Last year, Subaru updated the Outback in a bid to make sure that it wouldn’t fall behind various compact SUVs or tall wagons such as the VW Golf Alltrack.
While styling revisions were subtle, the 2018 Outback gained significant upgrades underneath, such as re-tuned dampers, steering and brakes, a more refined gearbox, better sound-proofing and even some driver-assistance systems, such as the Steering Responsive Headlights.
Certain interior updates are also easy to spot, and quite useful, as Kelley Blue Book’s Micah Muzio points out at the beginning of this review. The reviewer considers the cabin of the Outback to be “already well-sorted”, although seats with better lateral support would have been appreciated.
Overall practicality is a forte for the Outback, with sufficient passenger room in the back and loads of luggage space in the trunk, both with and without the rear seats folded.
On the move, the review found the updated Outback to offer excellent visibility, well calibrated steering and good maneuverability. As for which engine you should opt for if you like straight line acceleration, the 3.6-liter boxer with 256 HP is the way to go, although it’s not as fuel efficient as the 175 HP 2.5-liter flat-four.
In the end, despite not bringing any radical changes to the 2018MY Outback, Subaru appears to have strengthened the product to the point where you’d be hard pressed to find much, if anything wrong with it.