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Consumer Reports Loves Eyesight on the 2015 Subaru Outback – Ruge’s Subaru
3 NovLike the vast majority of car buyers, we’re impatient. We like to buy cars for the Consumer Reports test fleet right off the dealer’s lot. But sometimes to get what we want, we have to order a car and wait for it to be built and delivered. That was the case for our long-awaited 2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited, because we wanted one option: EyeSight.
Subaru’s suite of electronic safety aids includes a lot of capability. Forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, and automatic braking to avoid low-speed collisions are just part of the skill set. EyeSight can warn when it senses that you’re nodding off based on steering patterns. It can even tell you to go if the car ahead of you at a light drives off and you’re still sitting there texting.
Why the wait for a car with this potentially life-saving gear? Chalk some of it up to the typical availability issues that come along with introducing a redesigned car. Subaru’s system of regional dealer allocation also probably played a role in our Outback playing hard to get.
Read our road test on the 2014 Subaru Crosstek XV Hybrid—the Outback’s fuel-efficient little brother.
When we picked up our Outback last week, our high-volume Subaru dealership—redundant terms in New England—said that EyeSight cars were still basically customer order only. A quick look at other dealers reveals a bit more inventory, but EyeSight availability still falls well short of the 30 percent of Premium and Limited trim level cars that Subaru expects. We think supplies will clear up as time ticks on, and other regions might have more availability. But for now, if you want EyeSight, be prepared to shop around for a dealer who can get one. And be ready to wait.
There’s a nice side effect to ordering the car: You can skip all of Subaru’s typical port-installed options, stuff like mud guards and extra interior mats, that can add hundreds to the price. Despite those savings, our new Outback 3.6R Limited’s $36,835 sticker price doesn’t seem cheap, but you get a lot of equipment here for that dough. It also compares well to our last top-grade Outback, a 2006 3.0R VDC that stickered for $36,538.
Needless to say, the intervening nine years brought a lot of progress, not to mention a lot more interior space. Thanks to the added power, our 2015 six-cylinder Outback feels particularly smooth and effortless to drive. Fully loaded, the only missing feature seems to be a heated steering wheel. Subaru doesn’t offer one, but it seems like a no-brainer for a car that dominates winter climates.
As the leaves fall here in Connecticut, we’re quickly racking up miles on our new Outback. We’ll also publish our test of the four-cy
2013 Subaru Outback Test Drive – Ruge’s Subaru
9 Jan
By Dan Roth
Posted Jan 9th 2013
Vital Stats
- Engine:
- 2.5L H4
- Power:
- 173 HP / 174 LB-FT
- Transmission:
- CVT
- Drivetrain:
- AWD
- Curb Weight:
- 3,459 LBS
- Towing:
- 2,700 LBS
- Seating:
- 2+3
- Cargo:
- 34.3 CU-FT
- MPG:
- 24 City / 30 HWY
- MSRP:
- $29,095 (Limited)
Subaru has given the 2013 Outback a host of detail changes and updates, though you’d hardly know from looking at it. The mild exterior changes mostly go unnoticed, and if you’re comparing on a numbers basis, the new 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine is bang-on what the old engine would do. The biggest news is EyeSight, Subaru’s new stereo camera-based system that drives lane-departure warning, active cruise control, automatic emergency braking and forward collision alert functions.
The 2013 Outback spent some time in my driveway, and as far as jacked-up wagons with off-road cladding go, this is one of the most affordable of the lot. That doesn’t mean it’s cheap; the Outback I tried was a Limited model with moonroof, navigation, EyeSight, leather and CVT added on. That takes the Outback from its roughly $25,000 starting point and adds nearly $10,000, landing solidly in the mid-$30,000 range. Still, against its most natural competitors like the Volvo XC70 and Audi A6 Avant, the Outback is a better value.
DRIVING NOTES
- The new 2.5-liter four-cylinder is surprisingly happy in this big wagon. It never felt underpowered, though it also never felt abundantly strong. Adequate.
- Even more shocking, the CVT and four-cylinder combo proved smooth and refined most of the time. Hard acceleration, like merging on the highway, was really the only time the slippy-revvy characteristic of the CVT appeared. Most of the time it was as unobtrusive as the smoothest automatic transmission.
- This is a very nice car in Limited trim, and the interior materials are better than I remember them being in the last Outback I sampled. The leather seats are very comfortable for long hauls, the interior is acceptably quiet, and the car is a perfect match for climates that see lots of inclement weather. Driving through rain and snow quickly points out what the buzz is all about with these cars. The Outback is comfy and confident in the slop.
- When it’s dry, you pay a price for the increased ride height and chunky tires. Still, sporty handling is not this car’s forte unless you’re competing in winter rallies.
- The navigation system is fiddly to use, the screen is now on the small side compared to the competition and it generally just isn’t that good. It took a lot more active babysitting of the nav to get it to display useful information and get me to a destination when a clogged highway changed my route. The key to a successful arrival turned out to be 70-percent my own wits and 30-percent the navigation system’s capabilities.
- The EyeSight system is mostly annoying. It’s really sensitive and alerts at the slightest provocation. The first thing I did every time I got into the Outback was hold down the two overhead buttons to shut the EyeSight system up.
- The fuel economy I saw was better than you’ll get out of a CUV or SUV with comparable space, though given the ride height and size, the Outback is practically a crossover anyway, so the solid mid-to-high 20s I was able to squeeze from each gallon of fuel are mostly due to having a small engine and a transmission programmed to reach for the sky as fast as possible.
2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i a ‘Swiss Army Knife on Wheels’ – Ruge’s Subaru
27 Sep
Images courtesy Subaru
If I were told today to choose only one vehicle that I would drive for the rest of my life – not knowing what the rest of my life would entail – that vehicle might very well be a Subaru. And tempted as I would be to pick something like the WRX STi or BRZ, in the end my decision would probably be the Outback.
Billed as the “world’s first sport utility wagon,” the Subaru Outback offers a range of features that would cover most driving situations I might be faced with in the future. Perhaps my being an Eagle Scout tilts my decision towards that of “being prepared” or maybe my age is telling me to weigh all possibilities and trust instincts based largely on experience.
Either way, I think I would prefer the Subaru Outback, a sort of “Swiss Army knife on wheels.”
I recently spent time with the latest edition of the now fourth-generation model outfitted with the 173hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder horizontally opposed “boxer” engine backed by CVT gearbox with steering wheel paddle shifters. (Those of you preferring to handle the gearshifts yourself can opt for a manual slushbox behind the 2.5 engine.) And, being a Subaru, of course there is the symmetrical all-wheel drive that I (and so many others) love so dearly.
Seems every time I receive a Subaru model from the press fleet squadron I go out of my way to find driving conditions that would trip up most daily drivers but Subies always manage to shine like a new penny.
Getting back to the recent 2013 Outback tester, we enjoyed all the amenities afforded by the Limited package it arrived in. This includes leather seating, dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth connectivity, XM Satellite radio, 17-inch alloy wheels, power moonroof and the outstanding harman/kardon 440-watt nine-speaker audio system.
Outback models still have only two rows of seating but five adults will ride in comfort in this vehicle. This is the roomiest Outback ever and rolls on a very stable platform that is scarily smooth and well balanced. It also features some of the best ground clearance in anything closely resembling a wagon.
Road manners are always minded and the new Outback provides one of the most comfortable driving experiences of any utility-something on the road today.
The powertrain combination is deceptively smooth four a four-banger and fuel economy is a very acceptable 24 mpg city and 30 mpg highway. All things considered though I still would rather opt for the 3.6-liter boxer six that Subaru offers on this platform, gladly trading the added “oomph” for a few ticks off the gas gauge.
Perhaps the biggest news in the 2013 Outback is the debut of the Subaru’s new EyeSight driver assist system that integrates adaptive cruise control, pre-collision warning and braking and lane departure warning.
A pair of forward-looking cameras straddling the rearview mirror feed information to a computer to identify vehicles, obstacles, and traffic lanes and below 19 mph will even bring the vehicle to a complete stop if the driver fails to brake in time. Another cool function of the Eyesight system is alerting the driver when heavy traffic in front begins to move again and the driver is not reacting accordingly and will also reduce throttle response when it detects the vehicle approaching upcoming traffic too quickly and the gas pedal is still being pressed.
Pretty cool stuff if I do say so myself.
Pricing for the 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited we tested begins at 29 grand and change with our test model rolling in at $33,830 thanks to the added option package that includes voice-activated nav, power moonroof, and EyeSight.
If I were told the Subaru Outback would be the last car I would ever drive I would not be disappointed, not one bit.
Automobile loves the 2013 Subaru Eyesight Safety System – Ruge’s Subaru
8 SepWhile features like Adaptive Cruise Control originated on high-end vehicles, the trickle-down effect of high-tech features on automobiles is only growing. Subaru, which recently rolled out its EyeSight safety system on the 2013 Legacy and Outback, promises to offer it on every Subaru model in the future. To see if the system is all talk or pitch-perfect, we gave it a quick shakedown.
The only visual cue that a Subaru is equipped with EyeSight is a slightly bulky apparatus that sits behind the map lights. Unlike some adaptive cruise control or automatic braking systems that use ultrasonic sensors, EyeSight uses two black-and-white cameras, which are mounted on either side of the rear-view mirror.
The camera setup is stereophonic–that is, they create a running “left” and “right” video feed, which a computer stitches together to determine depth, much like our own brains. EyeSight is capable of identifying objects in a vehicle’s pathup to 87 yards away, and since it doesn’t use radar, it’s also capable of detecting non-metal objects, like people or animals. The only downside of not having radar is that the system’s latency — the time it takes to detect a possible obstacle and react accordingly — is between two and 2.5 seconds. Subaru promises that future versions of EyeSight will decrease that lag as processor speeds climb and algorithms improve.
With that small caveat in mind, the camera setup allows Subaru to program in over half-a-dozen safety systems based upon the cameras’ data. EyeSight provides camera-based adaptive cruise control, pre-collision brake assist and automatic braking, pre-collision throttle override, and lane departure warning and lane sway warnings using just the cameras.
We were only able to test EyeSight’s pre-collision warning and braking systems, but learned that the other systems work just like those we’ve already used: adaptive cruise control replaces ultrasonic sensors with two cameras to maintain a safe following distance and follow cars in front to a complete stop, and the lane departure warning uses the cameras to read lines and warn when the car
exits a lane without signaling. Lane sway control works like LDW, but doesn’t wait until you’ve already left your lane to warn that you’re swaying.
As for the pre-collision system, we tried a production-spec 2013 Legacy 2.5 Limited with EyeSight and came away impressed. As we traveled towards a foam barrier (painted with a photo of an Outback wagon) at 20 mph with no intention of stopping, the system first silently detected the obstruction, then chirped and showed a warning message on the color multi-function display. After that, the car took over braking and applied light pressure, then applied full anti-lock braking force to pull us to a stop about two feet shy of the barrier. The interim “light-braking” step gives the system a smoother operation than, say, Volvo’s City Safety system, but it certainly isn’t as smooth as the Infiniti JX’s automatic braking feature, which is less of a last-ditch safety feature and more of a driving tool.
Subaru says the system can stop cars at speeds up to 19 mph, but it performed admirably with us behind the wheel at 21 mph and with a spokesperson doing 30 mph on the same course. Above that speed, Subaru stops promising that the system can bring you to a full stop, and instead suggests EyeSight can mitigate the force of a rear-end impact.
What happened next in the Legacy is new and notable thing. We backed the car up about 20 feet, and accelerated towards the barrier again. Almost immediately, the system detected the object in front and cut some throttle, beeping and reminding us to brake (the system won’t automatically brake for you in this case). This feature, called pre-collision throttle mitigation, is designed to prevent rear-end collisions where the second car in a line of cars tries to accelerate into the first car, perhaps while the driver is looking to see if an intersection is clear.
While the Subaru system can stop the car automatically, like many other systems, it also has a mechanism to quickly return control to the driver. Performing the 20 mph test again, we let the car go into “light braking” automatic mode, and then quickly swerved around the barrier at the last possible second. As soon as we turned the wheel, the braking stopped and the system allowed us to clear the car without bringing us to a stop or abruptly returning power.
Subaru’s system might not have every single high-tech safety feature installed–its front-mounted cameras can’t do anything about back-up collisions, for obvious reasons–but it works well, and further improvements (and reverse cross-traffic warnings) will arrive in a few years. In the meantime, the EyeSight setup is available only on 2013 Legacy and Outback Limited models (available with either the H-4 or H-6 engine), as part of an optional $3940 package. That puts the cost of an EyeSight-equipped Legacy at $30,605 with the 2.5-liter H-4 or $33,605 with the 3.6-liter H-6, and the Outback at $33,830 for a 2.5 and $36,830 with a 3.6 (all prices include destination). Even with the steep price, Subaru says the take rate on EyeSight-equipped Outback and Legacy models, which have been on sale since July, is exceeding expectations.
Source: Subaru
Ruge's Subaru 
Just when you thought Audi and Dodge were the sultans of safety, Subaru reminds us every 2015 model in its lineup made Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick status.
A press release from Subaru said all seven of its 2015 models — Legacy, Forester, Outback, Impreza, BRZ, XV Crosstrek, and WRX (which also counts the STI) — earned Top Safety Pick status in IIHS testing.
Furthermore, five of them — Legacy, Outback, Forester, Impreza and XV Crosstrek — earned the IIHS’ top rating of Superior for front crash prevention technology, the release said. That earned them the IIHS’ Top Safety Pick + status. Subaru said the Impreza and XV Crosstrek are the only cars in the entire small car category to achieve the “superior” rating for front crash prevention. Beginning with the 2015 model year, Subaru said those two models get Subaru EyeSight driver assist technology. EyeSight includes adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking, and vehicle lane departure warning, Subaru said. Other models with available EyeSight are the Legacy, Outback, and Forester, Subaru said.
Subaru of America, Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas J. Doll said, “We are very pleased that the IIHS has recognized Subaru in their recent tests. Safety is a long-time hallmark of the Subaru brand and we are proud to have the IIHS’ 2015 Top Safety Pick endorsement for every vehicle in our line-up.”
Subaru said in order to earn Top Safety Pick status, all its 2015 models had to achieve IIHS’ top rating of “good” in all four tests of high-speed frontal, side, and rollover crashes as well as the test of seats and head restraints that measures likelihood of head or neck injury in a rear-end collision. In addition, the automaker said its models had to score “good” or “acceptable” on the IIHS’ stringent small overlap crash test that has ripped the safety ratings of small and large cars to literal and figurative shreds since it was introduced to the testing regime in 2012.