Peaty
12-21-2003, 12:22 PM
Lots of people ask about the amount of space behind the seats of the Outback (OB) VS the Forester. Since I have both I thought I'd do some measuring. The test vehicles are an 04' Forester XT and an 02" Outback Wagon. Inn the pics I will show some common dimensions measured at the same points as best as I can. In the case of the opening height it's a little tough as the Outback's hatch is on more of an angle than the Foresters. So for the OB I used the floor to trim measurement to be fair. If you move further away from the back roof trim on the Forester (toward the front of the car) the floor to headliner dimension increases to 33.5" ( 85cm). It's lower in the back due to the seatbelt reel and some other stuff.
I have to say, owning both, the Outback has more usable space than the Forester. That's not to say the Forester dosen't have a lot of room but the shape and size of the OB makes for more practical space usage. Also, while the seats fall nearly flat in the Forester there is no provision to flip up the seat bottom like you can in the OB. With the OB you can (but don't have to) move the rear seat bottom up then flip down the rear seat backs. The floor sits more level and seat backs lock into place.
A measurements that I really couldn't fit on the pics. The rear seat backs incline at an angle into the cargo area. In the pics I noted the bottom floor dimensions. But up at the top of the seat back level the OB has 35" (88.9cm) and the Forester has 31.5" (80cm)
Also, from the floor to the pull cover shade:
OB - 17" (43.2cm)
Forester - 15" (38.1cm)
Peaty 12/21/03
I have to say, owning both, the Outback has more usable space than the Forester. That's not to say the Forester dosen't have a lot of room but the shape and size of the OB makes for more practical space usage. Also, while the seats fall nearly flat in the Forester there is no provision to flip up the seat bottom like you can in the OB. With the OB you can (but don't have to) move the rear seat bottom up then flip down the rear seat backs. The floor sits more level and seat backs lock into place.
A measurements that I really couldn't fit on the pics. The rear seat backs incline at an angle into the cargo area. In the pics I noted the bottom floor dimensions. But up at the top of the seat back level the OB has 35" (88.9cm) and the Forester has 31.5" (80cm)
Also, from the floor to the pull cover shade:
OB - 17" (43.2cm)
Forester - 15" (38.1cm)
Peaty 12/21/03