2012 Subaru Outback Changes back to top
Styling: The 2012 Subaru Outback won’t get substantive styling changes as it awaits a model-year 2013 facelift. A new color choice or two, maybe a revised wheel design is about all you can expect. The 2012 Outback will retain the basic look it adopted with its successful model-year 2010 redesign.
The original Outback qualified as one the pioneering crossover sport-utility vehicles when it bowed in 1995 as a ground-clearance-enhanced station-wagon version of Subaru’s Legacy sedan with SUV-like styling cues. The basic formula remains intact in today’s fourth-generation model, though the junior-SUV look has thankfully been toned down over the years.
The 2012 Subaru Outback will remain based on the Legacy sedan, which also was redesigned for model-year 2010. Black-out treatment in the lower front and rear fascias and along the sides lend the Outback a more rugged appearance than the sedan. And the 2012 Outback should again be about four and a half inches taller and nearly two inches longer than the sedan. Overall, it’ll remain about the same size as the similarly wagon-ish Toyota Venza crossover, though the Honda Accord CrossTour is about 8.5 inches longer overall.
It still won’t qualify for serious off-roading, but the 2012 Outback will gain boast some pretty generous ground clearance. At 8.7 inches, it has nearly three inches more than the Legacy sedan and nearly an inch more than the Venza or Crosstour. In fact, Outback’s 8.7 inches is more than some more overtly SUV-like crossovers (the Honda Pilot, for example, has 8.0 inches) and rivals that of some off-road oriented crossovers, such as the Toyota 4Runner, which has 9-9.6 inches.
The 2012 Subaru Outback should again share its basic interior design with the Legacy sedan, which means it’ll remain comfortable and nicely finished with high quality materials. This five-seater will return with no less than eight cupholders. Limited models should again come with leather upholstery and other Outbacks with cloth seats.
The winged motif of the Outbacks’ grille and headlamps will again be mirrored in the attractively styled dashboard, which has conventional round gauges and a straightforward assortment of buttons and dials on the center stack of controls. When fitted with the available navigation system, a color LCD touchscreen display is located at the top center of the dash.
Outback’s cabin will remain impressively spacious, with plenty of headroom and 37.8 inches of rear-seat legroom, a measure that puts it in league with the Accord Crosstour and only an inch or so behind the Venza and the Chevrolet Equinox and Ford Edge, all of which have notably longer wheelbases. Wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear axles and key to how much interior volume a vehicle can provide.
Indeed, Outback gets the most of its comparatively brief wheelbase. Cargo volume, for example, is competitive with anything in the class, exceeding that of the crossovers mentioned above, as well as that of the
Jeep Grand Cherokee and Nissan Murano. The 2012 Outback will again provide some 34 cubic feet behind the rear seats and just over 71 cubic feet with the 60/40-split seatbacks folded flat; the rear seatbacks also recline for added passenger comfort.
Expect the 2012 Outback to return two basic series: four-cylinder models likely will retain 2.5i, 2.5i Premium, and 2.5i Limited designations and six-cylinder models probably will continue as the 3.6R, 3.6R Premium, and 3.6R Limited.