Subaru Outback vs Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class

What's the difference?

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 GLS450d impresses as an entry-level grade, as it’s a more family-friendly allrounder than the specialised AMG and Maybach variants. Its combination of a torque-rich diesel 48V hybrid drivetrain, air-cushioned suspension and plush interior are as well suited to luxury urban travel as they are to grand touring, where its heavy towing and generous load-carrying capabilities can shine. Whether it’s worth around $200K drive-away, only those who shop at the top end of town can decide.

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.

This is an imposing vehicle in extravagant S-Class tradition, riding on an expansive 3135mm wheelbase and stretching more than 5.2 metres (5215mm) long and more than 2.0 metres (2030mm) wide with a turning circle that's nudging 13 metres.

However, it’s just under 1.8 metres (1798mm) tall, so there’s no clearance issues when accessing multi-storey carparks. And with its side-steps (or ‘running boards’ in nostalgic Benz speak) most adults can step rather than climb aboard, although passengers of shorter stature during our test noted that assist handles on the A and B pillars would be handy.

Central to its sophisticated chassis design is adaptive air suspension, which uses a pneumatic or ‘airbag’ form of springing with adaptive damping to continuously optimise ride comfort and handling response according to road conditions and driving dynamics (see Driving).

The GLS’s styling is clean and uncluttered with tasteful restraint evident in its chrome and satin-chrome highlights, yet it projects a majestic quality with its prominent four-louvre grille and elegantly spoked alloy wheels.

The spacious and sumptuous seven-seat interior is visually pleasing and practical, with a subtle blend of surface treatments, contrasting tones, lots of soft-touch surfaces and exposed stitching. This is combined (thankfully) with physical dials, switches and ‘piano key’ buttons to control numerous interior functions, in preference to distracting touchscreen prompts.

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.

Although it has a hefty 2655kg kerb weight, our test vehicle’s 3420kg GVM rating provides a useful 765kg of load capacity, which should comfortably absorb the combined weight of up to seven occupants and light luggage. Or with the third row of seating folded, five occupants and heavier luggage.

It’s also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer and with its sizeable 6920kg GCM (or how much weight it can legally carry and tow at the same time) it can carry its maximum load while towing its maximum trailer weight.

So, that’s commendable practicality, given it would be well suited to owners that need to tow large caravans, boat trailers, horse floats etc in style without having to compromise much (if at all) on either passenger numbers or luggage capacity.

Driver and front passenger space and comfort is exceptional, as you’d expect. Storage includes a large glovebox plus a bottle holder and bin in each door. The front of the centre console has two USB-C ports, wireless phone charging and heated cupholders, while the rear of the console has a large storage box with a third USB-C port and padded lid that doubles as a comfy elbow rest.

Even tall passengers in the second row of seating enjoy spacious comfort, given I’m 186cm and with the driver’s seat set in my position I have ample knee clearance, foot room and head space.

However, the central passenger must contend with a transmission tunnel in the floor and shoulder room would be squeezy for three large adults, which is okay for short trips but a maximum of two would be ideal for longer journeys.

The rear of the centre console also treats second-row passengers to a pair of USB-C ports, adjustable air-vents and a control panel that allows independent climate adjustment.

There’s also a large bin/bottle holder in each door plus storage nets on each front seat backrest. The centre seat backrest folds flat to allow long items (skis etc) to slot between the outer backrests. And it also serves as a fold-down armrest, containing two cupholders and a lidded slimline compartment that’s ideal for hidden phone storage.

The third row is uncommonly spacious, even for tall people, with padded armrests on each side containing cup holders and twin USB-C ports.

The carpeted rear luggage area has four load-anchorage points, a first aid kit and 12v socket. With the third-row seats upright it offers 355 litres of load volume, which increases to 1350 litres with the third row folded and 2400 litres (or 2.4 cubic metres) with both the second and third rows folded.

Our Polar White test vehicle, which is the base grade in the three-tiered GLS range, comes standard with a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with 48V mild hybrid technology, nine-speed automatic transmission, permanent all-wheel drive and active air suspension for a list price of $189,100.

This pricing is higher than comparative entry-level grades offered by the two marques which dominate sales leadership in this segment, comprising the BMW X7 xDrive40d M Sport ($179,500) and Lexus LX500d AWD ($158,700).

The GLS450d’s standard features include 22-inch AMG alloy wheels with Continental 325/40 R22 tyres and a collapsible spare, ‘AMG Line’ body styling enhancements, aluminium-look illuminated side-steps with non-slip rubber studs, multi-beam LED headlights and more.

Step inside the keyless interior and you’ll find ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice activation, fingerprint scanner (which memorises individual comfort settings for up to seven users), panoramic sunroof, heat-insulating dark-tinted rear privacy glass and the ‘Premium Plus Package’ that includes heating/cooling for the front seats, heated rear seats, head-up display, separate front/rear climate control zones, heated cupholders and more.

There’s also a concert hall-like Burmester surround sound system controlled by a central touchscreen with digital radio and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus wireless phone charging, multifunction Nappa leather sports steering wheel and USB ports front and rear.

Driver assistance includes the ‘Parking Package’ (360-degree camera, active parking assist and transparent bonnet), ‘Mirror Package’ (auto-dipping rear-view mirror and electric folding door mirrors with puddle lamp projection of the brand logo) and ‘Driver Assistance Package’ (blind-spot assist, exit warning, speed sign recognition, lane keeping etc) all included as standard equipment.

Of course, Mercedes-Benz offers numerous extra-cost options including a 3500kg towing package plus interior, exterior, suspension and wheel enhancements (including Nappa leather trim) for those who want their GLS with the lot, which can easily push the list price beyond $200K.

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.

The GLS450d comes standard with a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder diesel producing 270kW of power at 4000rpm and 750Nm of torque between 1350-2800rpm.

This is paired with a 48V mild-hybrid system comprising a 48-volt battery (charged by regenerative braking) and an integrated starter-generator which provides both seamless engine stop-start and up to 15kW/200Nm of extra power and torque during acceleration.

A nine-speed torque converter automatic provides the choice of manual shifting using the steering wheel-mounted paddles, along with several selectable drive modes.

The active all-wheel-drive system continuously adjusts the engine’s torque delivery between front and rear axles (and individual wheels as needed) to maintain optimum traction and handling.

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.

Mercedes-Benz claims official combined consumption of 7.8L/100km and the dash display was showing 9.0 when we stopped to refuel at the completion of our 368km test, which included the usual mix of suburban, city and highway driving with up to five passengers at times and light luggage.

Our own figure, calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, was close at 9.5 which is outstanding sub-10L/100km economy for such a substantial vehicle in mostly metropolitan use. Therefore, based on our own consumption figure, you could expect a real-world driving range of around 950km from its 90-litre diesel tank.

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.

It’s an enjoyable vehicle to drive, with multiple power adjustments for the seat and steering wheel combined with a large left footrest which provide supreme driver comfort and support.

The powerful and responsive turbocharged six-cylinder diesel and nine-speed auto are well suited to this application. The engine’s ample torque provides spirited acceleration from standing starts, taking only six seconds to reach triple-digit speeds.

This drivetrain would be well suited to heavy towing duties, given the 48V mild-hybrid system can contribute an extra 200Nm (in addition to the engine’s 750Nm), which raises the total theoretical torque output to almost 1000Nm.

The active air suspension provides a wonderfully cushioned ride that floats over bumpy roads, while maintaining excellent handling response and surprising agility. These commendable chassis dynamics, combined with the powerful and responsive drivetrain, makes the vehicle feel smaller and lighter than its dimensions and kerb weight would suggest.

Overall, it’s difficult to fault from a driver’s perspective, with the only exception being the voice activation function. This is often triggered by words or phrases other than ‘Hey Mercedes’ resulting in regular interruption of conversations. This needs some fine tuning.

The GLS does not have an ANCAP rating as it’s yet to be tested, but comes standard with a suite of passive and active safety features including nine airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection and junction assist, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, head-up display, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keeping, adaptive cruise control with ‘distance assist’ (autonomously brakes/accelerates in heavy traffic), front/rear parking sensors, 360-degree camera and more.

There’s also two ISOFIX and three top-tether child seat anchorages in the second row, plus two more of each in the third.

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.

The GLS comes with a five-years/unlimited km warranty (better than BMW and Lexus) and five years of roadside assistance. Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/25,000km whichever occurs first.

Mercedes-Benz offers capped-price pre-paid servicing packages with three, four or five-year terms. For example, the total upfront cost of the minimum three-year term is $4090, or an average of $1363 per service.