OUTBACK
December 8, 2025
Chase Bierenkoven
There was a lot of online hubbub surrounding the new Subaru Outback when it was first shown at the 2025 New York International Auto Show. The new look did away with the final remnants of the Outback’s station wagon roots, and to many, it looked as if the wagon had gone full SUV. Only, it hasn’t. In fact, the new Outback has only grown just 1.4 inches in height, and shrunk a touch in width.
Despite these dimensional shifts, Subaru’s plan for the Outback, and the role it needs to fill in the lives of its buyers, hasn’t changed at all. Subaru says it has only made it better at filling this role. The revamped cabin fits all varieties of cups and sodas, the roof is taller to better accommodate large items and people alike, and there’s even a little clip for your cell phone charging cable next to the glovebox. Subaru said the changes are a response to owner feedback. The Outback’s Japanese design team was even taken to COSTCO for a little suburban day-in-the-life while the car was being designed.
The COSTCO run is an inside look at exactly who Subaru thinks of as the primary buyers of the Outback: American suburbanites with a taste for the outdoors — people who imagine the most extreme situation their car may be subjected to and want their YETI with the big handle to fit in the cupholders. But sometimes the customer is right, and the Outback is better off for all this feedback.
Form your own opinions on the boxy looks; what matters here is what’s inside. Subaru owners wanted more buttons, and the brand delivered. The entire dash and center console have been reworked, featuring a fairly conventional layout: a pair of screens, 12.3 inches for the gauge cluster and 12.1 inches in the dash, and a bunch of entirely physical controls. These, mercifully, remedy the old Outback’s biggest weaknesses. The center screen’s menus are also clear, snappy, and thoughtfully laid out. Most importantly, they don’t control critical functions, like Subaru’s X-Mode off-road mode, which now gets a dedicated button on the wheel. The new screens are a huge upgrade and inarguably reinvent the user experience. The Outback is now much more pleasant to live with.
Another benefit comes in the form of connectivity. Wireless phone connectivity works flawlessly, and you can fill the center screen with Carplay or Android Auto, should you choose. With more space in the center console, there’s also somewhere to put your phone.
Owners also wanted an Outback that would be better for hauling cargo, but they did not want a bigger vehicle. So, Subaru followed an emerging industry trend. Call it a gimmick renaissance: automakers aren’t just competing on spec sheets anymore, they’re trying to woo you with clever things that make your life easier. The cargo area isn’t vastly larger, but it is more useful.
Take Subaru’s new cargo cover: it’s a bit of a transformer. Machine washable, the fabric cover fits into a variety of mounting points throughout the cargo area. It’ll function as a traditional cargo cover, but shift the mounting points, and it’ll become a closable hammock for your small items, or a cargo divider to keep the dog separate from the gear. More of that thinking is applied to the roof rack, which also features expanded capacity. Another 100 pounds of gear or tent will fit up top, and you can hang up to 220 pounds off the side. The door cupholders are lined now, so things don’t bang around, and the ones in the center console have been moved so your arm doesn’t bump your coffee while moving the gear selector.
All this, and so much more, is new. But these aren’t things that fundamentally change what the Outback has always been about. It’s simple math:
All-wheel drive + safety + practical interior + reasonable pricing = Outback
It’s still a formula that works, both on and off pavement. Starting with the former, some trims will benefit from a new hands-free driving feature — a first from Subaru. The SAE Level 2 autonomous driving software will allow owners to sit back and let the new Outback brake, steer, and accelerate for them. The brand’s EyeSight suite of safety and driver aids receives some updates too, including emergency stop assistance, automatic emergency steering, and more to keep you between the painted lines.
Once you actually sit down to drive the thing, the Outback feels pretty much the same as it has for the last five years. The seats are comfy, the cabin is a touch quieter at highway speeds, and everything you interact with is a little easier to live with. Frankly, though, a little more grunt from the base engine would go a long way to fixing what is undoubtedly the Outback’s biggest problem, with fuel economy being the next biggest. The EPA estimates the new Outback will hit 25 mpg city and 31 mpg highway, while turbocharged models will do 21 city and 29 highway. Wilderness models are the least efficient, at 21 city and 27 highway.
Let’s talk ride for a moment. The Outback is, of course, plenty comfy. On glassy smooth pavement, the slightly stiffer suspension makes it feel more composed than the outgoing model. But. Off-road, the stiffer ride is much more noticeable. Like most Subaru products, the Outback is intended to be the most off-road-friendly option in its segment, and off-highway performance is a big part of its DNA. It’ll handle rocky trails comfortably, but past that, the Outback’s all-season tires become an issue. Otherwise, from behind the wheel, the new Outback is providing the same experience it has for decades, just with a new coat of paint.
Of course, pricing is the final part of the equation. Subaru effectively eliminated the old base Outback in favor of offering more standard equipment on the new starting point: the Outback Premium, which starts at $34,995. It’ll come with new standard equipment like roof rails, automatic windows, and that shiny new infotainment screen, among others. The lineup tops out with the Touring XT, coming in at $47,995. It’s worth acknowledging the upcoming Wilderness model, which will also bring greater off-road capability, starts at $44,995 MSRP, though no one’s driven it yet. In most cases, Outback’s various trims either undercut or compete with SUVs like the Honda Passport or VW Atlas Cross Sport, so there’s not much new there, either.
The new Subaru Outback is, in fact, new. But it’s not a new idea. It’s a tried and true one that owners love enough to respond to, as we were told, a deep five-figure sum of surveys from Subaru. A cult following? Maybe. One thing’s for sure: Subaru cleverly implemented feedback without introducing too many drawbacks to what was already a wildly successful formula.
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December 8, 2025
December 8, 2025
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