Long before Centennial Subaru’s time, back when Subaru’s first Outback had its debut in 1984 as a 1985 model, it was fairly easy to regard as an AWD Legacy wagon with some lower body cladding, a roof rack, and a differently trimmed grille. This was when SUVs were truck-based body-on-frame vehicles and the car-based crossover was barely a thing. It's true the 1985 model consisted mostly of cosmetic changes to the wagon. The following year, however, brought increased ground clearance (7.3 inches), a raised roof, and a more powerful engine option. It also came with a $20–22 million ad campaign featuring former car salesman, Paul Hogan, famous for his starring role in the Crocodile Dundee movies. The changes and campaign raised sales considerably and the Outback was off for a long, successful, and ongoing ride. Each successive design brought more capability to the Outback and it easily held its own against the glut of car-based crossovers introduced by well…everyone. Now, in its sixth generation, Subaru introduces the Wilderness, the most off-road-focused Outback to date.

The Toughest Outback Yet

The Wilderness starts things off with its ground clearance raised to 9.5 inches, which is easily greater than most crossovers. The front and rear bumpers are redesigned to allow greater approach and departure angles. The roof rails have been reinforced to support more weight, including a roof tent with you and a friend inside it.  The Wilderness comes standard with a 2.5-liter turbocharged boxer 4-cylinder engine that produces 260 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. Revised 1st and rear gear ratios improve low-speed crawling and enable climbing of up to a 40% grade. The standard dual-function X-MODE has been both re-tuned and upgraded with specific settings for deep snow, sand, and mud. These settings allow small additional amounts of wheel slip to traverse obstacles and poor conditions. On the road, the Wilderness helps the driver with the latest of Subaru’s EyeSight® driver assist technology which has been calibrated for the Wilderness’ raised ground clearance. 17-inch all-terrain Yokohama GEOLANDER® tires get the Wilderness through tough and slippery off-pavement conditions. The white-letter tires and black-matte 6-spoke wheels certainly look the business as well as does the thick, durable lower body cladding. Speaking of looking, the Wilderness brings back an old but still good idea of a non-reflective flat-black hood center section that helps keep reflective glare from the driver’s eyes. The Geyser Blue seen in the accompanying images is an exclusive color for Wilderness models which also include the Forster and the coming 2024 Crosstrek.

Your Mobile Oasis

The Wilderness interior brings to mind a modern take on one of those plush sultan’s tents in the middle of a rugged desert. The 11.6-inch vertical Subaru Starlink® touch screen is standard, while straightforward analog gauges inform the driver. The seats are covered by soft but rugged and water-repellent StarTex® upholstery with contrast copper-color stitching that matches metallic accents both inside and out. In keeping with its mission the cargo floor and rear seatbacks consist of a tough composite designed to take impacts and withstand hard cargo items and pets. In short, take everything that the Outback added to the Legacy Wagon, and the Wilderness model squares it, and that applies to the Forster and upcoming Crosstrek Wilderness models as well. They are so distinctive, Centennial Subaru even has a special section for Wilderness models in its inventory navigation. If you like Subarus but want more capability than you’ll probably ever need, drop by the Centennial Subaru dealership to buy your Subaru Outback Wilderness today!