Welcome to crossover central. It’s a busy place, this. Alight here for: heinously overpriced 4x4 superminis, weirdo halfbreed hatchbacks, softened-up SUVs, ruggedised seven-seaters - and pretty well every daft, unpronounceable, meaningless new model name that the car business has conceived in the past decade.
The sheer choice on offer here for people with money to spend, ‘something a bit different’ in mind, and no descriptor more specific than the word ‘crossover’ with which to identify it, is… well, it’s a bit much. What’s needed is a touchstone - something simple. So step forward the oldest and best-established exponent of the crossover art: the jacked-up family estate car.
From early Audi Allroads and Volvo Cross Countrys to Volkswagen Alltracks, Skoda Scouts and Vauxhall Country Tourers, these do-it-all wagons seem to occupy the centre ground of the crossover market by bridging the gap between traditional and avant-garde design idioms.
Among myriad alien concepts, they are somehow knowable quantities. And today we’ve got two of them competing for one final recommendation. Although they are similarly priced, each represents a very different brand, philosophy and route to the delivery of that little bit more capability and convenience than average.
In the old-school corner, welcome a crossover with two decades and some four previous model generations behind it – not to mention the 4x4 cache conferred by a hatful of WRC championships and a catalogue full of all-wheel-drive models: the Subaru Outback. If it’s authenticity you’re after, the Outback is as blue-chip as crossovers get - and yet this latest version is no throwback.
Opposing it is a brand new player in this part of the market, one that answers the Subaru’s authenticity with starkly contrasting freshness: the Seat Leon X-Perience. All right, it’s got another daft model name – but experience teaches us that, where crossovers come in, that doesn’t necessarily make it a daft car. In fact, on the face of it, the Leon looks leaner, richer and more athletic than any utility car has a right to.
Join the debate
concinnity
Subaru vs VW group inbuilt quality.
danielcoote
Could not have....
....said it better myself. The soft plastics / LED light loving fraternity will not be happy with this one...
Ruperts Trooper
Inaccuracy
Dark Isle
Surprising!
reckless fox
Outback looks like a winner
Choice 1 - a £43K Land Rover with a middling engine
Choice 2 - a Subaru Outback, as glowingly reviewed here, and an 18 month old MX5 - probably just under £43K
I know which one (two actually) I'll have thanks.
marj
reckless fox wrote: When you
interesting you bring up the Freelander, sorry, Disco Sport. I was making the same comparison. i have always had a soft spot for Subarus. Their solid yet quirky engineering. Massive and comfortable cabins. I'll have to pay them another visit. Certainly it cannot be worse than the Disco Sport, which was quite simply a disappointment.
xxxx
DAB
reckless fox
No DAB
xxxx
No DAB
orienteer
Latest Outbacks and Foresters
Pages
Add your comment