excellent ride quality into one large SUV package, and you get a relaxed, comfortable and practical tourer. If you’re going to be exploring rural roads, you’ll be doing it in comfort. If you’re simply bombing around town, you can do that too. The turbo Outback is ready for anything you can throw at it.

Subaru’s new Outback Turbo is an excellent iteration of a large SUV that feels more car-like in every way than nearly every other SUV you can buy in this segment. It also positions itself neatly as a practical, comfortable and engaging touring vehicle, whether it’s you and your partner two-up, or with the family in tow, and all the luggage to accompany such a trip.

There’s no doubt that Subaru knows exactly what its target market wants, and it delivers an SUV to do just that.

All-wheel drive might not be the advantage it once was, with electronics making the safety advancements they have, but Subaru’s roadholding and all-surface ability are still worthy of note. The Outback Turbo – and that’s not to say the non-turbo is lacking because it’s also high-quality – should definitely be on your shopping list if you’re looking for a new, large SUV.