10 Things You Need to Know About the 2019 Subaru Ascent

2019 Subaru Ascent by Ron Sessions exterior hero ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Last month, Subaru sold its 9 millionth vehicle in the U.S. Its first car was sold here 50 years ago, but it’s never offered one before with room for eight passengers. The Ascent plugs a prominent hole in Subaru’s lineup that’s been there ever since the company discontinued the slightly smaller seven-passenger Tribeca after the 2014 model year. In the interim, Subaru had been missing out without a mid-SUV crossover aimed at customers with three or more children. The Ascent is Subaru’s largest vehicle ever — longer than a Toyota Highlander, though shorter than a Ford Explorer. In profile, the Ascent casts a bold, edgy shadow like an Outback wagon on steroids, some 7.2 inches longer, 5.1 inches taller, and 3.6 inches wider than the Outback, but still unmistakably a Subaru. It features a tall hood, wide stance, wheel sizes ranging up to 20 inches, and C-shaped headlights meant to suggest the pistons of the big Subaru’s unique horizontally opposed Boxer engine. When the Ascent goes on sale this summer, its base prices (including destination) will range from $32,970 for the base model to $45,670 for the check-every-feature-box Touring.

1. It’s got a roomy, upscale interior.

The Ascent rolls with lots of thoughtful storage bins and cubbies, a shelf that runs along the bottom of the dash, and 19 cupholders. There’s great outward visibility courtesy of free-standing outside mirrors, generous glass area, and thin windshield pillars. The standard cloth seats are both comfortable and supportive with plenty of spread-out space, while Limited and Touring models offer an extendable driver-seat bottom cushion. 

Like the Outback, ingress and egress are easy into the slightly elevated seating positions. The Ascent is quiet, too, thanks to extensive soundproofing, an acoustic windshield and front door glass. Subaru focused on reducing noise at highway speeds to improve in-car conversation, even in the third-row seats. There are up to eight USB ports, one for each occupant to stay connected to a device. Material quality is up a few notches from what you may have experienced in previous Subarus, although not so nice that you wouldn’t want to take it off-road.

Photo by Ron Sessions

2. It’s available with second-row captain’s chairs.

While the base Ascent comes only in eight-passenger form with a 60/40 split folding second-row bench seat, Premium and Limited models are available with the option of seven-passenger seating with second-row captain’s chairs with folding armrests, and the Touring trim is seven-passenger only.

The second-row seats tilt and slide forward to ease access to the third-row seating. The Ascent has a maximum of five LATCH points for child seats, including three across the second-row bench. The rear doors open an extra-wide 75 degrees to facilitate easier access to the third row. Limited and Touring models feature retractable rear-door sunshades.

Photo by Ron Sessions

3. It’s got a reasonably useful third-row seat.

Not that you’d want to stash three adult passengers back there for a cross-country trip, but the Ascent's third row isn’t just for kids like in some competitor’s models. This is no a penalty box — there are ventilation ducts, USB ports and, of course, cupholders back there. Third-row inhabitants are not sitting with their chins on their knees and heads against the liftgate window.

Subaru says the Ascent offers the lowest step-in height among its competitors and we have no reason to disagree. The company installed assist grips inspired by bullet trains, and the roof pillars aft of the rear doors are more upright than in some competitor’s SUVs in order to provide more room for ingress and egress.

Photo by Ron Sessions

4. It offers up to 86.5 cubic feet of cargo space.

Leave all of the seats up and the Ascent still includes 17.8 cubic feet of cargo space behind its third row. That's the size of a full-size sedan's trunk, and it's big enough to fit a dog carrier.

Folding both the second- and third-row seats nets you the Subaru's biggest cargo cavity — 86.5 cubic feet of it — although the available captain’s chairs don’t fold completely flat. This cargo volume is competitive with other SUVs in the class, where the old Tribeca was not. There’s also underfloor storage. The Premium, Limited and Touring models with height memory offer a power liftgate with memory height positions. A roof rack for kayaks and bicycles and such comes standard.

Photo by Ron Sessions

5. It’s got a turbocharged engine.

The Ascent features an all-new direct-injected 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder Boxer engine that uses regular unleaded gas. It develops a healthy 260 horsepower at 5600 rpm (4 more hp than the 3.6-liter 6-cylinder available in the Outback). More importantly, its 277 lb-ft of torque from 2000 to 4800 rpm offer good low-end response and a broad midrange. Subaru says that translates to a 7.3-second 0-60 mph run. The Ascent uses a continuously variable automatic transmission with an eight-speed manual shift mode operated with steering-wheel paddles. EPA estimates are 21 mpg city/27 mpg highway/23 mpg combined on most trims, which is slightly better than the six-cylinder Outback. That’s quite impressive, considering that the Ascent is a much larger, roomier vehicle that weighs 700 to 800 pounds more. Upgrading to the Touring model or opting for the great-looking 20-inch wheels drops Ascent’s EPA estimates just 1 mpg. We saw 18-22 mpg in mostly hilly, twisty backroads driving. With the 19.3-gallon fuel tank, that means a 500+ mile cruising range. The Ascent offers pleasing around-town performance, especially at part throttle and lower engine speeds — the driving conditions encountered the majority of the time.

Photo by Ron Sessions

6. It features symmetrical all-wheel drive.

As with all other Subarus sold in the U.S. except for the rear-wheel drive BRZ sports coupe, the Ascent comes standard with a symmetrical all-wheel drive system. This arrangement varies the percentage of drive torque sent to the front and rear wheels, while the driver-selectable X-Mode can reduce individual wheel spin.

As with the Outback, the Ascent offers 8.7 inches of ground clearance, good to go on-pavement or off. A hill-descent control system enables the Ascent to negotiate steep downward grades using low gear and intermittent pumping of the ABS brakes. The Ascent also features driver-selectable Auto Vehicle Hold, which will keep it from rolling back on a steep incline.

Photo by Ron Sessions

7. It can tow 5,000 pounds.

Decades ago, Subarus were the small wagons and sedans towed behind motor homes. Now the 2019 Subaru Ascent is itself a towing vehicle, with Premium, Limited, and Touring models capable of handling a trailer that weighs as much as 5,000 pounds. That's up from 2,700 pounds in the current Outback, and more than any Subaru has offered before.

A new trailer stability assist feature comes standard. It can detect and correct for yaw (fishtailing) of the trailer using the anti-lock brake system. There’s a pop-out section at the lower center of the rear bumper that grants access to the trailer hitch. Four-wheel independent suspension and active torque vectoring aid on-road performance.

Photo by Ron Sessions

8. Subaru's EyeSight safety system is standard.

Subaru’s EyeSight driver-assist technology, which uses forward-facing radar and a monocular camera to provide semi-autonomous driving support, is standard on all Ascent trims. The basic package includes adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking and throttle management, lane-departure and sway warning, and lane-keeping assist, plus a head-up systems status display projected onto the windshield in front of the driver.

The Premium, Limited, and Touring models add blind-spot monitoring with lane-change assistance and a rear cross-traffic alert. The Limited and Touring get reverse automatic braking, which automatically applies the brakes if it detects a nearby object when backing up; automatic high beams; and LED steering-responsive headlamps, which rotate slightly with the steering wheel. The Touring adds a 180-degree front monitor and a smart rear camera mirror. It displays an image of what’s behind the car from a camera in the rear hatch, unobstructed by cargo or passengers inside the cabin. A conventional rearview backup camera is standard on all models. Also available are rain-sensing wipers and a 180-degree front-view camera.

Photo by Ron Sessions

9. It’s got standard Wi-Fi.

Subaru’s first-ever 4G LTE broadband connectivity system delivers in-car AT&T Wi-Fi. Along for the ride are standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, plus SiriusXM, Aha, and Pandora connectivity. The company's Starlink Multimedia infotainment features a standard 6.5-inch high-resolution touchscreen on base models. Premium, Limited, and Touring trims get an 8-inch touchscreen, and all systems include redundant knobs for volume and tuning for folks wearing gloves.

Premium and higher models have Near Field Communications Bluetooth phone pairing and hands-free text messaging. Navigation and a new 14-speaker 792-watt Quantum Logic Harman Kardon surround-sound premium audio system are standard on the Touring and optional on the Premium and Limited.

Photo by Ron Sessions

10. It has star power.

Beyond the 2019 Subaru Ascent’s functional and elegant design, this new three-row SUV has star power. Subaru Starlink emergency assistance is standard, bringing three years of emergency roadside assistance and automatic collision notification.

Starlink Connected services include remote start, an anti-theft vehicle immobilizer, concierge services, over-the-air firmware upgrades, and teenage safety functions such as speed alerts, geofencing, and curfew notices. 

Photo by Ron Sessions