What's the difference?
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 Toyota Camry might be in a spot of trouble here.
The 2026 BYD Seal 6 has arrived, and not just at a lower starting price with a more electrified plug-in hybrid drivetrain, but with a wagon option, too.
In fact, the Seal 6 Touring Premium wagon is the halo variant of the Seal 6 range and its price matches the Camry’s entry grade.
The mid-size sedan and wagon duo from China, not to be confused with the already-launched BYD Seal electric car, make up what’s probably BYD’s strongest jab at Toyota yet. A true threat to the iconic Camry.
BYD’s biggest selling point for the Seal 6 is its range, more than 1000km in the real world, tested on just one tank and one charge from Sydney to Melbourne.
One day of pure highway driving and a day of winding country roads put that to the test on its Australian launch so you hopefully never have to.
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.
The 2026 BYD Seal 6 proves a compelling offering at a time when cost and efficiency should be nearer the top of your new car consideration list. Not just for its long range, but its clever use of electrons and fuel to keep costs down even after the initial humble outlay.
It helps that the Touring Premium remains sub-$40,000, before on-roads, and offers plenty of features, a spacious interior and the right kind of drivetrain for everyday use in Australia.
While rivals like the Toyota Camry or Skoda Octavia are more polished and can almost compete on price, the BYD’s features and efficient PHEV powertrain will outweigh the brand names and more refined on-road behaviour of established rivals for, we would guess, a significant number of buyers.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.