The Subaru Outback is now an SUV. Or, a crossover, if you prefer that term. What it isn’t anymore, I don’t think, is a station wagon. Yes, Subaru pitches it as a station wagon to serve as an alternative to all the crossovers and SUVs out in the world — but if you look at the numbers, I think that’s hard to justify.
Consider, for instance, overall height. The Outback is 66.1 inches tall, which makes it the exact same height as the Honda CR-V — a vehicle nobody considers to be anything other than a crossover. The Outback is actually ever so slightly taller than the Toyota RAV4, which stands at 65.9 inches. And it’s nearly an inch taller than the Mazda CX-5, which is 65.3 inches.
There’s also ground clearance: Subaru says the Outback has 8.7 inches, which is massive — and far more than most SUVs. The Honda CR-V has just 7.2 inches of ground clearance, the Mazda CX-5 has 7.5, and even the larger Ford Explorer has only 8.3 inches. In other words: The Outback can ford streams with the best of ’em.
Of course, everything else is SUV-ish, too — like all-wheel drive (standard on the Outback, which is very un-wagonlike, and optional on most actual SUVs), the large cargo area and the general marketing pitch to precisely the same type of people who purchase SUVs.
This wasn’t always true. It’s worth noting that the Subaru Outback of years past was very much a station wagon: The original model, for instance, was just 57.1 inches high and later grew to 63 inches with an increase in ground clearance to emphasize its off-roadiness. But either way, it wasn’t as tall as it is now. But now it has grown — in height, in size, in capability and in SUVness. And I think the Outback is now, officially, an SUV, or a crossover, or a CUV, or whatever term you want to give it that isn’t “station wagon.”
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The Outback and crossovers are designed for people who want a taller seating position and haul around kids and stuff in the suburbs. I curse everyone in Northern VA that drives a Subaru, because they think they are invincible in snow/ice, but end up in a ditch.
I agree with the other comment about it being considered a station wagon based off the legacy just like the crosstrek is based of the impreza. The forester is much more of a cuv even though it’s pretty much the same size as the outback.
the Outback became a free-standing model line of its own, independent of the Legacy
A station wagon is a sedan with a extended hatch. The outback is a wagon of the Subaru Legacy which is a sedan. Seriously how does a person writing in autotrader not know this?
the Outback became a free-standing model line of its own, independent of the Legacy
It’s sort of a wagon.. I’d place it under the sub category: “Bloated Wagon” sort of along the lines of the AMC Eagle, just bigger.
Which makes the BMW X1 a station wagon.
I admitted it around 2015 recognizing that it hadn’t been a wagon since 2009. That being said, I like it better than most crossovers because it’s the most wagon-ish crossover.
You’re looking at it wrong. Most of what people consider SUVs are really just tall station wagons. But if they called them station wagons people would avoid them like minivans so the marketing teams label them an SUV or crossover. Very few vehicles today are really an SUV.