• 11.6-inch touchscreen with simple layout
• USB ports front and rear
• Heated seats for those in the back, too

How is the quality and layout?

The interior of the Outback is solidly built but we found it a little disappointing in terms of design – looking and feeling like a 1990s car in the choice of colour and trim. We’d say that anyone stepping out of an Audi or Volvo might find the Subaru a bit of a culture shock in that regard. While you will find soft-touch plastics, it doesn’t have the expensive, classy feel of the aforementioned rivals.

As is customary these days, the Outback has a big 11.6-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system that dominates the interior. It is unusual for being in portrait orientation, though. The Outback’s instrument cluster remains conventional with round, analogue dials and a small digital display in between. It looks a little old-school these days but is clear and easy to read, and we weren’t offended by that at all.

Similarly Subaru has avoided lumping all of the major secondary controls into the touchscreen, instead sticking with more user-friendly buttons and knobs for the temperature and stereo controls – a move, whether by design or the process of ageing, which we approve of.

Infotainment and tech

All three trim levels come with a tablet-sized touchscreen and most of the features are controlled from it. The most basic version, the Outback Limited, misses out on sat-nav and the Harman Kardon audio system. Are these things worthwhile? Yes, we think they are.

Subaru’s TomTom-powered sat-nav on this car is quite slow to load on start-up but reasonably accurate. However, we found it sometimes struggles with addresses and worked better with postcodes. The voice control doesn’t work very well either. It didn’t understand people with a northern accent, a British-American accent, or even a Kiwi accent.

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The touchscreen is responsive enough and the menus are all easy to navigate, although systems from Audi, BMW and Volvo are better still. We just wish Android Auto and Apple CarPlay took up more than just the bottom of the screen. Those aforementioned safety features are accessible within the infotainment screen, and most of them can be adjusted in some way.

Drivers will also appreciate the large screen when using the reversing camera because it’s easy to see details. Back seat passengers will be pleased at the availability of two USB ports. There are two more and even a 3.5mm audio jack (how very 1990s) up front, located below the infotainment screen.

Comfort

• Supportive and comfortable seats
• Lots of adjustment, too
• Leather seats only on top trim

As mentioned, the driving position is superb, irrespective of how tall you are. But more than that, the Outback’s seats are very comfortable, if not quite as good as those fitted to the Volvo V90 Cross Country

Each trim level gets different seat materials. Limited has fabric, Field has synthetic leather, while Touring gets Nappa leather. Predictably, the Nappa leather is the most pleasant option followed by fabric, which will likely wear better. However, all seats across all trim levels are heated and even the rear seats can recline. Coupled with the ample amount of space, the Outback is a great place to sit.