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Hi there,

I'm looking to get a Station Wagon that is god for towing. I've been looking at the Holden Sportwagon 3.6 V6 and the Subaru Outback 3.6 H6 and would like to know which would be the better option. I know the tow rating on the Sportwagon is 2100 kgs and the Outback is 1800 kgs, but know that often ratings are not the obvious indication as to which tows better. Thanks!

The Sportwagon is not only the car with the higher rating, but at 1776kg curb weight, it's 122kg heavier than the Subaru's 1654kg.
The legal requirement for towing is that the vehicle must be able to stop from 30km/h in 7 metres. This is often a direct relationship with the mass of the towing vehicle, so based on that, the Holden is probably the better tow car.

Thanks very much for your quick response. Are there other Wagons in the same market I might be overlooking that you would recommend taking a look at? Cheers

It's an interesting question. Over the past few years large cars and station wagons have mostly disappeared from the market, to be replaced by SUVs. Therefore, there are now very few large wagons to choose from, with the Holden also disappearing in a couple of years time.
The only other large wagons I can think of are European brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Audi, but probably a diesel SUV would be the preference for towing.

I've had an SUV for the past 10 years and am looking to get out of that market into something more enjoyable to drive, but still having a decent luggage space. I won't be towing nearly as much as I used to, but I do really want the option of still being able to.

Between the Outback and the Sportwagon, the Outback seems to be much better appointed. But lacks the 'cool' factor of the Sportwagon.

From what I've read, fuel consumption seems to be about the same, is that correct? Also, which one do you see holding its value better?

Thank you for your time. I don't know the protocol here, is it okay to keep asking questions? Ha!

The claimed fuel economy figures for these cars is 9.3L/100km for the Holden and 10.3L/100km for the Subaru. The Subaru does have a reputation for being thirsty and given that claimed figures are always a little difficult to achieve in real world conditions, while you may not achieve the claims, there is still likely to be a difference of around 10% as per the claim, in favour of the Holden.
As I said previously, large cars are not as popular as they once were, so depreciation is likely to hit both of these cars, and my thoughts are that they'll both be affected in a relatively way as far as depreciation is concerned.