What's the difference?
Being a mid-size SUV means the MG HS Super Hybrid is placed in one of Australia’s most competitive segments.
The flagship Essence plug-in hybrid pairs family-friendly size with an efficient powertrain, promising efficiency without asking you to fully commit to electric life.
But when you’re up against some solid all-rounders in the market… does it do enough to earn a spot on your shortlist?
The Subaru Outback holds a special place in the hearts of adventurers everywhere. It’s long been regarded by its fans as a genuine mix of decent on-road manners, family-friendly practicality and sound off-road capability. Just right for light-duty off-roading.
Now, Subaru claims, it has made the Outback even better and a new off-road-focussed variant called the all-wheel-drive Wilderness now sits near the top of the line-up.
The Wilderness is equipped with a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol, four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed 'boxer' engine, 240mm of ground clearance, improved approach/departure angles and electronically controlled dampers.
But is this new Outback all it’s cracked up to be? Read on.
The MG HS Super Hybrid Essence gets a lot right. It’s well sized for families, comfortable on the road and easy to live with day to day.
However, it misses a few features you might expect for a flagship grade. More notably, the calibration of some of its technology and safety systems could do with further refinement.
If you’re a Subaru fan chances are the Wilderness will float your boat. It’s an appealing mix of on-road refinement and more than satisfactory capability on bush tracks.
The Wilderness engine-and-CVT combination helps to make this Subaru well refined and highly responsive on-road and it benefits from punchier low-rev output in off-road scenarios.
Subaru has made a habit of producing practical vehicles and this new addition to the upgraded Outback line-up doesn’t disappoint.
Does anyone need a Wilderness version of the Outback? Probably not. Will anyone want a Wilderness edition Outback? I reckon a lot of Outback fans would fall over themselves to get their hands on one of these.