2024 Subaru Outback Interior and Cargo

Just like the exterior colors, the interior colors of the Subaru Outback Base trim are limited - in this case, to Slate Black cloth only. Contrasting white stitching features on the seats, center console, door armrests, gearshift gaiter, and dashboard. Moving up to the Premium gives you the choice of Slate Black, Titanium Gray, or Warm Ivory for the cloth seat faces, lower dash, upper door panels, and door armrests - and black for the rest of the interior. However, your choices are limited by the exterior paint color, and there isn't a single paint that's available with all three interior colors - some, like Crimson Red Pearl, can be had with a Slate Black interior only.

The Limited upgrades to genuine leather in the same color choices - and with the non-black interior colors applied to the same parts of the interior - as the Premium. Again, the interior color is dependent on the paint color. The Touring is decked out in Nappa leather upholstery and any of two interior color combinations, namely black/black or Java Brown/black. The Onyx Edition comes with water-repellent StarTex upholstery in gray only, with lime-green stitching on the seats and a combination of lime-green and white stitching elsewhere. The Wilderness gets the same gray StarTex, but with a honeycomb texture, Subaru Wilderness branding embossed on the front headrests, and with copper-colored stitching throughout the interior. There are also Anodized Copper finishes on the gearshifter, the steering wheel's lower vertical spoke, and the gauge cluster.

There is generous trunk space behind the Subaru Outback's second row, with 32.6 cubic feet available - almost four cu-ft more than you get in a Forester and enough for a whole bunch of carry-on cases. With the rear seats folded, 75.6 cubes are up for grabs. There's an under-floor cargo compartment in the luggage area and a removable cargo-area tray as well. The load area is flat even with the rear seat folded, and it has a lower lift-in height than an SUV.

The lidded center-console storage box contains a storage tray, but it holds less than that of a typical SUV. The cubby is average-sized and there is a small compartment to store your phone at the bottom of the center stack, conveniently below the USB charging ports. This turns into the wireless charging pad if you order that option, but it's optional on all trims except Base. There are no fewer than eight bottle/cupholders strewn about the interior, and the rear-seat passengers have access to front seatback pockets.

There's no mistaking the Base as the lowliest model, and it reminds you of this fact through its limited paint colors, a single black interior theme with cloth upholstery, limited access to extras, and - the most obvious inside - the old dual seven-inch center displays, where all other Outbacks have the single large 11.6-inch infotainment screen. Adjustment of the seats and the steering wheel is manual, and the climate control is a single-zone setup.

There's no skimping when it comes to safety features, though, with the EyeSight driver-assistance suite standard and including adaptive cruise control, lane centering, automatic braking, and automatic emergency steering all fitted. Higher trims get a lot more standard kit, and some of the noteworthy items include leather upholstery, electrically adjustable, ventilated, and heated front seats, a leather-trimmed and heated steering wheel, a moonroof, a substantially upgraded infotainment system, and additional driver assists.

The Base is the only trim in the lineup to retain an older version of the Starlink Multimedia infotainment system with dual seven-inch center touchscreens, but at least wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, HD Radio, SiriusXM, Bluetooth audio streaming, a front USB-A port, and an auxiliary jack are standard. All other trims have the big 11.6-inch touchscreen. On the Premium, Onyx Edition, Limited, and Wilderness, this is the Starlink Multimedia Plus system that also adds wireless phone mirroring, NFC technology, Wi-Fi capability, two USB-C ports (one front and one rear), and a rear USB-A port.

The Starlink Multimedia Navigation system is fitted to the Touring, Touring XT, and Limited XT. As the name suggests, it adds navigation, and it also gets voice activation. The Base's audio system has four speakers, and the Premium ups the speaker count to six. All other trims have a 12-speaker Harman Kardon audio system with an amplifier. Only the two Touring trims also get a CD player.