Subaru Outback Wilderness 2026 Review

Sitting second from the top in the 2026 Subaru Outback range, the all-new Wilderness retails from $59,690 plus on-road costs and uses the entry-level Outback AWD as its basis, to which it adds a turbocharged 2.4-litre engine, fully adaptive dampers, a 20mm suspension lift, revised gearing, two off-road drive modes, unique visuals and a couple of extra creature comforts.

Headlining the equipment list is a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, 12.1-inch infotainment system, heated front and rear outboard seats with power adjustment for the driver, a powered tailgate, water-repellent upholstery, wireless smartphone mirroring, a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging pad and an auto-dimming mirror.

The whole package rides on black 18-inch alloy wheels weirdly shod with Bridgestone Alenza road tyres.

As usual for Subaru these days, the upgraded 194kW/382Nm engine drives all four wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT); the lower gearing provided by a revised final drive ratio.

Claimed fuel consumption is 9.7L/100km on the combined cycle, though our test car returned an indicated 11.6L/100km after a full day of testing on- and off-road.

All the usual safety goodies are present, including an upgraded Subaru Eyesight system (wide-angle camera, emergency driving stop), the Subaru Vision Assist suite (blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, forward and reverse AEB, front side radar), nine airbags and driver monitoring.

The Subaru Outback has always been one of the most capable soft-roaders on the market, but the Wilderness takes things to a new level with 240mm of ground clearance, improved approach, breakover and departure angles, lower gearing and extra underbody protection.

A revised all-wheel drive system and two X-Mode off-road drive modes combine to make this the most capable Outback variant to date.

It’s hardly an industry secret that media launch routes are designed to showcase and flatter a vehicle’s key attributes, but there was a collective gasp from the assembled road testers on the Outback’s launch at how rough and technical the off-road drive program was in the context of a road-focused family SUV.

Some of the hill climbs would’ve had us reaching for low range in a dedicated 4x4, primarily in the name of mechanical sympathy, but Subaru sent us up on our merry way, tyres scratching and clawing at the often shaley surface while the CVTs whined in protest.

But all the cars made it up, including the standard non-Wilderness versions.

Beyond the extra clearance and turbocharged engine, the Wilderness’ biggest trump card over the standard Outback is its fully adaptive suspension which automatically adjusts to the surface and driving behaviour, free of selectable drive modes.

That said, engaging one of the two X-Modes – the only drive modes to be found – immediately softens the dampers off in the name of off-road comfort, and it makes a difference.

Compared to the regular Outback, the Wilderness is softer and more compliant off-road, taking the hard edges off bumps and recovering more elegantly both with and without X-Mode engaged, but especially with it on.

The latest Outback’s updated symmetrical all-paw and traction control systems continue to be two of the best in the segment and even managed to negotiate the most technical feature of the off-road drive – a steep uphill water bar forcing a front wheel lift and cross-axling – without X-Mode engaged.

On the black-top, the benefits of the Wilderness’ adaptive suspension are immediately apparent, yielding a more sophisticated ride and more confidence-inspiring handling than a standard variant, elements that pair brilliantly with the superior turbocharged powertrain and new-generation electronically-assisted power steering system.

That’s not to say the standard Outback is sub-standard – quite the opposite in fact. It’s just the Wilderness does everything with that extra bit of polish… as it should given its near-$11K price premium over the entry-level Outback AWD it’s based on.

The rest of the Wilderness’ positives are all shared with the rest of the range: there’s heaps of room in the second row, there’s still a full-sized spare wheel, there’s more headroom than the previous model, the 530-litre boot is 8L bigger than before while retaining the familiar snag-free layout, it feels unshakeable in poor conditions and four of the five seats are comfortable and supportive for adults.

First thing’s first, this is not a good-looking vehicle.

The 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness isn’t quite Kia Tasman ugly, but it’s as if the designers didn’t know when to stop and just kept adding more styling cues. That or they’d got into the red cordial…

It’s particularly offensive (on the eyes) from the rear; it’s all just too busy and while we’re told certain elements have functional purposes routed in an active or adventurous lifestyle, this author was sick of looking at it by the end of the drive program.

The standard versions are much more palatable and have some class about them, but they’re still a cosmetic downgrade on the previous generation, which was elegant, classy, tasteful and couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than an Outback – the new model looks too much like a Forester, especially through a dirty or wet rear window.

Next up is the pricing. At near enough $60,000 plus on-roads, the Outback Wilderness is not a cheap vehicle and yet there are some equipment concessions that really ought to be present; primarily sat-nav and a steering wheel that doesn’t feel like it’s come from a base model hire car.

Subaru Australia has said there’s room in the new Outback range for expansion; we’d love to see some sort of cut-price Wilderness that perhaps forgoes the turbocharged engine or even the electronic suspension – not to mention some of the toys like the heated steering wheel, wireless charger, heated rear seats etc – to bring the price down into the mid-$50,000s.

One glaring omission is all-terrain tyres. The car made its global debut fitted with black 17s and Yokohama Geolanders, and yet ours ride on 18s shod with road tyres.

Sure, it conquered the challenging terrain on the launch just fine, but it also lost its composure immediately in the greasy patches we were able to find.

On a similar note, the air intake is low compared to a proper 4x4 wagon and Subaru Australia doesn’t recommend fording water deeper than 240mm which could pose some issues for winter adventures.

Objectively, the 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness is a very impressive thing. It’s the Outback we’d been asking and waiting literal years for, with the generational change bringing some truly meaningful upgrades and improvements.

For the most part, it nails the brief: be more dirt-capable than any other road-focused large SUV on the market and ask some major questions of the ladder-frame crowd on a day-to-day basis, all while providing a classier experience than the standard Outback.

If you have the budget and/or appetite for an adventurous SUV that doesn’t need to tow too much while offering decent outright performance, then you’ll likely be very happy indeed with this purchase – just stay away from deep water crossings and bog holes.

Undermining a lot of the appeal, however, is the standard Outback.

The base Outback AWD conquered all the same off-road challenges the Wilderness did over our two days in the Blue Mountains, it’s calm, comfortable and refined on-road in its own right, and although it’s admittedly down on power and torque, it’s really only a problem during highway overtakes.

Perhaps that’s why Subaru Australia has, for now at least, reserved the WRX-sourced engine exclusively for the Wilderness; it’s worried the adventure rig won’t sell anywhere near as well if customers can have 90 per cent of the appeal for less coin.

2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness at a glance:
Price: $59,690 plus on-road costs
Available: Now
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 194kW/382Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic (CVT)
Fuel: 9.7L/100km ADR combined
CO2: 228g/km ADR combined
Safety rating: Unrated

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