Top Safety Pick

2011 Subaru Outback

midsize car / 4-door wagon

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria	Rating
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

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.

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,.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
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

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
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

About the original moderate overlap front test

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. Ratings are based on both tests.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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

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.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
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

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
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

About the original side crash test

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

About the roof strength test

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

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