Unveiled: Subaru's new Liberty and Outback wagons

We’ve seen the wide-bodied American versions now comes the first look at the Japanese-sourced Australian-bound Subaru Liberty and Outback line-ups. Fuji Heavy Industries has just released details of its all-new Liberty/Outback range due to arrive in Australia around September this year.

The new Subarus are longer, wider and higher and introduce a distinctly rakish new look with more aggressive side-panel sculpting as well as a bold, yet more acceptable front end than some Subarus of the recent past.

Earlier this year the New York Motor Show played host to the unveiling of the American examples which are wider than the Japanese models (more here and here).

The official release introduces Liberty B4 sedan, Touring wagon and Outback versions as well as the range of engines and transmissions (including a new CVT) on offer.

The Touring wagon and B4 sedan come with the familiar 2.5-litre boxer four-cylinder, or the turbo four with a revised, forward-mounted turbo system claimed to lift performance and lower emissions. The Outback will be fitted with either the normally aspirated four-cylinder or the 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer engine.

Transmission choices add Subaru’s new CVT system, dubbed Lineartronic, into the mix. It is available in Touring, B4 and Outback, but only with the 2.5-litre normally aspirated engine.

The new CVT transmission is a compact design claimed to offer good fuel economy and offers a manual shift operation with six pre-set ratios.

The turbo four-cylinder is available with a six-speed manual transmission, as well as Subaru’s five-speed auto. The Outback’s six-cylinder engine is only available with the five-speed auto.

Also new for Liberty and Outback are an electronic parking brake, and electronic power steering.

Inside, the Subarus get more passenger space, partly achieved by better, wider seats with scalloped seat backs, and increased cargo space in both sedan and Touring versions. The driver gets a better deal with a wider range of seat adjustment - fore/aft and height - while all seats get more ergonomic cushioning.

SI-Drive, which is fitted to all models, works on the engine mapping to suit differing driver styles by offering three modes of response: Intelligent, Sport and Sport Sharp.

All models come with six airbags, as well as stability control and anti-lock braking.

More details will come to hand closer to the new model’s local introduction.

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