The Subaru Outback has always been an outlier. Sure it's got all sorts of styling cues that scream SUV, but nobody is mistaking its shape for anything other than a Legacy wagon. No one expects it to actually be good off-road, but it is — as long as the expectations are reasonable and realistic. And beyond all that, it's a vehicle with a friendly, low-key vibe that seems at ease whether it's parked out front at a Sierra Club meeting or wearing a tailgate full of NRA stickers. The Subaru Outback seems to make everyone happy.
With the introduction of the fourth-generation 2010 Subaru Outback, the Outback became a separate model instead of an elaborate option package on the Legacy wagon. But that doesn't mean Subaru's quirky engineering traditions had been abandoned — and the Outback is still very much a member of the Legacy family. The base engine is Subaru's flat-4, and going for the big engine means getting a flat-6. All-wheel drive is, of course, part of the package as it is on all Subarus sold in North America.
As with virtually all current production vehicles, the primary structure was a steel unibody with MacPherson struts in front but there's a new double-wishbone independent system in the back. Compared to the previous Outback, the fourth-generation Subaru Outback rode on a 2.8-inch-longer wheelbase, but overall length was down an inch thanks to reduced overhangs.
The Subaru Outback has, since its inception as a trim package back in 1995, always been a bit goofy in its faux Aussie heritage. After all, there's no kangaroo leather upholstery available and the cupholders aren't big enough to hold one of those oversize cans of Foster's Lager. But over the years, refinement of the concept has resulted in an amazingly useful everyday machine. It's not quite pretentious enough to be called a crossover, but slightly too substantive to be dismissed as a jacked-up station wagon with an attitude. It just is what it is. And what the Subaru Outback is, is something unique.
