BY HAITHAM RAZAGUI | 7th Nov 2018
SINCE the 1990s, Subaru’s Outback has been the definitive ruggedised wagon, a formula emulated globally with varying degrees of success by European brands including Volvo, Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen. Holden struggled in the early-mid 2000s with the Adventra and is now having another stab with the ZB Calais Tourer.
For Subaru, it has been a sales success story. In Australia the Outback is one of the brand’s most popular models, regularly outselling showroom staples such as the Impreza small car and Forester medium SUV.
The fifth-generation Outback launched in late 2014 with a mid-life refresh arriving earlier this year that brought the model bang up-to-date and aligned it technologically with younger Subarus such as the Impreza and XV.
Essentially, almost all gripes we harboured about the Outback evaporated with this update. It’s still a bit frumpy, but at least it will age well.