For more than 30 years, the Subaru Outback has been largely categorized as a wagon, specifically at first and broadly as of late. Even as the Legacy wagon disappeared, it was still the go-to machine for Americans who wanted something more practical than a sedan but not as bulky as an SUV-aping crossover. That just changed.
At the New York Auto Show on Wednesday, Subaru unveiled the new 2026 Outback, and it looks like it’s gone full crossover. Gone are any car-like cues, with the new model instead looking like a supersized Forester. It’s a dramatic departure from a norm that’s existed since the mid-1990s, and I can’t help but wonder if the push for further mass appeal might alienate the Outback faithful.
Let’s start with what’s going on under the skin, because it’ll immediately be familiar. Buyers can choose from a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated flat-four making 180 horsepower or a 260-horsepower turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four, with the exclusive transmission choice being a CVT, and all models driving all four wheels. That’s all carryover stuff, and so is the Subaru Global Platform underneath the new crossover skin.
Moving inside the new Outback, the interior feels like a step forward. Rotary knobs for temperature control return, the HVAC system gains a litany of actual buttons and a separate display, and a new infotainment system now features a rather square 12.1-inch touchscreen. Add in a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and swaths of stitched textiles, and the cabin of the new Outback looks like a nicer, more intuitive place than the inside of the outgoing model.
However, we really need to talk about the styling because it’s a seismic change from what we’re used to. Instead of a rounded, low-body-up-high look, the new Outback is all about blocky off-road posturing. From the flat hood to the split headlight treatment to the sheer amount of metal seen in profile, it’s not a handsome vehicle. What’s more, it’s clear that the new Outback is going after the Honda Passport, and that might be a huge mistake.
See, Subaru already makes two crossovers that look like crossovers. There’s the two-row Forester and the three-row Ascent, both covering important bases in the market. In contrast, two-row midsize crossovers with more traditional, chunky forms have generally lived in the sales shadows of their siblings. The Honda Passport has been a relatively slow seller compared to the three-row Pilot and more affordable CR-V. Through Q1, the two-row midsized combustion-powered Chevrolet Blazer sold roughly half as many units as the three-row Traverse and a drop in the bucket compared to ICE Equinox sales.
At the same time, the Outback developed a strong identity not just for what it was, but what it wasn’t. It wasn’t a macho’d up mall crawler for families to drive down to Denny’s in, it was a wagon with some extra ground clearance for getting to the chalet in deep snow, or reaching somewhat remote trailheads. The people who buy Outbacks could buy a Forester or an Ascent, but they don’t. They know what they like, and something tells me this isn’t it.
While change is inevitable, abandoning the utter dominance of a niche in search of a slice of a small pie just doesn’t seem like a wise move. Subaru can’t afford to get the Outback wrong, yet as someone who’s loved Outbacks, I’m afraid they might have done just that with the seventh-generation model. Subaru itself calling the new Outback an SUV in the press release feels like a failure to read the room. While the Trailseeker will likely pick up some lost sales, buyers who just want a midsize wagon soon won’t have any affordable options in America. Time to pour one out.
Top graphic image: Matt Hardigree
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I’ve owned four Outbacks (Gen 1, 2, 3 all had manuals) and reluctantly traded the Gen 3 on a Gen 6 model. I miss the manual but at least it’s still a wagon. If I have to give up the manual and it’s not a wagon, I’ll pass. Maybe if they added a plug in hybrid version, I’d consider it. Otherwise, I guess I’m back to the used market when the Gen 6 gets old enough.
Yep at some point they take away so much it’s not worth it.
Dear Subaru,
Thanks for reminding us that not all disasters are political in nature. Bad things can come from many places!
Yours,
The United States
had my lol, COTD material here!
This must be Subaru’s way of avoiding tariffs. Make sure no one in the US wants them, anyway.
Anecdotal experience revealing the 2026 Subaru Outback to a current owner (2020):
Me: *sends picture of new Outback, both Wilderness, and regular*
Dad: dear lord, what is that… it’s terrible… and a Subaru?
Me: It’s the new Subaru Outback
Dad: JESUS CHRIST
Dad: HOW DARE THEY
Thanks, I hate it
Just wait ’til you DRIVE it!
I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume its increased weight will make it even slower than the last gen and likely further decrease its already poor gas mileage.
Only if it’s available in Metallic Pea.
I don’t like the exterior, but I don’t hate it either. It’s overwrought, but I could live with it…just like the current version. It’s still more wagony than CUVs.
I’m glad to see the integrated crossbars seem to have disappeared. I’m not a fan of the system, and prefer standard rails that any basic crossbar can attach to.
My biggest dislikes so far:
– No 17″ wheels.
– No cloth seats.
– C and D pillars are much too big. Lowering rear visibility is never a good idea.
– The SUBARU molded into the rear bumper…why?
– Where’s the goddamn hybrid option?!
Well, uh,… it’s got a CVT still, at least. Not a Jatco Xtronic, but it’s got a CVT. That’s one good thing I can say about it.
Well they didn’t specify whether the new one has the same transmission as the old one.
Maybe you can get your hopes up that they switched to the Jatco Xtronic CVT!
If I saw it without any badging I would have said it was the new RAV4.
Wow – That’s ugly.
You sure it’s not a 4Runner?
The last gen (2024) 4Runner is an inch and a half SHORTER!
Yeah I miss the wagoner version already…sigh. Unfortunately I fear this won’t actually wind up lowering sales that much since buyers don’t have any other option really to go too that is more wagonlike. The question will be if buyers just get a Forester/Ascent instead or consider crossshoping for the first time in a long time since it’s the same height as everything else now anyway, but honestly I’d be surprised if there was a ton of that…
Maybe it’s my inner contrarian speaking, but I kind of like it and think it will be a massive success.
I agree it’s not that terrible, and the interior is a massive improvement. Subraru peeps will continue to buy these in mass quanities.
I actually think this is a microcosm of what people are worried about. You drive a big HD truck and have a pair of what are basically boutique muscle cars. They’re all big, macho vehicles…and that’s not a bad thing at all. Hell I’ve come around to being a Truck Appreciator myself and my wife has had to talk me out of buying pony cars multiple times.
But it’s basically the polar opposite of the average Subaru driver. I think the average Subaru buyer kind of wants the exact opposite end of the spectrum. They want boring, safe, efficient, practical, totally unassuming cars with all wheel drive. I don’t mind the look of this either, but to me it feels like they’re trying to attract conquest customers who are interested in the BOF stuff in this segment…and on paper that doesn’t seem like a winning equation to me.
But who knows? Maybe less 4Runner and Jeep buyers will be bothered by the 4 cylinder CVT combo than I think. I’m a huge nerd, and the average car buyer doesn’t think anything like I do.
My reaction is mostly based on the fact that when 80+% of the people on this site agree on something, the other 99% of people in the market usually do the opposite thing.
My wife actually had an Outback when we got married if you can believe it. So while the closest thing I have now is a minivan, I’m not as far removed from this as you may think.
Showed this to my wife.
She was unfazed by it. ‘All those types of vehicles look kind of like that.’
Not her style she admits, but the pearl clutching here in the comments was absent.
Subaru will sell tons of them.
I had the same reaction as V10 and my last 2 cars have been compact hatches and I had 3 midsize sedans before that, lol.
I expect if this site were around in 2009 for the intro of the 4th gen Outback, the reaction would have been very similar. Most agree here that was the first sign they were going mainstream or losing the plot and it was homely especially compared to what it replaced, yet it was also the first Subaru model (IIRC) to break 100k/yr in the US and sparked several years of record sales growth for the brand.
Subarus were never known for looks but for a long time they were a little too tight or inefficient to make sense for the average buyer. They started selling better once they started making more sense on paper, in spec sheets. Safety ratings and features, the CR ratings…that stuff should all remain.
In a vacuum, I don’t hate it. But I’ve been watching the Outback and the Forester bloat for a decade. The Forester already became generic AF. The Outback has now completed its transition from wagon to run-of-the-mill SUV. I guess I’m just bummed about that.
You and most of us, my friend
I agree I expect these will be massively popular. I haven’t liked the direction Outbacks have been following for at least the last couple generations so I am actually relatively ok with the overall design. Sure I wish it was 4″ shorter and had less way less plastic but this is where the Outback has been headed basically since they stopped calling it a Legacy Outback years ago.
Honestly I’d claim this as a hot take but I fully agree. This could be a miss
It definitely looks more like an embiggened Forester, but…I actually like it? Surprised there’s no hybrid (at least for now) but perhaps Subaru research said Outback buyers would be as/more likely to go full electric, hence the Trailseeker. Relieved to see the physical buttons return for things like HVAC.
They need want more space/refinement than the Forester, and they don’t need a 3-row vehicle. Those things are still true. Part of the appeal was that its size for the price, feeling like a lot more car for the money without a hit to mileage. Really, an Outback has always been within like $2k of the Forester, a nominal amount between two very differently sized vehicles, but rated virtually the same in mileage.
Sales of most other like-sized vehicles aren’t a good judge, because most were more expensive and less efficient compared to an Outback or the compact crossover segment; the Blazer is on its way out and the Passport was more like a niche product until recently, not a core model. Something like the Santa Fe is a closer comparison and that’s obviously taken a direct aim at the Outback’s market.
So – I think pricing will be the biggest thing. It drops the base trim apparently, a Premium currently starts around $32.5k with destination, so I expect closer to $34-35k to give more room vs. the Forester and still undercut a Santa Fe.
Just saw a picture of the front on the green non-wildnerness. Gives off big family truckster vibes.
Can’t wait for the aftermarket woodgrain print cladding to hit
https://www.caranddriver.com/photos/g64477840/2026-subaru-outback-exterior-gallery/
you think you hate it now, wait till you drive it!
Gaah, I just made this exact same joke. I really need to read the whole thread…
Great minds think alike and fools flock together.
Take your pick
Well we both have Miatas so both?
This is far too similar to the current Forester. Although it does make me feel better about owning our 2024 Outback (interior aside), it bums me out that this is the end of the wagon-like Outback. I guess without a Legacy for it to be based on, it was bound to go this way.
If I saw one of these on the roads, I’d assume it was a new Forester. And I guess that’s why I’m confused about this. They already have the Forester, and the Ascent. People still buy the Outback despite those options from Subaru and an entire market crowded with crossovers of all shapes and sizes from every make. I don’t understand taking a product that differentiated you from competitors, and turning it into something that people could get from literally any other manufacturer. Again, the Forester already exists for Subaru buyers who want a more SUV-shaped car. Many do not, and they bought the Outback. To me, it seems like they’re opening the door for people to cross-shop the Outback, where previously they may have purchased it knowing it’s a unique offering.
Curious how these will sell. Will people just sigh and begrudgingly replace their previous gen Outbacks with one of these when it’s time? Will it frustrate loyalists and drive them off to another brand? Only time can tell, I suppose.
This does raise the question: Even if people like this new Outback, what is the point of the Forester now? There used to be a low, wagonlike car and a taller, boxy car. Now there is a tall boxy car and a slightly shorter tall boxy car. (As well as a three-row tall boxy car if you include the Ascent.)
Even with their quality issues, I have enjoyed my time behind the wheel of previous imprezas, outbacks, and foresters because they just do exactly what you want them to, and do it well.
But this redesign… it’s almost as if they don’t want to sell any.
I know that beauty is very much a relative concept… but god dammit, this has to be the ugliest fucking car I’ve seen in decades. This makes the BMW XM look attractive.
Here is Subarus’ global design history across all models:
1980s Subarus = Less good looking to downright ugly
1990s Subarus = Good looking
2000s Subarus = Less good looking to downright ugly
2010s Subarus = Good looking
2020s Subarus = Less good looking to downright ugly
See you in the 2030s Subaru.
I’m only going to disagree with the 00’s. 00’s was peak Subaru in my opinion. That generation of Outback especially.
Tribeca? Bug-eyed Impreza?
I liked what was under the skin of 2000s WRXs… but it wasn’t good looking until 2007.
But, I respect your opinion. I’m sure I love certain cars that others find to be ass-ugly. Like corvairs, vanagons, 92-95 Taurus SHOs.
I unapologetically love the bug-eyed Impreza.
No comment on the Tribeca, lol.
Even though I have issues with the styling of bug-eyed Imprezas…
I think they will always have a place in my heart for being the first WRX sold in the U.S., and back then I did want one purely for that reason.
(shakes hands at bridge at midnight)
Holy shit that’s ugly! Yet, it’s also pretty generic looking. Who is this for? If they’re selling this as just another crossover like the millions of others on the market, why wouldn’t more people go for the others that likely offer better mileage, more power, something other than a CVT, and doesn’t look like this? Yuck.
Every Subaru is ugly. Always has been. I don’t understand how they cannot make a car with a cohesive design, but despite occasionally promising concepts, they seem to maximize for cost cutting in final design more than any other manufacturer.
Disagree. Not too many lookers and nothing that would be on a list of most beautiful cars, but not all ugly and nothing this bad. This POS looks like it was designed by AI. This is offensively ugly. I am angry just seeing pictures of this monstrosity. This must be for people who enjoy watching boils and puss-filled nodules being lanced and graphic documentaries about constipated people with visible VD sores and parasites relieving themselves with enemas.
The last part was pure poetry
<tips hat>
🙂
Yeah, I got a bit carried away with the rant. The Outback is actually not quite as bad as all that, though I do hate it.
There’s a video I had the misfortune to watch as part of a random selection of a grab bag of horrible movies (I picked the one that had a pentagram carved into the case . . . for some reason, that seemed like the better option at the time) that I was thinking of when I wrote the end of that rant. I wouldn’t doubt there’s a movie for the misinterpreted version of that awkward sentence, too, but I definitely do not want to see it.
I’ve owned 4 Subaru’s (all STI’s), so this isn’t coming from a place of hate. They simply aren’t lookers. None of ’em. Best I can give any of them is ‘not an absolute eyesore’. 22B might get a pass, certainly the cleanest looking model in the last 30 years. SVX is interesting but not pretty, but anything from the last 15 years is just a visual mess.
I think the pre-facelift first generation Legacy wagon was easily the best looking car in its class with simple lines and understated fender flares. The 4th gen wasn’t bad, either, nor the 2nd gen GT. First gen Imprezas were also pretty good for their class. Yeah, none of them are going top sit on a concours lawn next to a Talbot Lago teardrop, but I can’t fathom an absolute and binary judgement of appearance. I’d put the appearance of the Subarus I listed not only up against their peers, but up against 90% of any new cars, including most exotics (which have nearly all gotten overstyled and bloated), which will end up on concours lawns someday (assuming we still have them).
As a rebuttal, I give you three letters. S. V. X.
The green non-Wilderness one looks somewhat less worse, but you didn’t show the front of it. Is it as willfully ugly as the blue Wilderness’s schnoz?
Car and Driver has a picture. It’s less extreme, yet somehow just as bad. If only because the bonkers Wilderness is so garish, that it’s almost hard to judge just how ugly it is.
Seems that Car & Driver took all the pictures of it from a greater distance…
I wonder why… haha
Probably to prevent getting stomach acid all over a show car.
I hear plastic cladding is especially susceptible to discoloring from digestive juices.
Those pictures come from Subaru PR, but your suspicions as to why are spot on.
Wait… the green one at Car and Driver had the better front end? I need to scroll up for another look…
It’s definitely not a wagon, and I don’t really think it’s an SUV. They’ve really nailed the “misbegotten abomination” look, though.
Will David’s last post before retirement be about his weeklong stay in the back of a 2026 Outback?
If it is I’ll certainly read it. If I’m alive by then anyway.
Previews are now up on most YouTube auto channels. I recommend Auto Buyers Guide — Alex gives a good overview of the green non-Wilderness model.
Body by Minecraft
The front end is atrocious
Subaru has gone from building vehicles whose vanilla looks belie their capabilities to vehicles whose design writes checks the platform can’t cash. It’s disappointing to say the least.
If the Outback is a full on SUV now then what’s the point of the Ascent?
The Ascent is even chonkier, and has a third row.
So this is just a boxy Ascent?
Dear fucking lord. It’s terrible, and honestly, even worse than I was expecting.
I would typically like to give Subaru a high five from moving on from their shitty portrait style entertainment system but, I’m not going to be able to get over the appearance anytime soon.
I really struggle with the orange crap on the wilderness model. I hope it doesn’t fail though , I want to see Subaru hang around.