Subaru has offered more rugged Wilderness versions of three of its models in North America for four years, but so far they’ve never been sold in Australia.
That will change, Subaru Australia has now finally confirmed, but it hasn’t said which Wilderness variants will arrive here or when.
“We’ve confirmed Wilderness will be on Australian soil, what I’m not going to confirm is when and in what model,” Subaru Australia general manager Scott Lawrence told Australian media.
“All I can say is watch this space.”
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The North America-only Wilderness nameplate debuted in 2021 on the outgoing Forester and Outback.
Subaru recently revealed Wilderness variants of the new-generation Forester and Outback, which join the Crosstrek Wilderness.
While the outgoing Forester and Outback are offered in Wilderness guise in North America, they’ve never been sold here despite Subaru Australia having confirmed in 2023 that discussions to bring the line here were “fairly advanced”.
Early in 2024, Subaru subsequently confirmed that the launch of the Wilderness line here had been delayed.
Wilderness variants bring a combination of mechanical and aesthetic tweaks, aimed at improving the off-road ability of the donor vehicle.
Given Subaru’s crossovers typically offer a greater level of off-road ability than crossovers from rival brands, this makes the Wilderness models unique.
While the new-generation Forester Wilderness uses the same naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder boxer petrol engine as regular Foresters, mechanical changes include longer coil springs and shock absorbers to deliver improved ground clearance, stability and comfort.
There’s 236mm of ground clearance, up on the standard Forester’s 220mm, while the Wilderness rides on 17-inch black alloy wheels wrapped in Yokohama Geolandar all-terrain tyres.
Approach, departure, and breakover angles have also been improved over the standard Forester. Approach angle has been increased to 23.5 from 19 degrees, departure angle is up from 24.6 to 25.5 degrees, and breakover angle rises from 19.6 to 21 degrees.
The SUV’s continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) has been revised with a shorter final drive ratio for improved low-speed off-roading, while there’s also an uprated transmission cooler, a rear differential temperature sensor, and a revised all-wheel drive system for “faster centre differential lockup and reduced wheelspin when off-roading”.
Visual changes include hexagonal LED fog lights, underbody protection, and anodised copper-finish exterior accents, while inside there’s water-resistant upholstery and more cooper-finish elements.
The new-generation Outback Wilderness offers even more ground clearance than the Forester Wilderness, with a figure of 241mm – 20mm more than the standard Outback.
This improves approach, breakover and departure angles to 20, 21.2 and 22.5 degrees respectively.
The Japanese-built SUV will be offered in the US exclusively with a 194kW/376Nm turbocharged 2.4-litre flat four-cylinder petrol engine.
The Outback Wilderness also features 17-inch alloy wheels with a matte black finish, wrapped in Bridgestone Dueler all-terrain tyres.
Other visual changes include matte black exterior mirrors and cladding, plus a restyled front bumper, hexagonal fog lights, and various copper-finish exterior accents.
Inside, there’s exclusive water-resistant upholstery as well as more copper-finish interior accents.
Finally, there’s the Crosstrek Wilderness, which debuted early in 2023.
Equipped with a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, it features a retuned CVT, a transmission oil-cooler, and longer coil springs and shock absorbers.
With 236mm of ground clearance, the Crosstrek Wilderness also has approach, departure and rampover angles of 20, 33 and 21.1 degrees, up from 18, 30.1 and 19.7 degrees respectively.
There are also the requisite design tweaks, including roof racks, copper accents, unique bumpers, chunkier wheel-arch cladding, hexagonal LED fog lights, a matte black anti-glare bonnet decal, and a metal front skid plate.
Inside, to no surprise, there’s water-resistant trim and more copper-finish accents.
Unlike the new Outback Wilderness, which is moving to Japanese production, the Crosstrek Wilderness is built exclusively in the US. The new Forester Wilderness thus far hasn’t been confirmed for production in Japan, where Subaru Australia sources vehicles from.
Indeed, Subaru Australia sources all its vehicles from Japan, and hasn’t imported a vehicle from the US since the Tribeca in 2013.
MORE: Everything Subaru Crosstrek • Forester • Outback
