Outback Gets the Wilderness Treatment
Subaru has a reward for loyal Outback owners wanting more off-road capability and ruggedness—the new 2026 Outback Wilderness.
Clean Fleet Report was among the first automotive journalists to drive the 2026 Outback Wilderness at a media event in Healdsburg, California. A drive route of freeway, hills winding through Sonoma Valley vineyards and some challenging off-roading, gave us a good taste of what the Outback Wilderness can handle.
What did we learn? The appeal of the Outback grows with the Wilderness option that still delivers very composed and comfortable on-road driving, but also impressive off-roading for everything up to rock crawling. This is a great combination for a single vehicle.
The Wilderness Sub-brand
The Wilderness sub-brand now includes the Crosstrek, Forester and now Outback models. Subaru took the base model of each and gave them increased ground clearance, all-terrain tires and exterior and interior design features to make them more capable in an off-road environment.
The Outback Wilderness, first introduced as a 2022 model, had been developed off the existing Outback platform. While it was popular with Subaru customers, Jenny Van, car line planning specialist at Subaru of America, told us the new 2026 Outback Wilderness “was purpose designed with off-road use in mind. The Wilderness sub-brand is absolutely very important to our [Subaru] brand. It’s no longer a niche, but is now a main stream brand for Subaru. It is something a lot of customers are looking for as it has off-road and on-road capability, offering a balance. Wilderness badged models are 15% of our sales, so that is a pretty big share of our sales and is something we expect to grow.”
Jenny Van finished with: “There are commonalities between the Outback and Outback Wilderness customer. Gender is about the same, but the Wilderness skews younger.” Our take: Driving down the average age of a brand’s customer is vital to long-term sales success.
Power and Drive
The 2.4-liter intercooled, twin-scroll turbocharged boxer engine runs on 87 octane. It puts out 260 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 277 pound-feet of torque in a very useful 2,000-4,800 rpm range. All four wheels are driven through a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that includes multiple drive modes and an 8-speed manual shifting option that can be controlled with the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. The EPA has rated the fuel economy at 21 mpg city/27 highway and 23 combined. Clean Fleet Report has extensive experience driving Subarus, so are confident you will be able to surpass 30 mpg on the highway.
The standard Symmetrical All-wheel Drive includes the latest generation of X-Mode which increases grip and traction in icy, sloppy and off-road conditions, adding hill ascent and descent control. X-Mode has two systems with individual controls for Snow/Dirt and Deep
Snow/Mud settings. Hill Descent Control comes on automatically when the system senses the need. It worked perfectly.
On-Road Driving Experience
Our drive on paved surfaces was a combination of in-town stop and go, mountain roads with sweeping turns, a few tight twisties, open highways and rural vineyard roads. The CVT was smooth with the computer defaulting to favor fuel economy, which is fine for city and highway everyday driving.
However, at times it was necessary to utilize the manual setting and paddles to pull a grade or get up-to-speed quickly. Since there are no ‘gears’ in a CVT, using the paddles held the CVT in a rev ratio at about 4,000 rpm and approximately 45 mph when climbing a hill. It was very helpful and worked perfectly.
Some might question the presence of paddle shifters on a non-sporty car. In the case of the Outback Wilderness they were functional and will be even more important when its loaded with four adults and all their gear headed-out for a weekend adventure or pulling a trailer (up-to 3,500 pounds).
Subaru says the suspension is “Off-Road Tuned,” but don’t think this means the on-road driving has been compromised. The 4-wheel independent suspension is nicely tuned to put cornering of all types under control with body lean easily and quickly managed. We tested it in ways you never will by pushing it on corners. The idea was not to break the law, but to get a feel for how the Outback Wilderness would respond in an emergency situation with your family onboard.
The stable ride is the result of vehicle dynamics and electric traction control, active torque split and electronically controlled dampers. The electric power-assisted steering was responsive and precise, delivering a good feel of the road. Combined, they accepted everything we threw at them.
The Outback Wilderness is well-suited for two or four people to hit the road for a weekend adventure, for commuting or in-town driving for chauffeuring the kids or bread-and-butter runs.
Off-Road – Time To Get Dirty
Subaru has earned a strong reputation building off-road capable SUVs. Everything they offer comes standard with the Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system that transfers torque to the wheels that need it, on- or off-road. This active torque split continuously varies front-to-rear based on inputs from acceleration, steering angle and yaw rate sensors.
The Outback Wilderness is also equipped with X-Mode, which adds even more grip and traction for sand, mud and snow. The Wilderness trim has additional off-road capability over the base Outback with a beefed-up suspension, tires, under body protection, upgraded rear differential and greater approach and departure angles.
A big factor for how well a vehicle handles off-road driving is the tires. The Outback Wilderness was shod with Bridgestone Dueler A/T 225/65 all-terrain tires, with raised white lettering, on matte black 17-inch rims. This tire performed very well on the off-road course and provided decent on-road handling for a smooth ride. Subaru smartly has included a full-size 17-inch matching spare tire.
The trails we drove on the 19,000-acre Cooley Ranch provided the opportunity to test the Outback’s readiness to attack steep ascents and descents on varying surfaces. The Wilderness package is up to the task, giving owners the option to find forest service roads or even take-on off-road park trails. Activating X-Mode on the steering wheel, we traversed steep sections of hard and soft dirt and even a bit of mud when crossing a creek bed.
The 9.5-inches of ground clearance came in handy several times, especially when using the Hill Descent Control, where the computer keeps the downhill speed under 12 mph. The Outback Wilderness ground clearance bests its key competitors in this game of inches.
- Toyota RAV4 Woodland at 8.1-inches;
- the Honda CR-V TrailSport at 8.2-inches;
- the Hyundai Tucson XRT at 8.3-inches;
- the Nissan Rogue Rock Creek at 8.2-inches and
- the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands at 8.8-inches.
Would we take the 2026 Outlander Wilderness on forest roads and for medium challenging off-roading? We would with confidence.
Easy-To-Understand Controls
There is one standard Outback Wilderness interior, with optional seat and technology packages. The base Wilderness is equipped with fully animal-free interior surfaces and water-resistant StarTex (a synthetic upholstery material) in black with copper-colored stitching and the Wilderness logo embroidered on the front seat headrests. It comes with thick rubber all-weather mats and a rubber cargo tray. We put these to good use as driving off-road gets messy and the mats and tray captured all of the gunk we left behind.
The seat option package has Slate Black nappa leather, also with copper accent stitching. This package is more than the leather seating upgrade as it includes a power moonroof, 360º surround view monitor, power folding exterior mirrors and a 12-way power adjustable driver’s seat with memory and a leg extension.
The base Outback gives the front passenger 4-way manual seat adjustments, but when upping to the Wilderness trim they get 8-way power adjustments with heat and ventilation.
The thin A-pillars, high seating position and tall windows provide excellent forward and side visibility. The configurable 12.3-inch digital instrument gauge cluster works as an information display for vehicle functions. The horizontal 12.1-inch touchscreen houses navigation and, standard on Wilderness models, the 12-speaker, 576-watt with sub-woofer Harman Kardon sound system for AM/FM HD and SiriusXM radio, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. USB-A and C ports and wireless phone charging are standard.
The rear seat’s head, shoulder and leg room was ample for two adults, three in a pinch. Convenience features includes a fold down armrest with cup holders, heated outboard seats and USB-C charge ports.
You got gear? The Subaru Outback Wilderness will eat it up as the cargo area is urging to be packed for a weekend road trip. With the 60:40 split rear seat upright storage space is 42.8 inches, when folded it grows to 75.9 inches. The widest point between the wheels is 43.3 inches and the height is 34.1 inches measured to the panoramic moonroof. There are multiple cup and bottle holders with the largest capable of holding a 32-ounce container. Restroom breaks on your road trip could be frequent.
Enhanced Rugged Exterior
The Outback exterior design is boxier overall than the outgoing model with a flatter roof, a steeper rake to the rear lift gate glass and short front and rear overhangs. The new design includes Wilderness-only cues of anodized copper accents on the body and roof rail tie-down points, redesigned side rocker panel protection and cladding, a horizontal off-road truck-like front grille, vertical headlights, black hood decal, fog lights and completely redesigned front and rear bumpers and dual front and rear tow points. The exterior power mirrors are heated as are the windshield wipers for de-icing.
When you’re putting the 9.5 inches of ground clearance to work, you’ll appreciate the Outback Wilderness’ enhanced fender brush guard cladding, though it’s also useful when encountering a wayward shopping cart. Cladding is also found across the front and rear fascia.
The Outback Wilderness is ready for some serious camping, featuring ladder-style roof rails with load capacity ratings of 800-pounds static (maybe for two adults and large dogs in a tent), laterally (for an awning) of 220-pounds. The dynamic roof cargo rating is 220-pounds. To make loading roof cargo easier, new for 2026 are integrated rope tie-down hooks in the rack rails.
Exterior colors available at no additional cost, on either the Outback or Outback Wilderness, are Crystal Black Silica, Crimson Red Pearl, Crystal White Pearl, Magnetite Gray Metallic, Ice Silver Metallic and Sapphire Blue Pearl. Deep Emerald Green Pearl and River Rock Pearl are $395 extra. Geyser Blue, at no premium, is exclusively available on the Wilderness.
The power hatch, with LED tail lights, has a small lip spoiler and a wiper. New this year are lift gate gear rests to tie-down skis and snowboards without scratching the paint.
Safety and Convenience
The Outback Wilderness comes with active and passive advanced driver assistamce systems (ADAS) that are all part of the EyeSight system. Safety technology includes multiple airbags, advanced adaptive cruise control, automatic pre-collision braking and throttle management, emergency stop assist, highway active lane change assist and lane departure warning. In the case of an accident or other emergency, the Starlink Connected Services feature will place a call to emergency services.
Safety features also include blind spot monitoring with lane change assist, a 360-degree camera and Safety Exit Alert that notifies occupants, before exiting the vehicle, of obstacles and pedestrians with an audible and visual warning. There is also a rear seat reminder to check one more time before exiting to ensure no kids or dogs have been left behind.
Additional convenience features include dual zone automatic climate control, rear vision camera, push button start/stop, remote keyless entry, steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth control switches, tire pressure monitoring system and 4-wheel disc anti-lock brakes.
Pricing and Availability
The 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness, assembled in Gunma, Japan, rolls into dealers beginning in early 2026. The base prices, including the $1,450 destination and delivery fee, ranges from $46,445 to $50,535. Subaru has the full pricing and options.
Observations: 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness
The 2026 Outback Wilderness should be popular with loyal Subaru owners, plus many waiting to own an Outback for the first time. The Outback Wilderness owner is likely to participate in outdoor activities and hobbies such as camping, hiking, fishing and backpacking. They are into kayaking, biking, cross country and/or mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing and snowboarding. Subaru’s research shows 58% are dog owners and 3% own chickens. Does this sound like you?
In the end the 2026 Outback Wilderness will fill the needs for those wanting a thoroughly capable weekend adventure SUV that can also handle a commute and family in-town errands.
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Story by John Faulkner. Photos by John Faulkner and Subaru.
