Video: 2022 Subaru Ascent Onyx: Review

But is it the most family-friendly mid-sized three-row SUV that money can buy? Well, we aren't so sure. Now, what we have here is the Onyx Edition. This is new for the 2022 model year, and it follows in the footsteps of the Onyx Edition of that Outback. Now, for the Ascent, that means darkened elements for the grill, and these crossbars here above the fog lights. There's also some darkened elements on some of the cross trim on the lift gate. And finally, you get these unique, 20-inch alloy wheels. They're an upgrade over the 18s that are standard on the Ascent. Other trim levels can also have 20s, but this is the only way to get this sort of unique, darkened finish. You've got to get the Onyx for that. Now, inside the Onyx edition has StarTex. This is a water-resistant upholstery here, it's a little more upscale feeling than cloth, which you can get in lower trim levels of the Ascent. But no one's really gonna mistake it for leather, at least up close. You can get leather if you move up to higher trim levels of the Ascent. Now, true to Subaru's building of this SUV, this is about as family-friendly as the brand gets. You got a second and third row. Second row has two or three seats, depending if you get a bench or captains chairs. The third row has three seats. So, the whole thing seats seven or eight, depending what configuration you get. We have two USB ports up here, there's two more behind the front console. You can get an additional two, not in our test car here. But that's a total of six, pretty good there. And, check this out. Each row has at least five cup holders. So, you're gonna wanna schedule in plenty of bathroom breaks on that road trip you're goin' on. Now, when you're not using them for cups, they kind of function just as regular nooks and crannies to store things. So, pretty good storage options there in the second and third row for your passengers. So, why don't we love the Ascent? Well, it really comes down to two things. A lot of issues we have with the interior otherwise, that I'll get to in a second, and how this thing drives. So, let's talk about those interior issues. The front seats are reasonably comfortable for me, and I'm about six-feet tall. And that's despite the fact that there's a panoramic moon roof in our test car. You get an Ascent without the panoramic moon roof, there's a little over an inch of additional headroom there. The dashboard though, really seems like it was designed by a committee whose members didn't talk to each other. There's so many kinds of elements that are just shoehorned next to each other, there's very little harmony. Some of the buttons just seem curiously small. And that's despite the fact that there's a lot of kind of negative space around them, where maybe they could have been spread out a little bit more. Just this whole kind of design here, doesn't seem very cohesive. Now, that might seem subjective, I'll tell you something that's more objective though. And that's space to store stuff upfront. There's plenty of room here in kind of the door pockets and stuff, and there's even a decent amount of space under the center armrest. But that all-important cubby ahead of the cup holders, that's where a lot of SUVs, family-friendly SUVs, have big cavernous compartments 'cause you're gonna throw a lot of stuff there. You know, wallets, cell phones, COVID masks, you name it, all that other crap you have as a family. This thing is like, half the size it needs to be. Come on, Subaru, we haven't decluttered enough. The second row feels modestly sized. The seats are a little bit lower to the ground then you get into some other competitive mid-sized, three-row SUVs. And that means adults knees might be a little more uncomfortably elevated here than they would be elsewhere. It gets even worse in the third row, which actually has decent seating height as third rows go, but kind of robs you of headroom. And so, adults back there really aren't gonna be comfortable if they have any torso height at all. If the second row is only maybe for medium-size adults and shorter, the third row, definitely kids only. And you might think this is par for the course for mid-sized three-row SUVs, but you can do a lot better than this. Rivals like the Volkswagen Atlas, the Chevy Traverse, the Hyundai Palisade, the Kia Telluride, all of those have notably more room in the second and third rows. Now, those four plus the Ascent were among seven SUVs we tested head-to-head in a three-row SUV challenge a couple of years back. And in both the second and third row scoring categories, the Ascent ranked in the bottom two or three placements each time. Similar situation here for cargo room. In terms of our as-tested cargo numbers versus some rivals we've tested more recently, the Ascent comes up fine, actually, in terms of space behind the third row. But once you fold those third row seats down behind the second row, there's relatively less space versus the competition. Take the Atlas for example, we found 30% more space as tested by our numbers behind the second row versus the Ascent, 40% more space behind the third row. Now rather than the big 6-cylinder engines that some of its rivals employ, the Ascent goes with a turbocharged 4-cylinder, and it's paired here with a continuously variable automatic transmission. The two make for kind of a relaxed pairing overall. To be clear, if you really lead footed around town, the Ascent will hustle when pushed. But before like, 60% or 70% of the way down that gas pedal, it just really feels like it's not in a hurry to do anything quickly, even when you're driving solo. You get on the gas while you're already in motion, and the transmission does have kind of a fake kicked-down mechanism that's fairly convincing. But again, that requires kind of being more aggressive with how you're driving it. Anything less than that and it just doesn't really feel like it's all that urgent. Now, suspension tuning is suitably soft, though the Ascent can feel a little boat-like at times. There is some notable body movement over rapid elevation changes, but I'll take this overall versus a lot of overly firm riding competitors. It's clear that Subaru decided that, you know, families never really wanted a sporty SUV in the first place, and I really agree with that. And the Ascent gets by without feeling too slow with it. The steering is reasonably assisted and quick enough ratios, you get into the corner and body roll is moderate, not excessive. Now, I wouldn't call the Ascent fun to drive. For that, you really want something like the new Ford Explorer, but it certainly doesn't embarrass itself. Now, the Ascent does much better than embarrassing itself when it comes to accommodating car seats. Our certified technicians here found the accommodations in the second row were excellent. So, Cars.com car seat checks of the current generation Ascent got straight A's, our top possible score in that second row. Third row earned straight Bs. So, not too bad back there either. Also impressive is the Ascent's driver assist technology. Now, standard equipment includes adaptive cruise control and hands-on lane-centering steering, both of which work all the way down to a stop. Nice to see, especially as some competitors impose, you know, minimum speed thresholds for their lane centering, or don't even offer any lane centering at all. Again, it's all standard here. So, the Ascent certainly has a few things going for it, but ultimately this is the same generation of SUV that placed in the bottom half of that comparison we did back in 2019. A few model years later, not enough has changed about the Ascent. It remains a good value if you want all-wheel drives and Subaru doesn't charge extra for that. But as far as family-friendly features go, you kind of want something that's a little family-friendlier with maybe a better engine and transmission, while Subaru's at it. All of this, I suspect, has really played into the Ascent's sales popularity. Now, I know this is a weird year with a major inventory shortage that's affecting different automakers differently. But even within Subaru's own lineup, the Outback outsells the Ascent by about three to one right now. So, there's no questioning that Subaru's largest SUV has struggled to gain a bigger piece of the pie. Now, buy one if you really like the all-wheel drive value, or if you just love the visibility, the car seat accommodations, drivers' tech, stuff like that. But, if you're just looking for a family-friendly midsize three-row SUV, we'd encourage you to check out the competition as well. You might be surprised at what you find. (upbeat music)