We wanted to try sleeping in the back of our 2005 Outback to see how comfortable it is. Turns out it passed the test with ease. I am 5'9" and my wife is 5'7" and we could both lay out straight on our air matresses. Of course the side to side width is a bit tight but bearable. We drove up to Callaghan Lake which is located just NW of Whistler BC. The road in was easy in an Outback although most people up there were in SUVs . I am starting to get more comfortable taking the Outback "off-road" even though I am a lot more nervous and careful than when I was driving my 91 Nissan Pathfinder tank.
Looks great! My GF and I sleep in the back of our gen 4 when it gets a little too nippy outside for the tent. It works well, if not a little cramped, but we bought a "full" size air mattress that fits really nicely inside. We found that a queen air mattress was too wide and wrapped us up like a hot dog bun. Live and learn and adapt!
Just curious ... it doesn't look like the rear seatbacks are folded down flat. Is this not a feature of the 2005OB? Both my 97OB and the 2014OB have rear seats that fold flat.
First time I've slept in the back of a vehicle in 15yrs was this summer. Borrowed cot in the back of the Sequoia a dads only three day weekend trip to a lake where I crewed on a friends sailboat in a regatta. Prior car sleeping trip was back in the late 90's in a 4runner solo road trip through the PNW.
Sleeping the back of the Subaru is possible but unless the weather is just terrible I'd still opt for my nice 3 season 2 person tent and a good pad under me. LOL
The Sequoia was pretty good given the roof line height I could sit up on my cot and the available floor space was large enough I had plenty of room for the ice chest and gear without having to crawl over it. The 4runner was tight way back in the day but at least it had a flat floor. Subaru would be tough for me to see it as a intended sleeping option - unintended it works but not my first choice. LOL
Tent tip for a terrible storm etc - always pack a very large tarp which the tent can be set up on then have the other half of the tarp fold over the top of the tent ideally door away from the wind direction and the folded section from the side the wind direction is coming from. Even a two season tent wrapped like this can make it through a heavy night of wind and rain add your typical air mat so your not on the ground and any water that might leak in on the floor stays away from you. I've gone through many nights like that to emerge rested with a good nights sleep only to find an entire campground full of wet miserable people who spent the night sitting in their cars after their tents became soggy miserable places to try and sleep. One of those cases one of our camp mates cars even slide into a ditch while she was sound asleep in a tent I had set up for her burrito style with an extra tarp I had brought just incase. LOL