2018 Mazda CX-5 vs Subaru Outback

What's the difference?

Mazda makes nice looking, user-friendly vehicles and its CX models are great examples of what has been a rather successful formula so far. But the pressure, perceived or otherwise, of a rapidly-growing and -changing population which seeks new shiny and bright stuff minute to minute, weighs heavily on car manufacturers and, as is their won’t, they are swift to tweak/change/facelift/upgrade their vehicles in attempt to keep pace with the times. But, does any good ever come from messing with a winning formula? Has it backfired this time? Read on to find out.

It’s hard to think how Subaru could improve the popularity of the Outback. The current-generation model is easily the most successful version ever - but, as sure as dessert follows dinner, it’s time for a mid-life update for the high-riding wagon.

And this is it: the Subaru Outback 2018 model, a facelifted and tweaked version of the Japanese SUV that has just launched in Australia.

While at first glance the changes appear to be fairly minor, let's go through it in detail and take a good look at what’s changed.