2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness: First Look

Hey my good friends, Sam Haymart with Test Driven TV. Subaru recently introduced an off-roadier version of their popular Outback wagon. We're going to take our first look inside now. The new 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness brings a new off-road flavor and capability to the brand's often called station wagon on stilts, giving it some genuine credibility and swagger to bring to the rougher trails. With a heavy-duty suspension and a lift of nearly an inch, the Outback Wilderness sports a class-leading 9.5-inch ground clearance to go with its new 17-inch matte black wheels and white-lettered Geolander off-road tires. It gets an all-new front bumper fascia with a bolder hexagonal grille and LED hex fog lights. A matte black sticker on the hood and an aluminum front skid plate beef up its brawny persona a little bit further. Functional is a more substantial fixed ladder-type roof rack system that can hold up to 700 pounds and anodized copper finish tow hook anchor point covers and other accents all around. Larger wheel arch trims along with black window trim round out the new look along with Subaru Wilderness badges sides and rear. The cabin sports plenty of Wilderness logo goodness and carries through a number of the exterior's anodized copper finish accents on the steering wheel, shifter, and instrument cluster. Copper-colored accent stitching is seen throughout with seating upholstered in Subaru Star-Tex water repellent materials. That's vinyl. Beautiful rubber floor liners front and rear keep the mud and dirt at bay. Under the rubber-lined rear cargo floor is a standard full-size spare giving you confidence out in the wild. When open at night, the power liftgate also features a bright LED spotlight. Center stage is the new Starlink 11.6-inch porch-style infotainment system which integrates control for multimedia, HVAC, X-mode, and vehicle settings. Multiple camera views can be summoned including a front view which is great for off-roading. On the screen, an X-mode display features a roll angle graphic and others to assist when off-road. To make all this possible, it has taller shocks and springs front and rear to provide nearly an inch of additional ground clearance and suspension travel. Along with redesigned front and rear bumpers, it has an improved approach angle of 20 degrees, breakover angle of 21.2 degrees, and a departure angle of 23.6 degrees. While crawl ratio isn't a part of the conversation here, a lower final drive ratio of 4.44 to 1 and a recalibrated linear tronic CVT, that's a continuously variable transmission, all help to improve low-speed climbing abilities. An expanded array of X-mode software programs is along for the ride as well to manage its active torque vectoring and vehicle dynamics control. Powering the Outback Wilderness is the brand's 2.4 liter turbocharged Boxer 4 engine and it delivers 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. The CVT features an 8-speed manual mode function with steering wheel paddle shifters that can give you software-induced simulated shifts. The 2022 Subaru Wilderness has an EPA fuel economy rating of 22 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, and it can tow up to 3,500 pounds. Pricing will be announced later this year, closer to its fall on-sale date. I think this is a great idea for Subaru to do this. I see a lot of people around my town with Outbacks and other Subaru models who have lifted them up, bigger wheels and tires, roof racks, all the likes, sort of the Savari adventure theme, and Subaru offering this from the factory is, I think, a smart move for them. Obviously, I'll be test driving this a little bit later this fall, perhaps the winter when they come out. Until then, you can see our latest video right there. Better yet, subscribe to our YouTube channel right there. Either way, stay tuned.