Will we still like the Subaru Outback after a year?

[MUSIC] It's not going to win any trophies for design and now rappers probably aren't going to write songs about it. Subaru Outback is about as exciting as a new pair of orthopedic insoles for your shoes. But you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. [BLANK_AUDIO] This crossovery station wagon, I just said ovary is one of the latest vehicles to join the roadshow long term test fleet and it comes to us in high end but not range topping. Our next edition x t trim. Now that gets you things like a turbocharged engine under the hood, a bunch of blacked out exterior trim bits and of course an 11.6 inch infotainment display inside. Now keep watching this video. I'll tell you a lot more about this vehicle,and of course Stay tuned over the coming months as we put this thing through its paces And nobody tests vehicles quite like we do pushing them to the ragged edge in every way possible. Seriously, this built in food warmer sucks. During our year or so, with this Outback will keep track of fuel economy, let you know what we like and don't like. Plus we'll make note of any maintenance or repairs that are required, you know, the usual stuff. Under the hood XT versions of the outback feature a turbocharged 2.4 liter horizontally opposed four cylinder engine that get to 260 horsepower and 277 pound feet of torque lesser models feature a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated four cylinder which is also of the boxer variety and that gets you 182 horsepower and 176 pound feet of torque. Now both engines come matched to a continuously variable transmission and of course, they have standard all wheel drive. [MUSIC] Historically, I've never really been a Subaru fan. But in recent years the company has addressed my two biggest complaints, refinements and interior quality. These things used to sound like tractors, grumbling and chugging along like some old hay baler with a couple of burnt valves but that is no longer the case, this Outback's engine is every bit as smooth and silent as anything else in the class. [SOUND] Subaru interiors also used to be pretty meh, but again, no more. This cabin is quieter than before, it's Thoughtfully laid out and for what it is, it even features some pretty nice materials. One area this automaker has never needed to improve his safety. All of its vehicles perform extremely well in crash tests. And true to form. This Outback has a Top Safety Pick plus rating From the smash them up folks at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and that, of course, is the highest score they hand out. Shameless self promotion aside, performance in this vehicle is quite strong. Our long term Outback accelerates with vigor when you get on it, but In normal driving, I've got to say there's not a whole lot of giddy up until the engine gets to about 3500 RPM at that point. Of course it really wakes up. Also the CVT in this thing. It's not quite as responsive As I would like, I mean it's mostly fine but if it were just a little bit more attentive, I would prefer that now with paddle shifters. You can manually rifle through the gears if you want, and Subaru gives you eight different ratios to. to choose from. This Subaru is rated to return 23 miles per gallon city, 30 Highway and 26 mpg combined. Now we've put about 2700 miles on it to date and during that time, it's averaged a little bit less than 22 mpg. Maybe our video producer Nick needs to stop redlining. Get so much. Good luck telling him that, he doesn't listen to anybody. [MUSIC] Naturally there is plenty of tech to talk about. Subaru's EyeSight suite We have driver AIDS is included in this vehicle and that gives you things like Lane Keeping Assist, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control with lane centering and for the most part all of these features seem to work very well. Well, our long term Outback also supports a starlink infotainment system with navigation and of course that massive 11.6 inch touchscreen that I mentioned earlier, which is Subaru`s largest ever have this portrait display is impressive at first, but I find the user interface just a little bit cartoonish and sometimes it's not quite as responsive as I would like. A six speaker audio system is standard on onyx edition versions of the outback, but it's pretty bad, really, really not good and no matter the source, whether it's FM radio, satellite radio or music on your phone, it all sounds super muddy and it's so bad. I almost wonder if something is wrong with this particular vehicle. At least Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included which is great news However, there is a small problem, literally an issue that is petite in size. When you're using CarPlay, the screen is super tall, but it's also quite narrow, which makes that CarPlay module really tiny. And consequently, the buttons are difficult to hit. [MUSIC] Like a bowl of oatmeal the outback here is not terribly exciting, but it is wholesome and honestly, unexpectedly satisfying. Am glad to have it in the roadshow long term. And I look forward to driving it many more miles so make sure you check back regularly for updates on this Subaru. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]