Contrary to popular opinion, and indeed the evidence in the photos of the large number of cars I have tested in Southern California over many years, it does sometimes rain. And when it does, it can rain really quite hard. That was certainly the case on the last day of my December 2022 trip, when I had to resort to taking the hotel shuttle to the airport and then the Hertz shuttle from the airport to their facility to avoid getting soaked. Wandering around to select a car that was not parked up und the canopies was not very appealing, but luckily when I looked to see what I could reach without getting wet, I found a car that almost revels in poor conditions, as this is a model which finds huge favour in the US, especially those parts which have some of the more challenging weather. It was the latest version of the Subaru Outback, a car that was on my list to test out, and which is generally quite hard to source, as Subaru models tend to be grabbed quickly by other customers.

The first Outback was little more than a trim version of the Legacy Estate/Wagon, with slightly raised ground clearance, and some lower body cladding, but over time and a succession of generations of Outback (we are now on the sixth), it has evolved to become a model in its own right, with no associated Estate model offered, and although it is closely related to the Legacy Saloon/Sedan, it is presented as something separate. The latest version made its debut at the New York Show in April 2019 with US sales starting later in the 2019 as a 2020 model year car. Sales in other markets started during 2021, but in Europe this is very much a car with niche appeal. In America, it sells strongly, around 170,000 units a year pretty consistently, with particular appeal to those who live in the Snow Belt states. Whilst the Outback used to have a number of direct estate-car derived rivals, such as the AllRoad Audi and estate-derived XC Volvo models, in recent times, it has more or less occupied a market niche to itself, with competitors these days  all taking the form of crossover/SUV type. Subaru have a couple of their own vehicles of this genre, the Forester and Ascent, and the Outback sits between them in size terms. It is closely related to the Forester, sharing the same underlying platform and engines, but it does still present itself as more of a versatile estate car with off-road credentials than a true crossover. The sixth generation car is a careful evolution of what has gone before. Not all the changes have been well received, with the styling in particular seemingly a regression to more awkward looking models of yore, and there is a lot of tech added, again not all of it making the car more usable, but like every manufacturer these days, Subaru believe this is what their customers want. They certainly know that safety features are seen as important and so there are even more of those than before included with every Outback. I had one day to discover what I thought of the latest model.

There is keyless starting. Although less obvious than it used to be, when you do press that button there is still a distinctive sound, quite unlike anything else on the market, and this persists once you are underway. Lesser Outback models, such as the test car come with a 2.5 litre naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine which puts out 182 bhp. On paper you might think that this would be enough, as this is not far off the average for the saloon cars of this size, but the reality for this heavy car is that it really is insufficient. The Outback feels sluggish at best and it really struggles on inclines, and that was one up with just a suitcase in the boot. I can imagine that fully loaded you would really have to work the car hard to get decent performance from it. I don’t think the transmissions helps, either. Even though there are paddles provided, it is of the CVT type and it never really seemed to match what was going on with the accelerator pedal rapidly enough. Once settled at a steady speed, things seemed a lot better. Noise levels were generally low and the Subaru would cruise quite happily until the next hill or the need for a burst of acceleration to pass slower moving traffic. The saving grace is that economy was very reasonable, with the car needing 6.6 gallons after I had driven it 190 miles. That works out at 28.78 mpg US or 34.39 mpg Imperial.

Sadly, I would not describe the Outback as particularly nice to drive, even ignoring the sluggish performance. The steering really is not nice, being over-assisted and light lacking much in the way of feel. Subaru models do hold the road well, thanks to more of the front end weight being low down, and the standard all-wheel drive means there is plenty of grip but the handling of this one is a long way from the rally-honed glory days of yesteryear and it always feels like the electronics are taking over whether you want them to or not. This is a car that feels like it would be more at home on poor surfaces, where the good ground clearance and traction from the all-wheel drive set-up means you could take it pretty much anywhere. Standard wheels are relatively small at 225/65 R17, with the result that the ride is OK on the various surfaces I experienced around LA. The brakes worked well, and I had no particular issues with the visibility, with a Blind Spot Warning system being one of the many safety features included in all versions of the car. There is a comprehensive suite of other safety features, too, and many of these will irritate you on a frequent basis. The Lane Keep Assist was particularly intrusive and the car seemed eternally to be bonging at you often for reasons you would not work out.

All recent Subaru models have shown a significant improvement in recent times is the quality of the interior trim. Frankly they needed to, as ten years ago they were way behind just about every other brand on the market. These days you get an interior made from decent quality materials and a generally more cohesive design. This Outback certainly looks a lot posher inside than its predecessor.  There is a leather-wrapped steering wheel and there is leather on the dash. Whilst the quality is up, the usability really is not. There is now so much included in the spec of the cars that you either get a profusion of buttons, such as on the steering wheel, or an attempt to simplify things by putting them on the touchscreen that is difficult to use that it seems like there is almost the worst of all worlds. There are two large dials in the instrument cluster with smaller fuel level and water temperature gauges inset. The trip computer display which is between them has a lot of info packed into it. The column stalks seemed complex and there is an array of buttons on the steering wheel for audio repeater, cruise control and trip computer display options. There is a large portrait style colour touchscreen which dominates the centre of the dash. The icons on it are large, which makes them easier to locate, but the system is not that easy to use. In particular, I struggled initially to get a “home” screen as the icon for this was far from obvious. Almost everything is controlled here. There are knobs for radio volume and tuning but that is it. XM Satellite radio is included but you will need a posher spec to get standard navigation. Apple Car Play and Android Auto are standard but using these only takes advantage of half of the screen real estate, the rest is then blank. Dual zone climate features and is incorporated in the touchscreen. There are physical buttons to change the temperature but anything else associated with the system is in the touchscreen, which is less than ideal.

Seat trim is leather. Only the driver’s chair gets electric adjustment. The front passenger seat also does without a height adjuster which seems a bit mean. There is decent reach and range  adjustment with the steering column, so getting the right driving position was straightforward. Sadly, the seat itself, which was quite soft, did not seem that comfortable.  There is plenty of space here, with particularly good headroom.

The rear seating area is roomy. Even with the front seats set well back, there is ample legroom and the estate car styling ensures that there is generous headroom. Occupants here benefit from a central armrest, a couple of USB ports and there are both map pockets on the back of the front seats and pockets on the doors for odds and ends.

The boot is generously sized. There is a load cover to protect the contents from prying eyes. More space can be created by dropping the asymmetrically split rear seat backrests down which gives a nice flat loading area. Even you need even more carrying capacity, well there are roof rails with carrying crossbars. Inside the passenger compartment, there is a good-sized glovebox, a 2-level armrest cubby, a recess in front of the gearlever and some generously-sized door pockets.

For the US market, the 2021 Subaru Outback comes in seven trim levels: base, Premium, Limited, Touring, Onyx Edition XT, Limited XT and Touring XT. All-wheel drive i standard on every trim. The base Subaru Outback comes with a decent list of features, including: 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine (182 bhp, 176 lb/ft) with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) and 17-inch alloy wheels. You also get turn-adaptive LED headlights, roof rails with integrated crossbars, a 7-inch touchscreen display including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration and automatic climate control. A suite of Driver Aids include: Adaptive cruise control, forward collision mitigation, Lane Keep Assist and automatic high beams. Stepping up to the Premium trim adds a power-adjustable driver’s sea, dual-zone automatic climate control and the All-Weather package which includes heated and power-folding exterior mirrors, heated front seats and a windshield wiper de-icer. There is also an 11.6-inch touchscreen display, LED foglights, tinted rear windows and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Options on the Premium include: blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert, hands-free power liftgate, keyless ignition and entry, a sunroof and a navigation system. The Outback Limited includes all Premium features plus the blind-spot monitoring, hands-free liftgate and keyless ignition and entry. You also get: 18-inch wheels; Driver-seat memory settings; Leather upholstery; Harman Kardon audio system; Auto-dimming rearview mirror; Power-adjustable front passenger seat; Heated rear outboard seats and rear HVAC vents. Options for the Limited include a heated steering wheel, sunroof, navigation system and driver attention monitor. The Touring trim has all of the above plus ventilated front seats and upgraded leather with contrasting stitching. The Onyx Edition XT generally mirrors features of the Premium trim. It also comes with the turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine (260 bhp, 277 lb/ft) and an upgraded version of Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system with more drive modes as well as hill descent control, a front-view camera and unique body cladding. The Limited XT and Touring XT trims mirror the features of the Limited and Touring trims, respectively, but both get the upgraded turbocharged engine.

My test day may have started out as very wet, but careful study of the weather forecast suggested that by heading west to the coast around Ventura, I would exit the rain storm and find increasingly blue skies, which is why the pictures do show sunshine after all. So the weather was better than expected, but sadly I can’t really say the same about the Outback. I can absolutely see why this car has its fans. It has an honest sort of no-nonsense practicality to it, wrapped up in a package that is not overly big or aggressive, and the Outback’s ability to cope with wintry weather and poor road surfaces will be valuable to some. But for me, the sluggish performance (fixable by upgrading to the turbo engine), the irritating ADAS features and the frustrations of the touchscreen all counted against it. It’s not hard to see why it struggles to find favour beyond the loyal Subaru owners in Europe.