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Special Coverage
Auto Interiors Conference
Ask average consumers to define key attributes of the Subaru brand, and all-wheel drive is sure to top the list. A few might know Subaru’s legacy in off-road rally racing.
If Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. continues to launch interiors as user-friendly and well-appointed as that in the all-new Subaru Outback, then “great interiors” soon will top the list.
In the highly contentious popular-priced car category of this year’s Interior of the Year competition, the Outback stared down seven rivals from the world’s three major automotive markets and proved No.1 among new entries.
The interior strikes the proper balance of brushed aluminum, high-grade plastics, supple leather and burled wood trim in proving that quality materials need not be the exclusive province of luxury cars.
Instead, our Outback test vehicle stickered at $28,295. Sure, there are less-expensive vehicles, but few offer the interior flexibility, spaciousness and near-luxury leanings of the Outback.
“If one must use hard plastic, take a lesson from Subaru or its suppliers,” Associate Editor Christie Schweinsberg writes on her scoresheet. “Gloss levels are very low.”
In some respects, the Outback had an unfair advantage because it’s so spacious. Compared with the ’09 Outback, the new model has more room for hips and shoulders, more interior volume and a whopping 4 ins. (10 cm) of additional rear legroom.
It helps that the exterior dimensions have grown significantly in height, width and wheelbase. Because of the upsize footprint of the new Outback, Ward’s is considering moving the vehicle from its Upper Middle Car segment (where its sales were tracked within Legacy sedan numbers) to the Middle Cross/Utility Vehicle segment.
