Subaru E-Outback review

The current thinking is that there’ll be a couple of grades, the posher of which gets the more identifiable 20in rims, with the lower grade the less kerbable 18s, all on a 235-section tyre all-round. They both look largely the same otherwise, with that extra cladding on the sides and the ladderish roof rails. Eight exterior colours are available, and you can two-tone the roof and side pillars in a couple of them. And the interior comes in either black (vegan leather) or blue (Nappa cow leather), with the blue being strangely enticing.

As far as pricing goes, no definitives as yet, so working out the PCP and leases isn’t possible. But given the pricing of the Toyota sister car, it’s probably that the E-Outback will weigh in between 55 and 60K, depending on the UK spec, and it won’t get any UK grants, though it will get the benefit-in-kind advantages and running cost power-ups as long as you have home charging. Whatever, they all get the Subaru Safety Sense stuff and the optioning will be to preference/use rather than feeling de-contented, so it’s not too much of a worry.

All it really needs is some proper all-terrain tyres and it’ll be good to go. Although worth noting that all the off-roading we did was on the standard-fit road tyres, so even that isn’t strictly necessary. All in all, it’s a functional, useful kind of car that will tackle pretty much anything you care to throw at it. The perfect car for rural vets, weekend adventurists or just those with what the media like to call ‘active lifestyles’. Not the most exciting car in the world, but one that will satisfy for the longer haul.