Top Safety Pick + Top Safety Pick criteria

2013 Subaru Outback

midsize car / 4-door wagon

Award applies only to vehicles built after August 2012

2013 Subaru Outback 4-door wagon

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights
  • Optional lane departure warning

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2013-14 models built after August 2012

Tested vehicle: 2013 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium 4-door 4wd

The Subaru Outback was redesigned for the 2010 model year. Beginning with 2013 models built after August 2012, the side curtain airbags were reprogrammed to deploy in small overlap frontal crashes to improve occupant protection (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door).

The small overlap frontal crash test ratings also apply to the sedan version of the Outback, known as the Legacy, also with the reprogrammed side curtain airbags beginning with 2013 models built after August 2012. The tested car was a Legacy built after the side airbag modification was in place.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot of the Subaru Legacy taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was not maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags of the Legacy worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

Despite considerable intrusion into the driver footwell area, risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1228
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 28
Footrest (cm) 20
Left toepan (cm) 12
Brake pedal (cm) 17
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 0
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 8
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 11
Upper dash (cm) 14
Lower instrument panel (cm) 13

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1228
Head
HIC-15 110
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 5
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Femur (kN)
Left 2.0
Right 1.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 10
Right 5
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.80
Right 0.59
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.5
Right 4.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 67
Right 114

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2010-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2010 Subaru Legacy 4-door 4wd

The Subaru Outback wagon was redesigned for the 2010 model year. Frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Subaru on the similar Legacy 4-door sedan, also redesigned for 2010, as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF0904
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5
Left (cm) 7
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 5
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0
Rearward (cm) -1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF0904
Head
HIC-15 96
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 33
Maximum Nij 0.30
Chest maximum compression (mm) 30
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.4
Femur force - right (kN) 1.7
Knee displacement - left (mm) 4
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.44
Maximum tibia index - right 0.57
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 65
Right 51

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2010-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i wagon 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Subaru Outback was redesigned for the 2010 model year. Two side tests of the Outback were conducted, one by the Institute and the other by Subaru as part of side crash test verification. Ratings are based on both tests.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the Institute's crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment (Institute test car shown).

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbags in the Institute's test.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS0904 CES0918
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -15.0 -17.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS0904 CES0918
Head HIC-15 91 116
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4 0.7
Compression (kN) 0.6 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 19 36
Lateral force (kN) 1.3 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 32 33
Average deflection (mm) 29 27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.77 2.42
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.38 0.44
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.7 1.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.9 3.1
Combined force (kN) 4.6 4.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 68 45
A-P moment (Nm) -12 15

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS0904 CES0918
Head HIC-15 128 144
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.5 0.1
Compression (kN) 0.2 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 36 28
Lateral force (kN) 1.1 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 27 22
Average deflection (mm) 23 18
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.76 2.56
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.27 0.19
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.1 1.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.8 2.8
Combined force (kN) 4.8 4.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.3 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 84 68
A-P moment (Nm) 47 -35

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2010-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium wagon 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,519 lbs
Peak force 16,458 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.68

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 38
Distance below top of head (mm) 14
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.0
Head contact time (ms) 60
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 1
Max neck tension (N) 323

How the head restraint & seat test is conducted
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional EyeSight

Package name

  • Optional EyeSight

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2013-14 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

How front crash prevention is evaluated

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