This version waves goodbye to the fifth generation line.

Price:  $49,990
Powertrain and performance:  2.5-litre four-cylinder horizontally opposed petrol engine. 129kW/5800rpm, 235Nm/4000rpm. All-wheel drive. 7.3 L/100km.
Vital statistics: Length 4820mm, height 1675mm, width 1840mm, wheelbase 2745mm. Luggage 512 litres. Wheels: 18-inch black alloys with 225/60R18 100V tyres.
We Like: Solid boxer engine performance, all-wheel drive with dual-function X-Mode, excellent safety specification, water resistant seats a great idea for this outdoorsy SUV.
We don’t like: Rear load area not wide enough.

ONE of the great pleasures of long-distance motoring – particularly when you’re alone behind the wheel – is that it is an opportunity to let your mind wander a little.

Experts say it’s actually good for you to let thoughts freely move in and out of your head, as you’re doing something like cruising along the likes of the Canterbury plains.  Apparently it helps improve an individual’s creativity.

So there you go, folks. All that time behind the wheel, considering what you’d do if you won the weekend’s big Lotto jackpot, isn’t fantasising – it’s being creative.

The other day I let my mind wander during a long journey in the latest version of Subaru’s Outback SUV. I was reminiscing to myself about various experiences in all five generations of the model so far, silently congratulating the then Fuji Heavy Industries (now Subaru Corporation) for having the vision back in the early 1990s to simply jack up the ground clearance of a Legacy wagon and call it a crossover.

And naming it Outback.  What a great name for such a vehicle, I mused. Everyone has heard of the Outback, that word originally used in the 1860s to describe anywhere west of the inland New South Wales settlement of Wagga Wagga, but now used to describe the entire Aussie interior.

As the kilometres passed, the mind wandered some more.  Outback hasn’t been the first Subaru to carry an Australian name, I remembered. Back in the 1970s the brand developed a small ute that in USA was called BRAT  - for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter, for Heaven’s sake – but thankfully in Australasia it was known as the Brumby, after the feral outback horse.

But the Brumby was never anywhere near as successful as the Outback. The SUV has been a major success all over the world, and in New Zealand it is the biggest-selling Subaru.  In fact it’s so dominant that these days Subaru doesn’t bother selling a wagon version of the Legacy – the brand leaves it all up to the higher-riding and more rugged Outback.

We’re on the verge of receiving a new sixth-generation Outback, and as is usually the case when it comes to vehicle runout time, limited numbers of the current fifth-generation model are now being offered as special edition versions.

The vehicle I was driving was a 2.5-litre Outback X, which the Subaru marketers describe as the most outback Outback yet.  In terms of its $49,990 price it sits right in between the two other 2.5 Outbacks on the Kiwi market, the $47,490 Sport and the $52,490 Premium.

So what’s so outback about this Outback?

For starters it is the first such model to be fitted with the dual-function X-Mode system that was first introduced last year in the latest generation Forester SUV. The X-Mode includes settings for snow, dirt and mud, and it constantly monitors the traction available to each wheel and centralises control of the engine, transmission and brakes.

It really does enhance the all-wheel drive capability of the Outback X, which with its ground clearance of 213mm has the ability to get to plenty of out-of-the-way places. Without being silly about , of course – you wouldn’t want to use such a vehicle for serious off-roading duties. More like getting to a remote surf or fishing spot, or up to a local skifield.

And if you do that, here’s a second unique Outback X feature:  it has water repellent seat fabric. Not 100 per cent waterproof mind you, so you wouldn’t want to drive for too long in your wetsuit after a day in the water.  But Subaru says the fabric is not easily penetrated by small amounts of water, which probably means that sitting on a wet towel should be OK.

Cosmetic differences include black treatment of its 18-inch alloys, front grille, wing mirrors and rear badging, and a nice touch is lime green accents on the side badges and grille, and lime green stitching on the seats, centre console, steering wheel and gearshift.

It all adds up to a really nice vehicle. Safe too, thanks to AWD, and Subaru’s EyeSight crash avoidance technology which is made up of eight features that include brake assist, pre-collision braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane sway warning, and lane keep assist.

From the comfort perspective the Outback X also has electric sunroof, a rear power tailgate, and satellite navigation.

You could say the X adds a little bit of excitement to the Outback as the countdown continues towards arrival of the new sixth generation model later this year. It will initially be available with the normally aspirated 2.5-litre engine only, although power and torque will be boosted slightly to 133kW at 5800 rpm and 238 Nm at 4400 rpm.

The body style remains pretty much the same, even though it will be built on the new Subaru Global Platform that will offer much more torsional rigidity than before. The interior is a lot different to now, notably with a much larger, vertical centre screen.

One major change – and this won’t happen until next year – will be the replacement of the current six cylinder 3.6R model with a version powered by a turbocharged 2.4-litre boxer engine. This is the result of Subaru dumping the six from the Outback in USA, reserving the bigger engine for the seven-seater Ascent which is built only in left-hand drive.

The bad news is that this boxer six will no doubt be sorely missed by fans in New Zealand. But the god news is that despite its smaller cubic capacity, the turbocharged 2.4-litre engine offers superior power and torque.

Whereas the six produces 191kW at 6000 rpm and torque of 350Nm at 4400rpm, the turbo engine develops 193kW at 5600 rpm and 375Nm at a low 2000 rpm.

The new Outback will also be slightly bigger, with its 5mm additional length all going into improving the rear load space.