All Outback Wildernesses are thankfully powered by Subaru’s turbocharged 2.4-liter Boxer flat-four engine, putting out a solid 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. It is, of course, mated up to a continuously variable automatic transmission with eight fake gears, and power is directed to all four wheels through the Japanese automaker’s tried and true Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive system. This 3,973-pound beast isn’t exactly a barn burner in its current form, with my butt estimating a 0-to-60-mph time in the low-to-mid-6-second range, so I cannot even imagine how slow it would be with the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter Boxer engine of the standard car. In any case, despite its brick-like aerodynamics and chunky tires, the Wilderness still gets 21 miles per gallon city, 27 mpg highway and 23 mpg combined, according to Subaru. That’s not stellar for a four-popper, but I’ve certainly seen worse from off-road-focused vehicles.
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
The Wilderness’ electronic dampers do a fairly solid job of keeping things steady on the road, but a corner carver, the Outback Wilderness is not. There’s no steering feel at all, but the wallowy-ness of the standard car is kept somewhat in check. It feels a bit more progressive in that way. Everything sort of happens in slow motion, and it’s very predictable. There’s also very little in the way of side-to-side body movement in the chassis, but there is plenty of roll. None of this matters, though, since no one is going to hustle an Outback Wilderness down a twisty road anyway.
What they will do is cruise down the highway or drive around town, and for that, it is wonderful. Other than some added noise from the taller roof rails and all-terrain tires, it drives down the road pretty much like the standard Outback, which is a great thing. That means it’s quiet and comfy, and you won’t tire of driving it after a long trip. Aiding in this is Subaru’s excellent suite of driver safety and assist technology. Unfortunately, the Wilderness doesn’t get the company’s new Level 2 highway driving system seen on the XT Touring, but all of the other EyeSight components we’ve come to expect from Subaru are accounted for and work as expected.
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
Off-road is where this car really shines, though. It’s hard to explain just how good it is — you’ll just have to take my word for it. Subaru brought us to a massive rain-soaked ranch in Northern California to put the Outback Wilderness through its paces, and despite some rugged terrain and a hell of a lot of mud, it remained steadfast. That extra ground clearance certainly made a difference, as did the beefed-up X-Mode and more off-road-oriented tires.
At no point did this car ever feel even close to getting stuck, and when grip let go on one tire, I could hear the system’s active torque vectoring moving power from wheel to wheel. It was really something to behold. I’m not saying the Outback Wilderness is a rock crawler that can keep up with a modified Wrangler, but you’ll have to be a real sicko to get this thing stuck, and if you do, it’s almost certainly going to be your fault.
