Subaru went heavy on the family values motif as it rolled out the 2019 Subaru Ascent three-row crossover at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The company used models portraying a happy family to show off the Ascent, only with a twist – this fictional family, called the Barkleys, is of the canine variety. Sure, there were actors portraying a happy human family, too, but Subaru was using only dog puns in its presentation.
Personally, I’m hoping the dog and human show cuteness wasn’t meant to distract from a model with potential shortcomings, but there’s no way to know that until we drive it. No doubt the brand remembers the failure of the B9 Tribeca (maybe it should’ve been called K9?) and is working overtime to push its next foray into the three-row crossover arena.
Certainly, the styling is less, um, adventurous than that of the Tribeca (which I never thought was really all that bad looking, but I digress). Of course, the Ascent is positioned as a volume vehicle, so it’s not shocking that its looks lean towards the generic.
Not to mention that the plain-but-handsome formula already works for the brand’s other crossovers/tall wagons. Not everything has to be sexy, man.
We already know the seven- or eight-seat Ascent will be built in Indiana, and it should shock no one that it arrives with standard all-wheel drive and a turbocharged boxer four-cylinder. This is Subaru, after all – the company is as known for those two things as much as Los Angeles is known for good fast-food burgers and crappy drivers.
The turbocharged mill displaces 2.4-liters and makes 260 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. It’s also intercooled. Subaru claims up to 5,000 pounds of towing capacity, with a system to assist with trailer stability. The Ascent also brings 18-inch wheels and a familiar 8.7 inches of ground clearance.
As per usual with Subaru, the transmission is a continuously-variable automatic (CVT), but it does have an eight-speed manual mode.
The 113.8-inch wheelbase helps make the Ascent the biggest Subie to ever ply the roads, with the company claiming 153.5 cubic feet of passenger volume. In fact, the model’s wheelbase is longer than that of many midsize rivals, including the Honda Pilot, Ford Explorer, Toyota Highlander, and Hyundai Santa Fe. Only the Volkswagen Atlas and Nissan Pathfinder sport more distance between the axles.
Available comfort and convenience features include Starlink infotainment, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, eight USB ports for maximum phone usage (and family member avoidance), tri-zone climate control, 19 (!) cupholders, in-car 4G LTE Wi-Fi, first- and second-row heated seats, cooled front seats, heated steering wheel, navigation, Pandora, Bluetooth, and satellite radio.
When it comes to safety and driver-assist features, expect the usual suspects. Among those niceties are adaptive cruise control, lane departure and sway warning, automatic pre-collision braking, blind-spot detection, lane-change assist, and rear-cross traffic alert. A front-view camera system is available.
Evaluating the features, which are spread across base, Premium, Limited, and Touring trims, it appears Subaru has a fairly standard content mix for the class – nothing stands out, nor does anything notable seem to be missing. Subaru says pricing will start in the mid-$30K range when the vehicle goes on sale early next summer.
Looking at the Ascent up close, I saw hints of the Nissan Rogue/Pathfinder in the side profile and perhaps a little Toyota Highlander up front. I also saw what appears to be a much better-looking infotainment system and an interior that’s class competitive, if not particularly remarkable.
What matters more is what Subaru execs are seeing, and that’s likely dollar signs. Subaru has long required a three-row crossover to compete with the bigger boys; now it has one that at least checks all the right boxes – on paper, anyway.
[Images: © 2017 Tim Healey/The Truth About Cars, Subaru]
I like it but i think they should offer the non turbo 6 as an option. It does not make sense to offer the 6 cylinder in the Outback and not the Ascent. Unless they are getting rid of the six in the Outback :-(
“Unless they are getting rid of the six in the Outback”
We have a bingo.
Dogs don’t care about cylinder count.
With the NA 6 cylinder, this would BE a dog!
Why? I’ve driven an Outback 3.6R, and it’s *plenty zippy*.
(Apart from the lower low-end torque from not having a turbo, it didn’t feel any slower than my XC70 T6 in everyday driving, and what difference there was seemed more in the transmission programming.)
This can’t be that significantly heavier, and at normal speeds the added “giant brick” factor is irrelevant.
I agree this 2.5T is a *better* engine for the Ascent (or Outback), but the 3.6R would not be a dog … just not especially interesting or efficient.
On the other hand, this vehicle is not about “interesting”.
The six is down on power and up on fuel consumption. It’s either time for it to leave, or for them to develop a brand new one.
You pick which you think is more likely.
Subaru’s H6 is not particularly good and is getting quite old. No reason to offer it in an all new car. Still, I’m a little wary of the 2.4L Turbo in such a bit car. The CX-9 does great with 2.5 and the Explorer is so-so with 2.3. This splits the difference. The fact is that Subaru sells tons of Outbacks with the 2.0L that is very underpowered.
No 2.0 in the Outback. 2.5 or 3.6.
The only thing the 3.6 H6 has going for it is outstanding reliability. It’s one of the least troublesome engines Subaru’s ever made. But it uses a lot of fuel to generate mediocre power.
I assume this new 2.4T is a bigger FA. We’ll have to wait and see if it does as well as the smaller turbo FAs (which is pretty well, thus far).
Agree the 3.6 (’17 Touring in my case) is just decent performance and so-so fuel economy.
It does, however, get about the same (at times better) gas mileage as my former ’09 Limited 2.5 (4 cyl.) with auto transmission, while putting out ~80 more hp and being much more enjoyable to drive on long trips, esp. with a kayak or two on the roof.
Although I miss my ’85 Saab Turbo, I’m not necessarily interested in going turbo now. Since an alternate to another Outback in about 5-6 years may likely be something like an Audi SQ5, I may be stuck in turbo land, we’ll see the state of the art in 2023.
Mazda CX9 wheelbase is 115.3 inches…so there’s that…
Unless Subaru has made great strides in refining its coarse and agricultural-sounding pancake 4-banger this will appeal only to members of the Subie cult.
It would have worked for my wife and I. Haven’t owned a Subie since 1988. The CVT kills it for me.
Now you’re channeling me.
They won’t be able to build them fast enough.
You’d think so, but I’m not so sure. LOTS of competition in this class of vehicle, and there are two brands (Honda and Toyota) that have strong appeal to the same “I’ll only consider something that CRUSHED it in Consumer Reports for my little snowflakes Kyler and Madison, and Bo the Golden Retriever” demographic that buys Subarus. VW also has strong traditional appeal to the “socially conscious” buyer.
It’ll be successful, but a runaway hit? We shall see.
The competitors offer a V6, aside from Mazda. This could end up with CX9 levels of sales.
However, Subaru customers are just as loyal as Mazda ones, except there are a whole lot more of them.
And they want a car larger than their Outback, and have for a long time.
I predict sales win.
The Outback sells very well and it is underpowered. There is clearly a segment of the car-buying public that doesn’t care.
I didn’t know Mazda had loyal customers.
I think there are some who are repeat buyers of the 3, their hatchback versions of whatever, and also the MX5.
Corey, you could be correct on the 3. I just don’t see many people excited about saying they just bought a Mazda. Seems different when people buy a Subaru.
“The Outback sells very well and it is underpowered. There is clearly a segment of the car-buying public that doesn’t care.”
…
Per above, I’ve driven an Outback with the 3.6; my parents’ car.
I’ve also driven an Outback with the 4-cylinder; one of my friends’ cars.
*Neither* one was what I’d call “underpowered”, though the 4 was hardly “exciting” …
Are you using gearhead ideas of “power”?
Because the market demonstrably *could not possibly care less* about that for these sorts of vehicles.
“VW also has strong traditional appeal to the “socially conscious” buyer.”
VW killed any of their green-cred goodwill with their diesel emissions scandal.
So Subaru is going to be selling a supersized Outback now. How exciting. Too bad they didn’t bestow a “Flying Vagina” grille upon it.
Dog puns from the Barkley family? Excuse me for a moment…
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OK, I barfed. All better now. So what were we discussing? Oh, yes, another crossover. And now I need to take a nap.
Someone in Subaru’s marketing department must really, really, really like dogs.
As a cat person, their ads involving driving canines and old dog spirits, and now this presentation, just don’t resonate and make me want to buy their cars
Subie is marketing to a segment and it seems to be working.
Cats are pretty lacking in most all auto adverts but it sounds like you’ve uncovered another niche for somebody to target.
Cats are not relatable like dogs. You can go find a dog (someone else’s) in a random place and it will be happy and friendly, and you can pet it.
Cats are not in public places, and are not happy or friendly. You do not take them on hiking adventures in AWD places.
I’m a cat person, in that I own a cat and not a dog.
I’m also someone who enjoys the outdoors and, as such, I fully understand the correlation between enjoyment of the outdoors and enjoyment of dogs.
Subaru is actively courting the outdoor crowd, and dogs are universally relatable to that slice of the population.
I think it looks a lot like the Highlander from the front and side view. However, the argument could be made all of the mid size 7 passenger CUVs look essentially the same.
Subaru will have people lining up for these, as I can not argue with the month over month growth the brand has had for the past, what is it now, 7 years. How many of those converts need a 7 passenger rig for their growing family? The outback gets passed over to the next driver so on and so forth. I am also confident most of these people will not be too concerned with the underpowered 4 banger mill up front nor the CVT as they are used to it with their previous Subaru’s. I believe the Ascent will take the bulk of its sales from Toyota and Honda as it seems that Subaru buyers are most likely to have one of those also.
Would I buy it? No. I owned my one and only Subaru back in 01′-02′ and have a strong preference for a bow tie and pushrod V8 up front in my 7 passenger SUV. But, admittedly, my automotive proclivities are not the preferences of the masses.
19 cup holders…??? Not counting wine and liquor glasses, I think I have 19 total glasses and mugs in my entire house!
Curb weight (dry) = 4,000 lbs
Curb weight (wet) = 4,150 lbs
Curb weight (all cupholders occupied) = 4,400 lbs
Everybody’s double-fisting drinks in the Ascent.
Including the dogs.
19 cupholders / 7 seats = 2.7
They’re nearly TRIPLE FISTING their drinks!
You can put more than one dog in there, and they don’t get chairs!
5k towing capacity seems a bit optimistic for a turbo 4 mill, even at 2.4 liters.
It’s all going to boil down to pricing, IMO. Most or many people looking to move “up” from their Outbacks will also be looking at other brands, esp Honda and Toyota.
I respectfully disagree. Up until this is released Outback owners who need to move “up” in size are forced to go to Honda and Toyota, soon that will not be the case. I really don’t think they want to, they like their Subbies for whatever reason, and want to remain brand loyal.
However many Ascent are built, you can count probably equally between Toyota and Honda as less sales.
That third row has got to be claustrophobic with those tiny windows. The Odyssey may be ugly with its side window zigzag, but at least when you’re in the third row of one it feels like it was designed for people. I feel bad for the middle children of Subaru cult parents who end up in the back row of this thing.
The Odyssey is also a minivan. Do you reach for an orange when you’re craving an apple?
This is a minivan too if we’re being honest
Those rear windows appear to be as large or larger than many competitors.
All they’re doing is looking at their “small screens” so apertures to the outside are essentially unnoticed.
I don’t doubt that the Ascent will sell, but it looks surprisingly more like a lifted wagon than a proper crossover to my eyes. I don’t object to the lifted wagon form itself, but the styling details here are typical Subaru goofy. I’ll never grasp the brand’s appeal.
“Proper Crossover” – now there’s an oxymoron.
Sir, you get it.
Of course I recognize that crossovers are nothing more than tall hatchbacks with SUV-like styling. But in my mind, that styling is an essential element of the formula.
Like the Forester, the Ascent more closely resembles a wagon than a traditional SUV.
I got what you were saying, even if others want to poke fun at it, they got it too. It looks far more like a fat wagon than a utility (crossover or otherwise).
Place Outback on copier – set for 125%.
BINGO! Ascent.
The current Outback is MUCH better looking than this. It has a boxy look about it now, and seems quite solid.
This one, not so much.
Honestly I’ll probably have to look twice in traffic to determine which one I’m looking at.
Can’t wait until my first trip to Santa Fe after the Ascent hits dealer lots. I’ll probably end up at a traffic light with a new Outback in one lane and a new Ascent in the other. I’ll really get to eyeball the size difference.
Every mall parking lot will also provide this opportunity.
More like the Forester and Outback had a child that has adolescent diabetes. But man will this sell well. I have two coworkers that have been putting off buying an suv until they saw this new Subaru. They have both contracted their dealers to see when they can order a new Ascent. The dealers said they have had dozens of calls this week on Ascent. This will be huge in the mountain states.
In the past year, the CX-9 shrank (a little) and the Acadia shrank a lot. Meanwhile the Traverse grew (a little) and the Atlas and Ascent are entering near the top of the size chart. It will be interesting to see who read the market correctly. I personally think bigger is better in this class as all of these manufacturers have other cars for people who don’t need as much space. 8-passenger seating can be a selling point and it’s smart of Subaru to offer it.
Did Toyota just license them use of the K platform Highlander?
That honestly would have been a very cost effective and rational approach IMO. There’s even a bit of precedent (sort of) in that Subaru built overflow Camries at the Lafayette plant, and Toyota makes Highlanders at the Princeton plant in Southern Indiana. Subaru gets an awesome V6, maybe puts in more aggressive viscous coupling and traction control tuning (the current Highlander is a dud in the rough stuff).
That was my thought as well. Use Highlander parts, and gain access to the 3.5L as your new V6 offering.
But no, gotta boxer it up and use Subaru platform.
I think there is some parts sharing between Subaru and Toyota, my dad mentioned something (I forget now) on the Outback which was the same as their Highlander.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the platform was flexible enough to do a longitudinal drivetrain.
Looks like it may be possible with GA-L, since both it and K come from TNGA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_New_Global_Architecture
Since this engine choice seemed so obvious, I asked Bozi the knowledge master about this a while back, and he said the 3.5 won’t work with Subaru’s layout.
No, it would not but the parent TNGA vehicle platform may work with Subbie’s longitudinal layout, which was my speculation.
The enthusiast side of me says they should make that happen for greater engine variety and increased profit off six cylinders.
But I don’t think they care.
This car was a no-brainer for Subaru, and like many others I predict a huge sales success. It will definitely be supply-constrained for quite some time. Not on some kind of standout specifications or performance, but just adding a rung on the Subaru size ladder. They are bleeding potential repeat owners that grew out of their Outbacks.
This is as big as they can go, I’ve just been thinking. I can never see them doing a truck-based item to compete with Yukon.
It would be interesting if they’ve ever thrown around the idea of an AWD minivan. Subaru buyers seem to like to exude the “pragmatist” vibe, so the minivan vibe could perhaps be less of a negative than to the general population. But yeah I can’t see them going the BOF route at all. But I could see them attempting a Ridgeline-esque Brat reincarnation.
*Taps chin*
I wonder if they’d try it again on a larger scale, since the Baja was sort of Brat 2.0, and didn’t do all that well. (Of course it wasn’t great, which was part of the issue.)
Yeah the Baja’s bed was perhaps simply too small. But an Ascent based pickup? That could have legs.
“The new Subaru ST-3500 full size pickup truck, now with a new Boxer 8 cylinder turbodiesel with 1,200lb-ft of torque!”
“They are bleeding potential repeat owners that grew out of their Outbacks.”
I don’t quite understand this. How much sh1t do ya need, so to speak?
I will say for ourselves, an Outback could not serve as the main family car, not once we have a kid anyways. For weekend trips to the inlaws (a 2 hour drive away), we already use up a lot of the available space in either the 4Runner or the Pilot. A lot of that is from our 2 larger (60-70lb) dogs. We take both of their collapsible crates, and just some weekend bags. Over Thanksgiving we also had a passenger in the back so it was 3 people, 2 carry on sized suit cases, 2 backpacks, 2 larger dogs and their 2 folded crates. I built a platform for the rear of the SUVs so I can slide the folded crates underneath and the dogs sit on top. Now imagine a baby in a car seat with perhaps a folded play pen or maybe a stroller or something and an extra bag with baby stuff. And now imagine a second kid. Things spiral out of control quickly haha
Modern Americans have way too much sh!t, and this is catering to all their sh!t. That’s why it’s a great idea.
The hugeivan is far superior for hauling people and their sh1t.
I love my Outback even with it’s dweeb 2.5 – it’s a beast in our torrential rains, playing on the beach, or traversing the national forest service roads – but at 6’3″ it was a big adjustment from my Trooper seating position and comfort-wise. I’ve gotten used to it but would prefer to sit more bench-like. Otherwise I have no problem with driving smaller vehicles as a rule of thumb as long as I fit comfortably (I’m really trying to convince my kid a Golf Wolfsburg is the best first car ever).
The Ascent will sell well, if only to give Subaru loyalists some place to move up to. It will probably impact Outback sales. My uneducated guess is now they go for the Highlander, Pilot and Atlas (which I’m impressed with).
My Subaru wish list includes hybrids across the board, as well as a true minivan based on the Outback and pickup based on the Ascent.
Given the higher ground clearance and Subaru AWD system, how much more capable will this be off-road than Highlander, Pilot, etc? And how much less than a similar sized Jeep Grand Cherokee?
“Slightly” and “who cares, since nobody on Earth has ever taken a Grand Cherokee offroad”, respectively.
I kid.
But only a little.
And to be fair, nobody takes a Pilot or Highlander “offroad” either.
(Offroad? Subaru is not for actually-offroad. Is for dirt road, snow, rain, just like Pilot and Highlander, at best.
But is not cross-country vehicle, any more than Volvo is, no matter what the old-school badging claimed.)
Looks like an Atlas to me…thankfully our last kiddo is in college and we don’t need a 3rd row vehicle. In fact, we’re replacing CUVs with smaller cars…in my case a ’17 Jetta, my wife’s CR-V will likely be replaced by a VW Sportwagen or Alltrack next year.
I do resent the assertion that VW owners are socially conscious…I for one am NOT.
Actually, I think the Atlas looks quite a bit more butch, more like a “real” SUV, not a fat, bloated wagon like this.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz….wake me when this SUV/CUV nonsense is over.
Well, that saves us a lot of work, I guess.
Same head unit, gauges and steering wheel as the Impreza/Crosstrek. Gives me a good feeling, the more cars that use the ergonomically sound but firm-challenged head unit, the faster they will completely fix it for the rest of us… I hope.
(Still turns on automatically when the car turns on, doesn’t read meta data off of USB properly. Station listings and media title don’t scroll. Most of the really bad bugs seem to have been sorted).
They will sell a crapload of these in Seattle alone. A friend of my wife’s just ditched her old Forester for a Highlander, and would have probably stayed in the Subaru family had the Ascent been available.
87 Morgan nailed it above. The current out-flow of Outback owners to Highlanders and Pilots will finally have a place to go within the Subaru fold.
Meh.
The styling doesn’t have to be sexy, but maybe it could be distinctive in some way. I cannot remember the last time I saw a totally new model with such uninspired styling. At lest the ugly of the Tribeca was a “style” of some sort.
It’s *not* bad, but just not distinctive like the Highlander or Atlas. As much as I love to admire Hondas, the Pilot 1st generation was perfect and it’s gone downhill from there. The current Pilot is IMO pure blandest at best. Even the Santa Fe is better looking.
As was said before, the Ascent looks like an Outback put on the copier at 125%. Not crazy about the front fender though….
HP and torque seem understated. Current generation 2.0T engine in their family SUVs generate 250HP/258Torque. So 2.4T will yield a conservatively tuned 300HP/310TQ engine in the Ascent.
According to Subaru Global website, this FA24 engine runs on 87 octane gas, not the premiun needed for the WRX and Forester XT. Not much point tuning a minivan engine, oops sorry crossover, engine to run on premium – it wouldn’t sell. On the other hand, max power is at 5600 rpm, so the wilting power the CX-9 exhibits above 4500 rpm won’t happen. The gerbils on speed turning the CVT in the gigantic engine room for a physically small engine will allow high rpm if needed and you won’t even hear them moan much down there, unlike the underfed ones in the Impreza much closer to the driver.
My hope is that tuned up a bit and running on premium, this FA24 will power the next STI.
To answer queries from other people, why would Subaru bother with commodity level TGNA when they have their new global platform that is torsionally as stiff as an S class at 44,000 lb-ft per degree? No reason at all.
I look foward to the inevitable comparo test between Atlas, Ascent and CX-9, just for the fun of it. Driving around in one of these elephantine hatchbacks doesn’t appeal to me, but competition in this dull market space does, just for the fun of it.
66 comments allready and I get to say this…?!
Subaru Ass-Scent
Love. It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru.
And: Dogs love it. LOVE IT!!!
Is that shiny strip along the bottom on the sides the end of a retractable running board?
AWD.
Similar design cues to other Subarus.
A vehicle sized for the segment their customers (both current and potential) have been asking for (I looked at a Tribeca, too small. If this had existed then, I might be driving it today).
What appears to be better visibility than its competitors.
Full range of Subauru’s safety tech.
Assembled in the USA.
Love it or hate it, this thing will sell. We often see use the phrase “it will print money” for automakers…but this is something Subaru would have to intentionally sabotage in order to screw it up.
It’s a profit maker for sure. If you tell me that in 8-10 years, Subaru needs to expand SIA, or build or acquire another plant, and is selling over a million vehicles in the US, I’d say that sounds like a solid bet. And I think the Ascent is going to be a key reason.
As the owner of a 2015 Outback 3.6R, I’ll disagree with the assertion that it’s thirsty.
We routinely get 20-22 around town, and I’ve seen upwards of 28MPG on longer highway runs.
The CX-7 (2.3T) we owned before it struggled to get 20 around town, and we never saw higher than 25 on the highway.
Not that I think folks who are looking at this are concerned about mileage.
No interest in a 7 passenger SUV with less than 300hp. I know that Subaru is not alone here. The CX9 has only 250 with premium gas and the Atlas is under 300 with it’s 6 as well. This is part of the reason that neither of them reside in my driveway at this point. The other reasons are CX9 too small, Atlas has a really boring interior (from a company that really excels at interiors… go figure). The highway drivability really suffers with inadequate power (regardless of what Mazda says about HP at higher speeds) What is wrong with the V or straight 6? If its a space issue then make it bigger..?!. Its not an MPG issue because we all know that the technology is there to get good MPGs out of 6 cylinder engines. CVTs are another issue. No interest. I know that they sell in some models but, again, no interest. Terrible driving experience. I’m having flashbacks of Altima rental cars that I have been stuck with in the past…. just.. No!
Well, when it is time to replace my current daily driver – the Ascent will get an honest look. As a longtime Toyota/Honda/Subaru/Mazda owner the Ascent will likely be the only CUV I’ll consider. The 4Runner fits my needs and I’ve always enjoyed their off road poise, so the Ascent will have to really win me over. I know the 4Runner and Ascent are apples and pears but Subaru’s excellent 8.7 inches of G.C. has always been enough for my “soft roading” habits.