New Subaru Outback ad tugs on the heart strings

Aussie fans of Subaru are going to want to slide on the rose-tinted glasses and check out the Japanese firm’s latest ad, which celebrates the 25 Anniversary of the recently launched sixth-generation Outback SUV.

Coined “Generations of love”, the misty-eyed, nostalgic 90 seconds of video encompasses some of the manufacturer’s most iconic all-wheel drive models from the past five decades – even the humble Brumby gets a nod.

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With Starship’s hit single Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now setting the tone, viewers are treated to a montage meant to pull at the heartstrings, featuring clips of fabled models like the first-generation Outback and a very special “bug-eyed” WRX rally car being thrashed on dirt.

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The ad had something for every aficionado of the brand.

"From a classic Brumby ute, actually owned by one of our own staff, to the late great Possum Bourne's Australian Rally Championship-winning WRX STI - driven in the TVC by another Subaru champ, Cody Crocker and Possum's co-driver Mark Stacey - there are some incredibly strong and emotional strands that link, to bring us right up-to-date with new Outback,” Blair Read, Subaru Australia general manager, says.

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The sixth-gen Outback, now in showrooms across the country, is available in three different guises – the Outback AWD (from $39,990), the Outback AWD Sport (from $44,490) and the Outback AWD Touring (from $47,790).

All three models come equipped with a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre boxer engine that turns out 138kW and 245Nm and powers Subaru’s X-Mode all-wheel drive system via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Disappointingly for some, the new Outback range misses out on the big six petrol and turbo-charged diesel options of its predecessors, although the company's local arm says it is working to get its hands on the 194kW/375Nm turbo model available to US buyers.

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Other features of the new off-road SUV include a sizeable 11.6-inch portrait-mount infotainment system, revised start/stop technology and a host of Eyesight driver assistance features that include a lane-centring function, autonomous emergency braking and steering, speed-sign recognition, lane-departure warning and prevention, blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert and a driver-attention warning.