Ssangyong Tivoli vs Subaru Outback

What's the difference?

I was asked the critical question while I had the Tivoli ELX on test – “Do you think people will buy this car?” After some time in thought, my answer was – “Not many… yet.”

Those who can look past the brand perceptions are getting an SUV which is damn near as good as anything on the market – and likely cheaper to run.

To that, you can say a lot of things: If only it cost slightly less. If only its rear was better looking. If only it had a five-star safety rating.

But here it is – the fact that the Tivoli can even hold a candle to its slick, finely tuned competition says a lot. The Double Dragon is back, and if it can afford to stick around for a while, perhaps it will stand a chance of putting the big players on notice.

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.

SsangYong is hardly a brand known for its consistent or good-looking design. In the past, the brand has floundered between the squared-off lines of the Musso and the unresolved bulbous curves of the last-gen Korando.

The brand’s re-launch has finally brought it up to speed, with every car across its range featuring a consistent design language. It’s improved out of sight, but still isn’t without its flaws.

Up front, there’s an angry-looking, squared-off horizontally slotted grille, with angles galore wrapping around the small SUV’s sides.

The angles continue up the A-pillar and across the roof for a squared-off, European-influenced roofline.

Then, around the back things get… strange. A pronounced curvy ridge makes its way over the rear wheels and into a rounded-out boot. It seems at odds with the angular rear glass and lower garnish.

There’s just way too much going on around the back; it’s overly styled. The chintzy chrome finish around the lower reflectors doesn’t help, nor do the big round SsangYong badge and bold ‘T I V O L I’ typeface.

The 16-inch alloys on the EX and ELX grade are a simple 10-spoke matte-silver. They’re nothing special, but at least they're easy to clean.

Inside, things are also mixed. There’s plenty of good and bad. The seats are clad in a robust cloth with plenty of sponge for comfort, and there are sensibly placed soft surfaces in the doors and on the centre console for your elbows.

The dash has an aesthetically pleasing symmetrical theme to it and is finished mostly in decent plastics. The 7.0-inch media screen is pretty good, too, but the rest of the centre stack is a bit nasty and old fashioned.

There’s the mix of gloss plastic and silver surfaces, a giant climate control dial and the so-so buttons that litter its surface. It reminds me of Korean car designs past, like the Holden (Daewoo) Captiva and generations-old Hyundais. Credit where credit is due, though - it all feels much better built.

I’m actually a big fan of the Tivoli’s steering wheel, it has a ridged, chunky shape and is finished in a pleasing artificial-leather material. The function stalks behind it are solid, with rotary dials on them to control lights and wipers. As the primary touch-points for the driver it’s neat that they have a unique, SsangYong personality to them.

The most obvious design tweaks include a glare-reducing bonnet decal, the new grille and bumper, substantial durable plastic cladding on each side, and some tailgate trim and lighting variations away from standard Outbacks.

There’s gold edging here and there around the Wilderness exterior (fog lights etc) and it’s eye-catching, but this vehicle attracts some bemused looks.

While it’s based on the mid-spec Outback AWD Premium, the Wilderness stands apart because of its taller stance (with an extra 20mm ground clearance over standard Outbacks) and chunkier overall look.

For numbers nerds, the Wilderness is 4880mm long (with a 2745mm wheelbase), 1880mm wide, 1735mm high and has a listed kerb weight of 1781kg.

Its wheel tracks (1575mm front / 1600mm rear) are 10mm narrower in both cases than those of standard Outbacks.

Inside, the Wilderness has water-repellent upholstery with embossed Wilderness logos on the headrests, Wilderness tags on the seats, orange stitching throughout and all-weather floor mats.

All in all, it looks stylish, inside and out, but it’s also ready to play in the dirt.

The Tivoli might be a small SUV but it has a cavernous cabin. It’s seriously impressive and rivals some of the best players in this segment, like the Honda HR-V.

The front seat offers huge amounts of headroom, leagues of legroom, great space for your arms on either side and a fully telescopically adjustable steering wheel.

Storage is comprised of a shallow trench under the climate-control stack, decently sized cupholders in the centre console and doors, as well as a deep console box and a glovebox, which seems to disappear forever into the dash.

There’s also a rather odd trench cut out of the dash above the console box. It’s ridged and has a rubbery surface but seems useless for storing things, which will simply topple out when you accelerate.

As previously mentioned, there are comfortable surfaces for resting your elbows on for front occupants.

Room for back-seat dwellers is also excellent, with awesome legroom for the segment and leagues of airspace even for taller folk. There are the same padded elbow-rests in the doors and deep cupholders, but no air-conditioning vents or USB ports.

There are also weird elastic ropes on the back of the front seats for storing things (with mixed success) and a pull-down armrest.

The boot is rated at 423-litres (VDA), which is deceptively large (size-wise not far off the HR-V’s 437-litre space). The problem here is the shape of the boot itself. It’s deep from the floor to the retractable screen, and SsangYong says it will hold three golf bags, but it’s the narrow width and length which limit  its potential.

I found it awkward to move some odd-shaped objects, like a heater and some boxes, and the high entry-point to the bootlid makes things a little difficult when moving heavier items.

Our ELX has significantly more room thanks to a space-saver spare under the boot floor. The Ultimate, which sits above has a full-size spare, further limiting boot space.

There are the same odd elastic ropes in the edges of the boot wall for smaller loose objects or cables.

In terms of practicality the Wilderness doesn’t disappoint. The cabin has a neat and familiar layout with enough soft-touch surfaces, storage space, cupholders and charge points to satisfy most drivers and passengers.

The 12.1-inch horizontal multi-media touchscreen is easy enough to operate, with many cabin functions able to be controlled via on-screen buttons, but some functions (including air-conditioning and auto vehicle hold) can also be adjusted via physical off-screen controls, which is handy.

The seats offer improved lumbar and pelvic support relative to previous Outbacks, there’s more headroom for the driver and passengers and Subaru reckons the rear cargo area opening is more than 50mm higher than standard for easier loading and unloading of gear into the rear.

According to Subaru the Wilderness upholstery is “hydrophobic synthetic leather with an anti-slip embossed finish” which looks good and seems durable enough for a lifetime of weekend road trips with some dirt inadvertently tracked inside for good measure.

Cargo volume is a listed 530 litres (with the rear seat up and in use), and that expands to 1211 litres when the 60/40 split-folding rear seat is down.

You can conceal whatever is in the rear cargo area with the new foldable fabric cargo cover which can be used as a tonneau-style cover, cargo partition, or even to protect the rear load lip. Its rear-most fixing points attach to the inner walls with magnets.

The cargo area has a 12-volt outlet, two shopping bag hooks on each wall, four tie-down points on the floor and a full-size spare wheel stored under that floor.

The Wilderness has new high-strength roof rails which are claimed to offer a static load capacity of 363kg (increased from 318kg).

Subaru has made a habit of producing practical vehicles and this new Outback doesn’t disappoint.

The 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness has a manufacturer list price of $59,690, before on-road costs.

It’s based on the mid-range Outback AWD Premium but offers a lot on more onboard than that variant including an upgraded turbo engine, 240mm ground clearance (20mm more than the standard Outback), electronic dampers and extra 'X-Mode' off-road functionality.

As well it gets a new bumper and front grille (with SUBARU emblazoned across the front), substantial cladding on each side, water-repellent upholstery with embossed Wilderness logos, all-weather floor mats and some Wilderness-specific trim and lighting on the tailgate.

The Wilderness also gets a 12.1-inch horizontal multi-media touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (and wireless charger), a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, heated/powered front seats, heated outboard rear seats, a hands-free powered tailgate, X-Mode off-road mode, roof rails, 18-inch black-finish alloy wheels (with full-sized spare).

Annoyingly, the Wilderness misses out on some features included in its cheaper stablemate, the Outback AWD Touring ($56,990, before on-road costs) – namely active lane-change assist, a 360-degree camera system, 12-speaker Harman Kardon sound, Nappa leather, ventilated seats and a sunroof.

Spend another $3000 over the Wilderness price-tag and that $62,690 (before on-road costs) will put you in the top-spec Wilderness Apex. Its extras (over the Wilderness grade) include sat-nav, and the aforementioned 360-degree view monitor and Harman Kardon audio system.

In terms of value for money, you get a lot a of bang for your buck in this Outback and it more than holds its own against rivals, such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X and Toyota RAV4.

Our Tivoli is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine producing 84kW and 300Nm of torque.

That seems a little low on the power front compared to petrol competitors, but the strong torque figure available from an almost instantaneous 1500rpm gives this engine a solid amount of get up and go.

If you aren’t opposed to diesel, I would strongly suggest this engine over its underpowered 1.6-litre petrol equivalent, as it has almost twice the available torque.

It might seem risky for SsangYong to be offering diesel in a segment where the fuel type is unpopular, but it makes sense from a global supply point of view, as diesel is largely the fuel of choice in the Tivoli’s home country of South Korea.

The ELX is front-wheel drive and can only be had with a six-speed torque converter auto transmission manufactured by Aisin.

There are two direct-injection Boxer engines on offer in the Outback line-up: standard Outbacks get a 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated engine (137kW at 5800rpm and 254Nm at 3700rpm), while the Wilderness and Wilderness Apex get a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol boxer engine, producing 194kW at 5600rpm and 382Nm at 2000-3600rpm.

Both engines are matched to a continuously variable auto transmission (CVT) with eight-speed 'manual' mode. No Outback in the new line-up has a manual gearbox.

The Wilderness’s 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.

Over my week of mainly urban driving I scored a fuel-consumption figure of 7.8L/100km against a claimed urban figure of 7.4L/100km which is not too bad, but also not stellar.

The official claimed/combined usage figure is at a bold-sounding 5.5L/100km.

The Tivoli has a 47-litre fuel tank.

Official fuel consumption for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 9.7L/100km.

Fuel consumption on test was 10.8L/100km (combined) and while a lot of this test was spent on sealed surfaces, we did do unsealed road and rough-track driving.

The Outback has a 63-litre fuel tank so going by our on-test fuel consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 583km from a full tank of premium unleaded petrol.

We never recommend that you drive blindfolded, but if you could and you drove the Tivoli, I honestly believe you’d have trouble telling it apart from any other small SUV on sale today. 

The diesel engine feels strong from the get-go and pushes the 1390kg SUV along with a reasonable urgency. It’s no performance drivetrain, but it's as good as, if not better than, most of the petrol competitors.

The six-speed torque converter auto is mostly great around town but is old-school in that you can definitely feel each ratio. It also had the unfortunate habit of occasionally grabbing the wrong gear.

I once caught it out altogether under heavy acceleration and it spent a whole second fishing for the ratio it wanted. It’s still better than a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for driver engagement, though.

Steering is on the light side but is direct and offers decent feedback. The ELX offers three steering modes - 'Comfort', 'Normal', and 'Sport', which artificially alter the weight behind the steering. 'Normal' is by far the best.

The suspension was also notably impressive. Fellow Korean brands, Hyundai and Kia, have harked on for a long time about local tuning efforts, but I found the Tivoli’s suspension tune almost as good. It’s a slightly more spongey, comfort-focused tune, but I was impressed at how composed it felt in the corners.

The ELX has a cheap torsion-bar rear suspension setup, which could only really be noticed over rough road conditions.

Behind the wheel, the Tivoli was also surprisingly quiet at lower speeds. This makes for a nice, quiet drive around town, despite the diesel engine, but at speeds above 80km/h and engine rpms above 3000 the noise became significantly worse.

I’d say the Tivoli drives just as well as most Hyundais and Kias from just a few years ago. There’s room for improvement in the little details, but for the brand’s first effort since its international re-boot, it does a darned good job.

From the start, this is an enjoyable car to drive. The driver’s seat is eight-way power-adjustable so it’s easy to dial-in your preferred driving position. There’s ample visibility for a vehicle that feels so snug around you and this is a nimble mid-sized SUV with a 11.0m turning circle.

On-road, it is quiet and smooth, and its ride and handling are well controlled, with new dual-pinion electric power steering adding more precision.

The tweaked Wilderness suspension set-up – MacPherson struts at the front and double wishbones at the rear (both with newly tuned electronically-controlled dampers) – yields a comfortable driving experience.

As mentioned, the engine/CVT combination is generally impressive, but if driving based on the CVT’s behaviour is not entirely your cup of tea, you can always use the paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel to have your fun.

The Outback has always been a solid all-rounder and well suited to light- to medium-duty off-roading and over the years its driver-assist systems have been tweaked and finessed to improve those attributes.

Worth noting, we define light- to medium-duty off-roading as driving on well-maintained gravel tracks or dirt roads in dry weather, or coping with minor corrugations, or muddy potholes on dirt or gravel tracks in wet weather.

This SUV's AWD system is intended to keep you safe on less-than-ideal terrain, such as rain-splattered wet blacktop, loosely gravelled bush tracks or slightly muddy dirt roads, rather than transform the Outback into a rock-crawling beast.

Afterall, this is not a 4WD with low-range gearing, ample ground clearance and aggressive all-terrain tyres.

However, with a skilled, experienced driver at the helm, the Outback is even able to tackle off-roading so difficult it would otherwise seem out of an all-wheel drive’s realm of capability.

The Wilderness edition simply builds on that reputation.

For starters, it has greater ground clearance (240mm) than other Outbacks and so its off-road angles are an improvement, with its 20-degree approach, 21.2-degree ramp-over angle and 23.6-degree departure angle besting its lower-spec stablemates.

Subaru’s X Mode system, with snow/dirt and deep snow/mud modes, adds another level to the Outback’s capability. These modes tweak acceleration, off-road traction-control activity and front and rear axle limited-slip function, among other things, to suit the terrain. Working in conjunction with driver-assist tech such as Hill Descent Control, the Outback handles light- to medium-duty off-roading with no strife whatsoever.

Ride and handling remain fine on unsealed country roads, and the suspension mostly soaks up the more dramatic bush track lumps and bumps.

If you’re looking for a vehicle to tow a 2500kg-plus caravan, boat or horse float then look elsewhere because the Wilderness has 750kg (unbraked trailer) and 2100kg (braked) towing capacities.

In terms of all-around driveability, this Outback has a lot going for it and can stand its ground against the likes of the Toyota RAV4, and even the Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X.

The Wilderness has not been tested ANCAP, but it has an extensive suite of safety gear and driver-assist tech.

Standard safety features include nine airbags, AEB (Auto Emergency Braking), driver monitoring (annoying), active lane-change assist, front and side alert assist, emergency lane keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitor, traffic-sign recognition, adaptive cruise control and more.

For child seats there are top tether points for all three rear seat positions with ISOFIX anchors on the outer two.

The SsangYong Tivoli now leads the small SUV segment with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is miles ahead of the acceptable industry standard of five years/unlimited kilometres offered by most competitors.

Service pricing comes in at a completely fixed and impressive-for-a-diesel $322 per yearly 15,000km service for the life of the warranty.

Extra service items are tidily laid out in a chart breaking down parts cost, labour, and total price, with the most notably expensive item being transmission fluid ($577), which, at worst, is recommended to be changed at 100,000km.

From this we can tell SsangYong intends to target Kia’s audience and use this part of the business to categorically beat its competition.

The Wilderness is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty, five-year/75,000km capped price servicing, and comes with 12 months of roadside assistance.

Servicing is recommended at 12 month/15,000km intervals.

The upfront prepaid service plans are a three-year service plan ($1275.37) and a five-year service plan ($2347.31).

For comparison, the first five years' service for a comparable Toyota RAV4 will set you back $1625.

At time of writing, Subaru Australia has more than 114 authorised dealerships and more than 120 service centres around the country.