One thing that makes the Subaru Outback unique is, well, its appearance: Take a Subaru Legacy wagon, add some body cladding, give it a good whack of extra ground clearance, and a bit more off-road capability. It’s a tried-and-tested formula that has worked for over 30 years.
However, the Legacy will wrap up its production run by May 2025 with no successor planned. That means the all-new Outback gets a drastic reboot. Enter the seventh-generation model, and it’s almost nothing like the versions that have come before.
This time around, it adopts a more SUV-like appearance instead of the ‘tall wagon’ look it’s had for decades. The price of progress, perhaps?
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For the exterior, the styling descriptions have ranged from ‘bold and daring’ to ‘angry capybara,’ but you can’t fault Subaru for at least trying to be different. There are high-mounted LED daytime running lights, bumper-mounted headlights, and a wide grille at the front. The roof is taller than before, and the same goes for the flanks.
Things get a little more interesting over at the back. Yes, the typical full-width taillights are commonplace these days, but here, they actually have a function: Apparently, there’s a built-in ruler, complete with notches. Call it a gimmick, a quirk, or a useful feature, but it’s certainly getting some people talking.
The inside gets a complete revamp. This all-new Outback no longer shares an interior with other models in the Subaru lineup, giving it a more unique design. Like the exterior, the cabin follows a squared-off, boxy theme, but there are neat details to be seen, too.
For starters, Subaru has actually listened to consumers and reverted to physical buttons for the air-conditioning controls. At the same time, there’s a 12.1-inch infotainment display and a 12.3-inch fully digital instrument cluster that we can expect in more Subarus down the line. Of course, the larger dimensions mean greater interior volume, but the Outback remains a two-row vehicle only.
The company has been known for safety for decades, and this all-new model is no exception. It gets the most advanced version of Subaru EyeSight to date, as it incorporates three forward-facing cameras and newly added radar sensors for additional support. On top of the usual features such as adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, and cross-traffic alert, the 2026 Outback comes with active lane assist, emergency lane-change assist, and even emergency stop assist with safe lane selection, which activates if the driver becomes unresponsive to warnings while using advanced adaptive cruise control.
Now, for the engine. The base variant starts with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer mill with 180hp. Opt for the higher trim levels and that gets upgraded to a 2.4-liter turbocharged powerplant that puts out 260hp. Both shift with the Lineartronic CVT with eight simulated gears. As this is a Subaru, it comes with Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive.
That’s all the details we have so far on this all-new model. So, what do you think of the looks? Let us know in the comments, or check out more photos below if you’ve not made up your mind just yet.
More photos of the Subaru Outback 2026:
