2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness: Factory Lift, All-Terrains, and Skid Plates Make This One Tough Wagon
And lots of orange accents.
Spied wearing swirly camo back in January, the 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness is officially here. Sporting a factory lift and a whole smattering of off-road upgrades, Subaru is billing it as the most rugged Outback it's ever made. Let's dig into how the Wilderness Outback has claimed that title.
Sitting nearly an entire inch higher than the regular Outback, the Wilderness boasts 9.5 inches of ground clearance and features upgraded shocks with longer suspension travel that's been tuned to excel on loose surfaces. New 17-inch matte black wheels are wrapped up in Yokohama Geolandar all-terrain tires. X-Mode consists of Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud driving modes as well as a new roll-angle indicator.
Compared to the vanilla Outback, the approach angle is increased from 18.6 to 20.0 degrees, breakover from 19.4 to 21.2 degrees, and departure has gone from 21.7 to 23.6 degrees. A standard front skid plate keeps the Outback Wilderness in one piece when that approach angle isn't quite enough.
Under the hood sits a 2.4-liter, turbocharged boxer engine making 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. It's hooked up to a CVT with an increased final drive ratio for more low-end wheel torque. This being a Subaru, symmetrical all-wheel drive is on board as is the company's EyeSight ADAS. Towing capacity comes in at 3,500 pounds while the ladder-type roof rack can support up to 700 pounds.
Visually setting the Wilderness apart are bulkier bumpers front and back, a more outdoorsy-looking hexagonal grille, more prominent fender cladding, LED fog lights, and a matte black hood decal that cuts down on glare as well as looking kind of cool. Chrome has been replaced with black badges, black window trim, copper accents inside and out, and some gunmetal interior pieces. Seats are covered in water-repellant StarTex and get copper contrast stitching to match the trim.
Subaru has yet to announce pricing or release date for this station wagon-loving overlander's dream, only saying that it'll be announced later this year. Regardless if most folks actually take advantage of the extra gear on this Wilderness edition, it's nice to see Subaru going out of its way and build cool stuff for its most hardcore fans.
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