[Rgashton]

We would have ordered the Touring with all it's bells and whistles but had to go with the Limited. We really wanted/needed the bench seat but I really wanted the cool tech. The versatility of the 8 passenger/bench ultimately won out for us but I am still interested in the extra tech.

I'm going to start this thread in an effort to pool our ideas, successes and failures in hopes of adding the extra tech to our Limiteds.

The main item I want to try an add is the front 180 camera. I've emailed SoA and asked for them to relay this inquiry to the Ascent engineers. However, nice as the customer care reps are, I only got a generalized canned response back, saying how that was a Touring only feature...nothing from the engineers. I may just have to buy the components and try it, and hope I can return the parts if it doesn't work.

I am also curious about adding the ventilation to our Limited trim seats but as someone had mentioned before, the Touring seats may be completely perforated whereas the Limited may have solid center panels (have not seen pictures yet to confirm).

Something else I might add is the 110 socket in the back of the center console. And maybe even the chrome door handles as a little bonus. :grin:

 

[Gueromeister]

I am also curious about adding the ventilation to our Limited trim seats but as someone had mentioned before, the Touring seats may be completely perforated whereas the Limited may have solid center panels (have not seen pictures yet to confirm).

Something else I might add is the 110 socket in the back of the center console. And maybe even the chrome door handles as a little bonus. :grin:

If you go to the build a Ascent website and look at the warm ivory leather seat picture it appears to be perforated? The side trim is solid leather(pleather?) I believe....My Forester is that way...I would love to have the 110 socket....I wonder if the 110 socket parts/kit ($189?) for the Outback(I think, it’s been a while) would work in the Ascent? Subaru is known for sharing components to decrease cost isn’t it....

 

[FoRealz]

I've obviously been interested in this as well. I don't think ventilated seats are possible until they come out with leather in the other colors that's perforated.

If you look closely on this pic, you can see how the middle back and butt portions of the seat have holes. If you look at pics of the limiteds you'll see its a solid piece of leather. https://imgur.com/a/9NgHw12

I'm thinking the camera is definitely possible assuming you can find the parts + same with the 110v socket. There's an inverter that would go under the center console

Other than that, doing the audio system seems possible - I was considering this especially for the front speakers and maybe the sub.

 

[Sparkland]

I can say with a great degree of confidence, if you wanted the features of the Touring, you should have purchased one. You will always regret your purchase of the Limited. Better to upgrade before delivery, than later when you get hit with a ton of depreciation on a trade-in.

 

[Rgashton]

I can say with a great degree of confidence, if you wanted the features of the Touring, you should have purchased one. You will always regret your purchase of the Limited. Better to upgrade before delivery, than later when you get hit with a ton of depreciation on a trade-in.

I completely agree with you. However, it's the captain's chairs that I think we would ultimately regret (for our family's current stage), and that's why we're going with the Limited. Plus my wife is perfectly fine with everything about the Limited. I'm the one pining over the cool new tech.

I'm going to try real hard to get these things working, but it won't bring me down if I can't. :smile:

 

[hallfleming]

The rain sensor in the touring appears to be in between the eyesight cameras facing up. That would be cool if it was plug and play. I'm sure these features require some sort of enable in the body control module. Just a guess...

 

[Rgashton]

The rain sensor in the touring appears to be in between the eyesight cameras facing up. That would be cool if it was plug and play. I'm sure these features require some sort of enable in the body control module. Just a guess...

You're probably right, unfortunately. But I hope Subaru has left it all open for us. I'm hoping they wanted to save costs here too and used the same modules/computer across all the trims.

 

[Sparkland]

I completely agree with you. However, it's the captain's chairs that I think we would ultimately regret (for our family's current stage), and that's why we're going with the Limited. Plus my wife is perfectly fine with everything about the Limited. I'm the one pining over the cool new tech.

I'm going to try real hard to get these things working, but it won't bring me down if I can't. :smile:

Subaru put prospective owners in a tough spot by not offering the bench seat in the Touring. We owned a 2014 Toyota Highlander with captain chairs. Whenever our family came to visit, it never seemed like we had enough seating (for your wife's benefit). Then, I purchased a Honda Ridgeline and went with the RTL-T instead of the "teched out" RTL-E. I regret it every day (for your benefit). Enjoy your new Ascent.

 

[Subiesailor]

We would have ordered the Touring with all it's bells and whistles but had to go with the Limited. We really wanted/needed the bench seat but I really wanted the cool tech. The versatility of the 8 passenger/bench ultimately won out for us but I am still interested in the extra tech.

I'm going to start this thread in an effort to pool our ideas, successes and failures in hopes of adding the extra tech to our Limiteds.

The main item I want to try an add is the front 180 camera. I've emailed SoA and asked for them to relay this inquiry to the Ascent engineers. However, nice as the customer care reps are, I only got a generalized canned response back, saying how that was a Touring only feature...nothing from the engineers. I may just have to buy the components and try it, and hope I can return the parts if it doesn't work.

I am also curious about adding the ventilation to our Limited trim seats but as someone had mentioned before, the Touring seats may be completely perforated whereas the Limited may have solid center panels (have not seen pictures yet to confirm).

Something else I might add is the 110 socket in the back of the center console. And maybe even the chrome door handles as a little bonus. :grin:

Your not alone. But I would have gone the other way. Bought a touring then swapped in a bench seat from a Limited.

I’m going to wait and see if Subaru gets smart and offers a bench next callendar yr. For existing Outback owners who want to upsize and finally get some cool tech too. The Captains chair only thing in the Touring will cost subaru existing customers. Existing Subaru owners would simply buy a mini van if Captains chairs were needed.

The Q7 comes in bench, the Lexus GX and LX come in bench, the Mercedes GL comes in Bench, as does the Pilot, Explorer, Highlander.

The only recent new release that only does Captains chairs in the higher trims is the GMCAcadia/GM Traverse. Which I also thought was a really stupid move.

 

[Gueromeister]

We would have ordered the Touring with all it's bells and whistles but had to go with the Limited. We really wanted/needed the bench seat but I really wanted the cool tech. The versatility of the 8 passenger/bench ultimately won out for us but I am still interested in the extra tech.

I'm going to start this thread in an effort to pool our ideas, successes and failures in hopes of adding the extra tech to our Limiteds.

The main item I want to try an add is the front 180 camera. I've emailed SoA and asked for them to relay this inquiry to the Ascent engineers. However, nice as the customer care reps are, I only got a generalized canned response back, saying how that was a Touring only feature...nothing from the engineers. I may just have to buy the components and try it, and hope I can return the parts if it doesn't work.

I am also curious about adding the ventilation to our Limited trim seats but as someone had mentioned before, the Touring seats may be completely perforated whereas the Limited may have solid center panels (have not seen pictures yet to confirm).

Something else I might add is the 110 socket in the back of the center console. And maybe even the chrome door handles as a little bonus. :grin:

I think if Subaru had offered all ext. & interior colors & seating configurations they would have sold thousands more of the Touring models....Java brown & captains chair only turned me off..other people that is why they bought the Touring, different strokes for different folks....They should have let the people decide what “they” ( the people) wanted....
Hopefully the tech will come

 

[Rgashton]

Your not alone. But I would have gone the other way. Bought a touring then swapped in a bench seat from a Limited.

I’m going to wait and see if Subaru gets smart and offers a bench next callendar yr. For existing Outback owners who want to upsize and finally get some cool tech too. The Captains chair only thing in the Touring will cost subaru existing customers. Existing Subaru owners would simply buy a mini van if Captains chairs were needed.

The Q7 comes in bench, the Lexus GX and LX come in bench, the Mercedes GL comes in Bench, as does the Pilot, Explorer, Highlander.

The only recent new release that only does Captains chairs in the higher trims is the GMCAcadia/GM Traverse. Which I also thought was a really stupid move.

Swapping a bench seat into a Touring sounds like an easier option for sure. That is until you remember about the java brown only interior... So, there are no java brown bench seats and I don't think my wife would appreciate the mismatched color of the bench. What would look best anyway, the ivory or the black for the bench? (not doing it either way though, lol)

 

[Subiesailor]

Swapping a bench seat into a Touring sounds like an easier option for sure. That is until you remember about the java brown only interior... So, there are no java brown bench seats and I don't think my wife would appreciate the mismatched color of the bench. What would look best anyway, the ivory or the black for the bench? (not doing it either way though, lol)

Car seat cover company easily can match it. Maybe $400-$500 to get it matched/ covered

$1200ish just to do the whole car in your choice color/style

 

[FoRealz]

Yeah Java Brown is not for me. The limited was also in my price range. I was originally looking at the premium.

 

[Atype]

Yeah Java Brown is not for me. The limited was also in my price range. I was originally looking at the premium.

Really? I liked the Java in pics and then loved it in person

 

[FoRealz]

Really? I liked the Java in pics and then loved it in person

Yeah just personal preference - same with the gf

 

[pilot1226]

I have to agree, I was *NOT* fan of the Java Brown until I saw it in person, and it is very nice. I don't know if it was a different (higher) quality leather compared to the regular leather in the Limited trims, but it felt more... leathery?

I've also thought a bunch about the CC's. I don't think I've been in a situation where that 8th seat was really needed. I've needed seating for 6 at times - which is doable with the CC's, but I don't know about 8.

The CC's width is slightly wider than the "seat" of the bench, I felt more comfortable.

While my personal preference would be the "Stormtrubaru" of White Exterior/Black Interior, I am really wrestling with the whole Ventilated Seats thing. I think I'm absolutely going to be kicking myself for not getting them. But, I don't have them now. As long as the Air Conditioning is adequate, I won't have a sticky back (gross.)

I think the front camera could be handy but not a deal breaker.

If the ventilated seats were offered on the Limited, I would absolutely go that route;

but,

Subaru needs to give people a reason for the Touring Trim.

 

[Subiesailor]

The past two weeks more or less confirmed I need to stick to a bench. Three kids 2nd row with back stuffed with tools, and swim meet junk. Its not about seating 8 its about seating three with cargo.

 

[rcho]

I order a white touring, and would love a bench seat and needed one, will try to get a black bench seat from ebay or order one from Subaru and swap it. or if anyone local who would like to do the swap.

 

[FoRealz]

Any chance any of you touring owners can look into the front view camera and where the cable runs from the front grill etc?

 

[Rgashton]

Any chance any of you touring owners can look into the front view camera and where the cable runs from the front grill etc?

I think I've got some bad news, or at least a little road block...

I spent a lot of yesterday downloading a ton of Ascent service manual pdfs and I've been trying to figure out the front view camera for our Limiteds.

Looking at the bulk head (engine bay) wiring harness, it looks like there should be a pig tail (for the front view camera) coming out of a large trunk of the harness. On a Touring it comes out and appears to run up next to the 2-relay holder between the radiator and driver side headlight. On our Limiteds, that extra pig tail is not there :sad: I was hoping it would be pre-wired and just tucked away somewhere, (saving Subaru some money by not having two different main wiring harnesses) but that's not the case here.

I looked at the pin-out wiring diagram for the front view monitor and it's only a 4 wire connection (White, Green, Black, Red). All you electricians out there, I'm assuming the white is a neutral and the green is for the data stream? :nerd:

So now my thoughts have turned to either the small top info display or the center main infotainment display. For all you guys who have had Subarus before with these displays, is there any kind of aux input for these displays? I'm wondering now if we could connect the front camera directly into one of these displays and just "switch the channel" to that input when we need/want to, for parking and whatnot.

Touring guys, how is the resolution on the front view camera anyway? Is it $250 good?