Compare the2023 Volvo XC40VS 2023 Subaru Outback

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Recommendations

Safety

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The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Outback doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the XC40 and Outback have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Outback’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The XC40 has standard Automatic Braking After Collision, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Outback doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The XC40 offers an optional 360-Degree Surround View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Outback only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

The XC40 has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Outback’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the XC40 has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Outback and isn't available on the not available.

Both the XC40 and the Outback have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the Subaru Outback:

	XC40	Outback
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Stress	209 lbs.	281 lbs.
Neck Compression	25 lbs.	57 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Injury Risk	31%	43%

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the Subaru Outback:

	XC40	Outback
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	48 G’s	51 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	14 inches
Spine Acceleration	33 G’s	43 G’s
Hip Force	411 lbs.	674 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the XC40 is 3% less likely to roll over than the Outback.

Warranty

The XC40 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Outback’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The XC40’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Outback’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the XC40 for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Volvo will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Subaru doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Outback.

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the XC40 has a standard 800-amp battery. The Outback’s 620-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

Engine

The XC40 B4’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 12 more horsepower (194 vs. 182) and 45 lbs.-ft. more torque (221 vs. 176) than the Outback 2.5i’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the XC40 gets better mileage than the Outback:

			MPG
XC40
	FWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/32 hwy
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	23 city/30 hwy
Outback
	AWD	XT 2.4 turbo flat-4	22 city/29 hwy
		Wilderness 2.4 turbo flat-4	21 city/26 hwy

Regenerative brakes improve the XC40’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Outback doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The XC40 has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Outback doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the XC40’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Outback:

	XC40 B4	XC40 B5	Outback
Front Rotors	12.7 inches	13.6 inches	12.4 inches
Rear Rotors	11.9 inches	13.4 inches	11.8 inches

The XC40 stops much shorter than the Outback:

	XC40	Outback
70 to 0 MPH	173 feet	191 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	111 feet	132 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the XC40 has larger standard tires than the Outback (235/55R18 vs. 225/65R17). The XC40’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Outback (245/45R20 vs. 225/65R17).

The XC40’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Outback’s standard 65 series tires. The XC40’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Outback Onyx/Limited/Touring’s 60 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the XC40 has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Outback. The XC40’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 18-inch wheels on the Outback Onyx/Limited/Touring.

Suspension and Handling

The XC40 has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Outback doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the XC40 is 1.1 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Outback.

The XC40 B5 Plus AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the Outback Wilderness pulls only .74 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The XC40 B5 Plus AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Outback Limited (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

Chassis

The XC40 is 1 foot, 4.5 inches shorter than the Outback Wilderness, making the XC40 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The front step up height for the XC40 is 1.3 inches lower than the Outback (17.7” vs. 19”). The XC40’s rear step up height is .3 inches lower than the Outback’s (18.2” vs. 18.5”).

Cargo Capacity

A control in the cargo area automatically lowers the XC40’s optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Outback doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Towing

The XC40’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Outback’s (3500 vs. 2700 pounds).

Optional Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) on the XC40 uses the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Outback doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Servicing Ease

The XC40 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Outback uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The XC40 has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Outback doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The power windows standard on both the XC40 and the Outback have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the XC40 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Outback prevents the driver from operating the rear windows just as it does the other passengers.

The XC40’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Outback’s standard rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the XC40 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Outback can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The XC40’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Outback’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The XC40’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Subaru only offers heated mirrors on the Outback Premium/Limited/Wilderness/Touring/Onyx.

The XC40 has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Outback Premium/Limited/Wilderness/Touring/Onyx.

Both the XC40 and the Outback offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the XC40 has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Outback doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Volvo XC40 has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Wireless charging costs extra on the Outback and isn’t available on the Outback Base.

The XC40’s optional Park Assist Pilot can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Outback doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Model Availability

The XC40 is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Outback doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Volvo XC40 and the Subaru Outback, based on reliability, safety and performance.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the XC40 second among small premium suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Outback isn’t in the top three.

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