Thank God there's a physical volume knob on the Outback's console, but the overall lack of physical controls is only made worse by the digital interface's poor performance. The whole system could use re-think, especially with how much real estate is given to each particular function compared to how often each function is used. A row of three good-sized physical knobs could solve the entire problem and leave more room on the screen for navigation and/or music functions, which are often better suited to a touch screen in the first place. Like my grandpa, who complained endlessly about the print size of the newspaper fearlessly said, THEY'RE TOO DANG SMALL. Same goes for turning on the heated seats or the A/C, or simply getting the infotainment system to its "home" screen. Adjusting fan speed on the screen while the car is jostling along the road proved distracting. The HVAC controls are particularly frustrating. Subaru's infotainment UI is, in general, a mess: not terribly intuitive, often with the things you use most crammed along the bottom edge of the central screen. Infotainment niggles are my least-favorite thing to write about, but there are a few annoyances. With the Wilderness's hold loaded, we began blasting down from Seattle to the Oregon coast. So long as you don't need a truck bed to throw a dirt bike in the back, many families could make do with an Outback for a week away on the ski hill or at the campsite. ![]() You'd have no problem throwing ski bags, or four sets of golf clubs, or even plywood in the cargo area. To that end, the Wilderness is fit for weekend adventures as well as any Outback. You can't use every cubic foot of available cargo space if you can't get things through the vehicle's open portals in the first place. Whereas, with doors that open wide like the Subaru's, we could've fit the chairs into the cab. This necessitated two trips for one set of furniture. With the Tacoma's bed entirely full, I couldn't even fit a small chair through the truck’s open rear doors. It's a problem that reared its ugly head recently when we picked up a set of heavily used outdoor furniture. Many long things and/or wide things that should fit in the back simply can't make it past the doors. This limits what you can wedge into the back of the cab. Since the Taco's rear doors are limited in their range of motion when opened, rather than opening fully perpendicular to the truck, anything to be stored in the truck's cab must be put in at a severe angle. Again, it sounds like a simple allowance, but consider my Toyota Tacoma's rear seats. The wagon's rear doors and hatch open wide to allow anything that will fit through the portal created by the unibody's sheetmetal. It's a vital consideration and a nice touch. So in a surprise rain storm, you're not fiddling with a little leather pull tag as your gear is getting soaked. The latches to lay the Outback's rear seats down operate intuitively and smoothly, are oversized and built sturdily. Packing well can make or break an entire trip. The process sounds basic, and maybe insignificant, but there are little things that tend to go overlooked. Loading the Outback's cargo area couldn't have been easier, even knowing the vacation gear had to be packed smartly, so a large road bike could join the party. ![]() ![]() The Outback's capacious hold would come in doubly handy too: off the back end of the trip, on the return leg through Portland, I'd squish my new road bike into the back. ![]() Suitcases, snacks, bedding, beach towels, a golf bag. We borrowed an Outback Wilderness from Subaru and loaded up its hatch with a cooler full of marinating flank steak, another cooler full of cheap Mexican beer, and the odds and ends needed for a sunny getaway.
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