Here’s Why the 2020-2025 Subaru Outback is a Great Road Trip Vehicle.
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Welcome back guys! Please excuse my groggy voice as I finish recovering from a cold. But here are more thoughts I wanted to share with you regarding my Subaru Outback Wilderness on the interstate at 80mph. I haven’t driven it much lately, so this was a fun and refreshing drive!
Like, comment, subscribe, and take care! 🙂
It is the best for sure. I already have 17,000 miles on my ‘24 Outback Wilderness. My daughter plays in beach volleyball tournaments constantly and I race mountain bikes. So we do a lot of long drives for weekend trips, and this care performs incredible, and then it is easy to clean out the sand or mud when you get it back home. Love it.
When we get old and tell our stories. They are seldom about the destinations. We always lament The journey.
Happy trails.
I have a 2020 Legacy. It's an amazing road trip car. On the highway it can easy get 34+ MPG and has an 18 gallon tank. The highway range on this car is an honest 600 miles. We just don't have to think about gas that much in this car at all. Fill it up, it will take you where you want to go, and probably back again on one tank. Very comfortable, and the Driver Assist and Eyesight features are very well implemented.
That’s awesome!! I’m sad to hear that the Legacy is being discontinued. 🤦♂️
The XT Outbacks are awesome roadtrip vehicles. The non-turbo, doesn’t have enough power for me in the mtns or while passing. But the XT is a sleeper. 0-60 in 6 secs, diesel like feeling torque, and good mpg if you drive it gentle 😁
Well said!
Get the update done on your head unit, makes such a big improvement on the responsiveness and better climate controls. You can DIY install it if you have a small flash drive. Just about every complaint I had about mine was fixed with that. Completely agree with you on road tripping these, best road trip car I've owned!
Great insight! I actually started downloading the 4 extracted files onto a jump drive to start the update process and was filming it. But ran into some difficulties with it working smoothly and ended up scraping the idea of updating it myself for now. 🤷♂️😅
Drove 14 hours stopping only for gas to Thunderbay,Ontario. Extremely comfortable seats and very easy to drive due to excellent vision all around.
That’s awesome! 🤩
The Subaru Outback Wilderness is perhaps one of my new favorite vehicles as of typing this! The styling, tech, and of course the safety are all awesome in my opinion! But what I personally like are the larger tires, the black plastic and the slightly more off-road upgrades and stuff!
It’s strange but our Wilderness gets horrible gas mileage but our Limited XT actually gets better mileage.
We can’t figure out why.
Cool road trip vehicle. After filming, let's head on over to Coffee, Alabama; for some tea. 😉
450,000 outback
Nice!!!
My 2015 Outback is still an excellent road trip car with 151,000 miles and 34-38mpg at 60mph depending on wind and road conditions.
That’s awesome!! Original engine and CVT?
I can tell you that the '24 is an entirely different (better) car.
I've been patiently waiting to upgrade from my '13 xv. I'm hoping to pull the trigger on an Outback Wilderness, but I can't get on board with that big clunky screen. I'm hoping they eventually change that and bring back physical knobs.
Sorry to hear that your ND2 has a crapped out transmission. While it’s not common, it’s not rare for it to fail, sadly. Hopefully it won’t take weeks/months to get one to the dealer and installed. I had a ‘22 GT ST MT and I got rid of it w/in a year because I was hoping to simply get used to the cramped quarters but I never did.
Thank you, I appreciate that! Yeah, it was one of the ones with the 3-4 synchros failure. There’s brass in the oil. Unfortunately transmissions are on back order lol. But I’ll do an update video on it soon. I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you, I still love mine, but this was definitely not the most fun experience haha.
Automotive Anonymous , great video I really liked it
Glad you liked it!
Rock chips, a valid concern. Our ‘22 Outback has had 2 windshield replacements.
I’m sorry to hear that, cracked windshields seem to be a common concern on these cars. I’ve had one replaced from the fairly common crack that happens low on the passenger side. And the current windshield has been holding up well with for two years now with only a few legit chips that have been filled.
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 Toyota windshields crack easy too. Must be the same source
I've had no issues yet with a 2015, following distance at least 3 seconds at highway speeds
Took a trip in my parents 2018 Outback 3.6 (im the previous owner of both a 2016 and 2019 Legacy) and definitely found it comfortable. My biggest complaint with it is that it wandered a bit on the highways. My Legacys also suffered from that too which were really the only big issues I had with it. Im sure the lane centering helps with that on the current gen models. My current RDX doesn't suffer from the lane wandering and is pretty easy to drive long distances. The adaptive cruise control in the RDX isn't as refined as the Subaru but it does the job.
My 2015 Outback 2.5L doesn't wander, maybe that's the difference between 60 and 75+ mph
Great insight, thank you guys for sharing your experiences! I will say, go test drive a Jeep Wrangler on the interstate and then hop back into a Subaru (or literally anything else) and you’ll think it drives amazing and doesn’t wander at all in comparison haha. 🤪
Hope you stay with the one that you have. I’m hope the the new forester wilderness gets the turbo.
I heard the 20-24 FB25 engines have that dreaded thermo control valve instead of conventional thermostat. I heard Subaru is going back to the conventional old tech thermostat for 2025 FB25 engines found in Outbacks, Forrester, and some Crosstrek's and Imprezas.
Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard also! Although I haven’t heard about that failure being common at all on the forums, it’s nice to know Subaru has acknowledged it’s not the best design.
It’s really strange but the Wilderness that we had when my 🍋Forester was in the shop got horrible mpg and then the next time my 🍋 was in the shop Spokane Subaru gave us a Limited XT and it got far better fuel economy.
So when my wife’s Outback wears out it’ll be replaced with an XT Limited.
We usually take her Outback for our road car, but our last MT trip we took my Tacoma TRD Off Road, double cab and with 318 horsepower (yeah I’ve “tweaked” my 23 Tacoma) we were still getting 21.9 mpg at 90mph.
Oh so you guys still are considering another Subaru for her?? I hope it’s a better experience than your Forester ended up being. What did you tweak on the 3.5 Taco?? 🧐 I know there’s boost kits for them now, but it took a few years for them to come out due to the Atkinson cycle set up for fueling of that engine.
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 I put in a Cold Air intake and an Overland Torque Tune.
It came from factory with the TRD Performance exhaust, but eventually I’ll put in a Flowmaster FlowFX dual exhaust.
It currently has 318 horsepower and 295 lbs ft of torque at 2,300 RPM.
I’m pushing 60 years old but I still have the need for speed.
On our trip to MT a few weeks ago I found out that my Taco loves to run at 76, 82, 90, and 103 mph while getting 17-22mpg.
The tank that I got 17mpg was at 76mph while bucking a HARD cross head wind.
My wife’s Outback hasn’t given us any trouble yet. It’s going into Spokane Subaru on 6/29 for the 35K mile transmission, front and rear differential and motor oil / filter change.
I originally bought my Forester 🍋 because the Outback is such a great car so far. My wife Loves her Outback. It’s comfortable and safe, but it is underpowered with only 175 horsepower because it’s a 2019.
Her Outback Loves to run at 88mph in MT and 78 here in WA, but our local speed limit is 60, so she sets the cruise at 67.
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 Oh and I’m sorry that you Miata needs a new tranny.
I have a Forester 2020 for our family car. Engine blew at 35k. The dealer didn't express confidence that it would be fixed under warranty since i did my own oil changes. Waiting to hear back still if they will cover the rebuild cost.
Woah, I’m really sorry to hear that! I haven’t heard of many modern boxers failing. Do you have any of the oil and filter receipts? If you don’t mind please post back an update on what ends up happening? Sorry again to hear that and I hope they take care of you. If the dealer doesn’t figure it out I’d definitely be calling SoA.
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 i provided all my purchase receipts from online. Everything was in my email so pretty easy to find. I bought only high quality oils. Idemitsu, Amsoil. 0w-20. Also i used the tokyo roki jdm filters. I was thinking to make a video about my experience. I worked as a mechanic, i even had a dealer license and have went through atleast 50 used cars. Im not a stranger to general maintenance. I will follow up when i hear back from them
I have a 2021 onyx xt, and when I travel far I get over 550miles to the take but short distances is what kills the mileage
Yeah, short drives and around town is not where these shine for MPG! Lol.
Brother the Subaru Ascent is the best road trip vehicle!! I’ve owned a Crosstrek and Forester.
Not if you don’t want nor need a big 3 row suv. Plus wagons are cool.
We had an outback, traded for Ascent, love the road-trip comfort and still get over 25 mpg.
@@stevedott715so far in the high heat summers I can only get about 23 MPH. I’m curious if you have the 18” wheels or 20”. I have the 20”. The mpg may improve as well for me it just hit 1000 miles so it may improve efficiency soon.
@@AntilleanConfederationneeded my wife and I would love a Crosstrek Wilderness if we didn’t need the space that thing is soooo cool
@@freedom_foz_6337 get that break in oil out of there. I do that at 500 miles but that’s me being extra. Either get Subaru to change it with your free oil change or change it yourself along with the filter. Your engine will last longer. Change every 3k after that.
Is it just me, but refilling my tank hasn't ever gotten more than 16.6 gallons even after driving a few miles after the empty light comes on. My 2024 outback said 18 capacity.
I think low fuel lights are tuned to come on when the vehicle has about 2 gallons or 50 miles remaining. With that said my old FJ cruiser light would come on at 4 gallons, which also happened to only be about 50 miles remaining haha.
I have a 2021 with 150 000 on it drove it from Canada to Texas and back never had an issue with anything in the engine. Love the turbo 270hp rips when you need it
That’s awesome! Are those miles or KM?
The Outback makes more sense than a lot of cars, but Subaru styling is always so goofy; that is, Japanese over-design with little sophistication. I also balk at the huge front overhang (due to the engine hanging out entirely ahead of the front axle line). Plus, the interiors are very plasticky. So I haven't bought a Subaru in 25 years.
That said, I talked my mom into an Outback, and she likes it even though it lacks the "luxury" of her big old Cadillac.
How come you haven’t updated your 11.6 software?
I probably will soon. I had actually started making a video on this and showing how to do it on your own with the software online, but decided to scrap it incase it’s done wrong or causes anyone problems. I’ve been told the dealership can do it for free. But I’m unsure if all dealerships would do that or not once out of warranty.
What makes you say that CVT is not your favorite type of automatic transmission? What do you not like about them? Thank you!
I couldn’t actually care less about what type of auto it is, as long as it’s not a 4 speed or ultra slow at shifting. Sure a dual clutch fast shifting performance focused transmission would be sweet. But really the only issue I have with the CVT is that if it fails outside of warranty it costs 8-10k to replace. Whereas a traditional basic automatic should only cost 3-5k depending on the application. It’s super uncommon for one to fail, but then literally today or yesterday one of my best friends 2019 Outback CVT likely failed as the cause they were stranded on the side of the interstate. They’re still waiting on the complete diagnostic to be complete, but it sounds like the CVT may have self destructed on them going 80mph. 😬
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 I really appreciate the detailed response. Thank you for your answer!!
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 I really hope your friend finds some grace during this time
He actually said today that their local Subaru dealership “couldn’t find anything wrong”. I guess it didn’t even put off any codes. I’ll probably made a video about it in a week or two once more details come out and to share their report of the experience because it sounded really sketchy and abrupt how they had to stop on the interstate. 😬
Can you talk what the difference between 2025 and 2024 outback? Doesn’t seem anything but price. lol
I’m also assuming that’s all that’s changed lol. I haven’t found a 25 to review yet so I’ve not investigated any differences yet.
Does the 2024 Outback Wilderness have the latest (gen 4) Eyesight?
I don’t remember for sure but I don’t think so. I think I remember Gen 4 only being on the Touring, for whatever reason. 🤷♂️😅
Does it monitor and display transmission temp? If so, have ever noticed issues, especially on longer drives, and those with lots of hills?
It shows oil temperatures but coolant is only shown in cold/normal/hot. I’m sure a scan tool would show way more exact parameters. This does incredibly well going over hills without revving much, but it does get the oil up maybe 10 degrees higher. And I’ve been told by Subaru techs that they see more CVT failures in summer when vehicles are hot and running for far distances on road trips without adequate breaks and cool down time.
@@AutomotiveAnonymous208 Thank you. Hearing a bit from 'overlanders' about subaru, and really many AWD cars trans temps going past permanent trans damage when doing hills is something that i am slightly apprehensive about, especially with the ludicrously expensive cvt costs. according to some, a trans cooler will help mitigate some of the problems, but a temp gauge seems quite important simply to know when to stop and let it cool.
For sure! I know Driving Sports did a Subaru vs. rav4 winter climb test and in that test the Toyota overheated, the Subaru Wilderness did not. I definitely would want a tranny cooler model. But also if you’re planning to keep it past the standard warranty and decide to buy the Subaru Gold warranty I would say don’t worry and send it! Lol. With that said I never bought an extended warranty on my OBW so I completely baby it after having ran a 14 second 1/4 once, and now I’ll probably sell it right before the warranty ends.
So I am almost ready to pull the trigger on an Outback, probably Touring XT, and am concerned about this oil heating issue. What is considered an appropriate amount of driving before taking a break? Appreciate any feedback.
What I personally do on long drives is try to stop every 2-3 hours if not sooner to let the vehicle idle for a while and then shut off. As well as taking a personal break. 🤷♂️🤪
Stick with the 2.5 liter engine, stay away from the 2.4 liter turbo.
Why do you say that?
Bro the outback is not a cross over. It’s a wagon
😅
And its a great wagon at that,, I love my Outback.
@@transam6t9 Dad wagon unite!