Subaru Outback 2021 review: Sport

The fact that the Subaru Outback range starts at under $40,000 is genuinely staggering, as this really is a lot of car for the money.

Prices have, however, risen compared to the old model, which Subaru says reflects additional equipment and safety tech.

The range starts with the entry-level Outback AWD at $39,990 but we’ve got the mid-range AWD Sport at $44,490 (the top-spec AWD Touring is $47,490).

Our Outback comes with model-specific dark 18-inch alloy wheels, a full size alloy spare, LED headlights, LED foglights, push-button start, keyless entry, electric park brake, rain-sensing wipers, heated and power-folding side mirrors, fabric seat trim, leather steering wheel, paddle-shifters, electric adjustment for the front seats, rear seats with manual recline, and a 60:40 split-fold rear seat with boot release levers.

There’s also a genuinely impressive 11.6-inch touchscreen in portrait layout - reminiscent of Tesla’s although not quite as outstanding - which incorporates Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

Inside is a 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen.

There are six speakers standard, as well as four USB ports (2x front, 2x rear).

Other aesthetic touches for our Sport spec include black exterior trim, fixed roof rails, a power tailgate, water repellent interior trim with lurid green stitching, heated front and outboard rear seats, sports pedals, light-sensing headlights (auto on/off) and sat nav as part of that big media screen.

There’s also a front view and side view monitor for parking/low speed driving.

What you miss out on by not going to the top-spec Touring are the electric sunroof, Nappa leather interior trim, a heated steering wheel, auto dipping passenger side door mirror, memory settings for driver’s seat, satin finish door mirrors, silver highlight roof rails (with stowable crossbars), and gloss-finish wheel, and a better stereo. 

Unless you really want leather, I think the Sport is the sweet spot here, and hugely well specified at the price.

Our test car was wearing a no-cost optional layer of something called Autumn Green Metallic.

The Sport gets all the impressive safety tech, too, including a driver monitoring system that warns you to keep your eyes on the road (it really works, too, not the I looked at my phone and got beeped at) and monitor for signs of drowsiness.

All models come with a reversing camera, Subaru’s EyeSight forward facing camera system that incorporates AEB, lane keeping, adaptive cruise control and more. 

Not having a wireless phone charger didn’t bother me overly, but considering how many Hyundais it’s now in as standard, it probably should be in the Outback.

Colour wise, I was wearing a no-cost optional layer of something called Autumn Green Metallic. I liked it, a lot of people did not.

This Outback doesn’t just feel like a new car inside, it feels like a whole new Subaru has been launched.

The most obvious factor is that huge new central screen, which looks fabulous when running Apple CarPlay (sadly, even using the cable connection, I had a few issues with it operating less than seamlessy).

The touchscreen looks great when running Apple CarPlay.

There are a lot of buttons on the steering wheel, which has a lovely, chunky steering wheel, but they are all simple enough to use and logically laid out.

I must admit the indicators drove me slightly mad, as Subaru seems to have copied BMW’s design flaw of using blinkers that tend to stay on when you don’t want them to, and need to be cancelled manually. This might be something you get used to, of course.

This Outback doesn’t just feel like a new car inside, it feels like a whole new Subaru has been launched.

There are four cupholders, two front and two back, and bottle holders in the doors as well, and generally there's plenty of storage in the cabin.

I also managed to drive a few adults across vast swathes of Sydney while I had the Outback and they were comfortable in the back with plenty of head and legroom. My children - 14 and nine - were even more so.

There's plenty of head and legroom in the back.

The adjustable back rest should allow an even higher level of comfort than normal, while the boot space - at 522 litres (VDA), was more than ample for my weekly shopping and the run to swimming lessons.

With the seats dropped you can fit a whopping 1267 litres back there.

Sure, it’s not an SUV in terms of shape, but there’s more room here than you’d find in some of its mid-size SUV competitors, and more than enough for most people.

The engine is perhaps the least obvious but, on paper, most impressively new part of the Outback, because it is, according to Subaru, “90 per cent new”, or just 10 per cent same old, same old.

All Outbacks share the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder boxer engine, making 138kW and 245Nm. They’re not exciting figures, but they’re good enough, and more than the engine they replace - with 7 per cent more power and 4.2 per cent more torque.

Personally, I would like to see a turbo version - which is available in other markets - for a bit more Subaru-style zing. And the wider market would probably appreciate a hybrid offering of some kind, in this day and age, but it is not to be.

The 2.5-litre four-cylinder boxer engine produces 138kW/245Nm.

For what it is, the naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine is up to the task, particularly around town. I’m curious to know how it would handle climbing a steep mountain, but there weren’t any in my neighbourhood to find out on.

Sadly, there is no manual transmission and all Outbacks make do with a “refined” Lineartronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) automatic.

I do not like CVT transmissions. This Outback did not change my mind.

The official fuel claim is 7.3 litres per 100km, and in our admittedly brief time tougher I got a figure averaging closer to 8.5 litres per 100km, which is still not too terrible. 

The Subaru runs on 91RON regular unleaded.

While it’s up against other brands doing seven and 10-year warranties, Subaru is sticking with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

The brand also has shorter maintenance intervals than some, with services scheduled every 12 months or 12,500km (most are 15,000km intervals).

The costs of maintenance aren’t low, however. After an initial free checkup at one-month, the services cost: $345 (12 months/12,500km); $595 (24 months/25,000km); $351 (36 months/37,500km); $801 (48 months/50,000km); and $358 (60 months/62,500km). That averages out at about $490 per service, which is high. 

While it might loom large next to a Subaru Impreza or the seemingly ubiquitous XV, the Outback is not so vast or overbearing that it’s difficult to park. 

There’s good visibility all round - which made my wife, who fell instantly in love with this car as a daily driver and now wants one quite annoyingly badly - and the parking sensors are less jumpy and annoying than some of the other safety systems.

I was confident enough to take this Subaru up to our local high street, which is in a state of constant warfare over too-few car spaces, and even to our local Woolworths, a place I do not normally enter when driving larger SUVs, thanks to the fact that its carpark was designed when no vehicle was larger than a Datsun 1600.