Hello, all! Opinions are like noses, so here goes . . .
The Wilderness and Onyx editions of the Outback will undoubtedly cannibalize sales from each other; heck I struggle to think of any similar examples of "specialty" models so similar to each other being offered simultaneously by the same automaker. It seems inevitable that the Wilderness will end up replacing the Onyx in the lineup.
Do you agree? Or does the Onyx offer virtues that will let it stick around?
The higher ride height and offroad-focused tires in the Wilderness does a number to the turbo's gas mileage, about 3 mpg less than the Onyx I believe. But the Onyx has all the important stuff, including the mud 'n sand modes, the front-facing camera and the full-size spare. And, to me, the blacked-out trim of the Onyx is just about perfect, with the clean front end, amazing wheels and the touch of chrome around the windows that, I dunno, adds a "town and country" vibe. (I like it, anyway) The grille of the Wilderness is too busy, the cladding is dialed up to cartoonish levels, there are weird copper bits I just don't get, and there's a big decal on the hood. I'll take the smoo-oo-th, clean look of the Onyx,
On the other hand, there's undeniable value in the strengthened roof rails and better tires in the Wilderness, but the extra ground clearance isn't, for me, worth the trade-off in gas mileage when the off-roading I'm most apt to do is take it out on the beach at the Jersey shore.
Best thing to hope for is that there's a market for both.
The Wilderness and Onyx editions of the Outback will undoubtedly cannibalize sales from each other; heck I struggle to think of any similar examples of "specialty" models so similar to each other being offered simultaneously by the same automaker. It seems inevitable that the Wilderness will end up replacing the Onyx in the lineup.
Do you agree? Or does the Onyx offer virtues that will let it stick around?
The higher ride height and offroad-focused tires in the Wilderness does a number to the turbo's gas mileage, about 3 mpg less than the Onyx I believe. But the Onyx has all the important stuff, including the mud 'n sand modes, the front-facing camera and the full-size spare. And, to me, the blacked-out trim of the Onyx is just about perfect, with the clean front end, amazing wheels and the touch of chrome around the windows that, I dunno, adds a "town and country" vibe. (I like it, anyway) The grille of the Wilderness is too busy, the cladding is dialed up to cartoonish levels, there are weird copper bits I just don't get, and there's a big decal on the hood. I'll take the smoo-oo-th, clean look of the Onyx,
On the other hand, there's undeniable value in the strengthened roof rails and better tires in the Wilderness, but the extra ground clearance isn't, for me, worth the trade-off in gas mileage when the off-roading I'm most apt to do is take it out on the beach at the Jersey shore.
Best thing to hope for is that there's a market for both.