Compare the2024 Subaru OutbackVS 2023 Land Rover Range Rover Velar

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Outback are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Land Rover Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Outback are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Subaru Outback has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Outback has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Outback (except Base/Premium) offers optional Reverse Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

Both the Outback and the Range Rover Velar have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Outback its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 30 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Range Rover Velar has not been tested, yet.

Subaru’s powertrain warranty covers the Outback 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Land Rover covers the Range Rover Velar. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Range Rover Velar ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 3 times as many Subaru dealers as there are Land Rover dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Outback’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Outback’s reliability 21 points higher than the Range Rover Velar.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are better in initial quality than Land Rover vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Subaru above average in initial quality. With 18 more problems per 100 vehicles, Land Rover is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are more reliable than Land Rover With 58 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Subaru higher than Land Rover.

As tested in Car and Driver the Outback XT/Wilderness 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Range Rover Velar P250 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Outback lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability (That’s why Porsche uses boxer engines.). The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

On the EPA test cycle the Outback gets better mileage than the Range Rover Velar:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Subaru Outback uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Range Rover Velar requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Outback has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Range Rover Velar. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

The Outback has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Outback stops shorter than the Range Rover Velar:

The Outback Wilderness/Onyx XT has a standard full size spare so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare costs extra on the Range Rover Velar. Without the option you must depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

The Outback Limited handles at .79 G’s, while the Range Rover Velar pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Outback Wilderness executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the Range Rover Velar (27.2 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28.6 seconds @ .57 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Outback’s turning circle is 3.1 feet tighter than the Range Rover Velar’s (36.1 feet vs. 39.2 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Outback has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Range Rover Velar (8.7 vs. 8.4 inches), allowing the Outback to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Subaru Outback may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 500 pounds less than the Land Rover Range Rover Velar.

The front grille of the Outback 2.5i uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Outback has 1 inch more front headroom, 2.5 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 2.3 inches more rear legroom and 1.8 inches more rear shoulder room than the Range Rover Velar.

The Outback has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Range Rover Velar with its rear seat up (32.6 vs. 30.9 cubic feet). The Outback has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Range Rover Velar with its rear seat folded (75.6 vs. 62.7 cubic feet).

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the Outback easier. The Outback’s trunk lift-over height is 28.4 inches, while the Range Rover Velar’s liftover is 29.7 inches.

The Outback’s cargo area is larger than the Range Rover Velar’s in every dimension:

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Outback’s available exterior PIN entry system (not available on Outback Base). The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its InControl can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Outback has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer cornering lights.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Outback has standard extendable sun visors. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Outback to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Subaru Outback (except Base) offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Range Rover Velar doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Subaru Outback, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Land Rover Range Rover Velar isn't recommended.

The Subaru Outback outsold the Land Rover Range Rover Velar by over 17 to one during 2022.