2026 Subaru Outback Review -- Familiar Vibes

Let's start with the changes. The exterior is restyled, getting a boxier and more squared-off look, and the cabin is redone with a new 12.1-inch infotainment screen and new 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. Both of those are standard.

Subaru adds in the latest version of its EyeSight advanced driver-aid system and claims that ride quality and comfort are improved, along with cabin noise. The interior also gains some space.

Ground clearance is at 8.7 inches still, and X-Mode is available.

All-wheel drive remains standard -- did you have to ask? This is a Subaru, after all.

(Full disclosure: Subaru flew me to Sedona, Arizona, and fed and housed me for two nights so I could drive the Outback. They offered a nice jacket, which I declined, and a notebook and pen, which I accepted. We also watch paragliders or hang gliders -- I am not sure which is which -- take flight, which was cool.)

Trim levels are listed like this: Premium, Limited, Touring, Limited XT, Touring XT, and Wilderness. Powertrains are two: A 2.5-liter naturally-aspirated, horizontally-opposed "boxer" engine that makes 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque, and a turbocharged/intercooled 2.4-liter "boxer" that makes 260 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. The former is available in the Premium, Limited, and Touring, the turbo is the mill for the Limited XT, Touring XT, and upcoming Wilderness.

Both use a continuously-variable automatic transmission.

Our drive, by the way, focused on the non-Wilderness trims. I spent my morning in a Limited and my afternoon in a Limited XT.

I've oft struggled to write about Subaru wagons/crossovers -- they tend to do the things they're supposed to do well, with few obvious flaws or standout abilities. The BRZ and WRX are easy to analyze -- they do performance well but also have clear drawbacks. But Outbacks, Foresters, Crosstreks -- they are meant to either appeal to the outdoorsy set or city/suburb dwellers who need to haul small amounts of cargo and want something a bit different from the average crossover.

Utility with safety and a decent level of comfort for a reasonable price -- that's the plan. Does it come together here?

The truth is, it's harder to tell than usual. Subaru had us in pre-production vehicles. Not an unusual practice for the industry, automakers use pre-pros for press drives on the regular. But these pre-pro builds felt exactly like what they were when we got to the more-intense-than-expected off-road sections of our drive.

I'll get to that.

On-road, the Outback is just fine, Clark. The 2.5 feels a tad light on guts -- the 2.4 is livelier and peppier and the preferred choice, especially if you need to pass/merge/hill climb often. The CVT does neither engine any favors, but Subaru has used CVTs for so long that it does mostly fall into the background of the driver's mind.

Steering feel in both vehicles is weighted nicely but artificial in feel -- which is just fine for commuting. Both models rode well enough, if a tad stiffly, on smooth Northern Arizona roads.

When pushed on twistier pavement, the car was able to hang -- especially with the 2.4, which made regaining speed post-corner easier -- but it wasn't particularly engaging or fun. You can hustle it a bit, and body roll was surprisingly muted given the ground clearance -- but it's more work than play. Still, I was able to place the wheels where I wanted with no drama, and the brakes stayed firm and smooth throughout.

Subaru folks sent us onto some seriously challenging mountain roads -- hey, state of Arizona, guardrails exist, you might want to invest in some -- that were rocky, rutted, and perhaps best suited to a Jeep Wrangler. Or a side-by-side.

The good news is the Outback handled all of this with nary a scare, but the bad news is the stiff ride made it more unpleasant than it needed to be. This thing felt stiffer than the Forester I drove on similarly difficult trails in the PNW a couple months back.

What really concerned me, though, was the fact that the cars didn't always feel screwed together well. But fair is fair and these were pre-production units -- I am curious to see if later builds shake and rattle at a lesser level.

That said, you'll still get to the camp site -- or glider launch point, in our case -- in one piece. And while it could get a bit loud, my co-driver and I still managed to conversate, and we were able to do so without raised voices.

We didn't even really need to use X-Mode, which can provide more traction/grip and has hill-descent control. That system works up to 25 mph, and in a common-sense move, Subaru has moved the switch to the steering wheel.

Back on road, the noise level is much more calm -- I think I only noticed occasional tire noise, and that was only because the radio was off.

The updated cabin comes with an infotainment screen that looks better, though I never minded the old Subaru vertical screen. The UX seemed to function just fine and Subaru has done a nice job of giving you places to put your cell phone.

Interior materials were mixed on both the Limited and Limited XTs I drove -- some materials felt price-point appropriate for an over-$40K wagon, but others felt a tad downmarket. Considering Subaru's cheaper Crosstrek has some pretty nice duds, this is disappointing.

Subaru is starting the pricing at $34,995 for the Premium, $41,715 for the Limited, $45,395 for the Touring, $44,365 for the Limited XT, and $47,995 for the Touring XT. Plus $1,450 in destination and delivery fees. Wilderness pricing starts at $44,495.

Available features, depending on trim, include heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Bluetooth. In fact, those features are standard.

Other available features include navigation, rain-sensing wipers, navigation, wireless device charger, heated steering wheel, moonroof, 18-inch wheels, Harman Kardon audio, 19-inch wheels, Nappa leather, dual-exhaust outlets, an upgraded version of EyeSight, 360-degree camera, cooled front seats, and, of course, the turbo motor on the Touring XT.

Standard EyeSight includes automatic emergency steering, emergency stop assist, front and side alert assist, emergency lane-keep assist, haptic steering wheel alerts, front cross-traffic braking, and lane-keep assist. Blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic warning and reverse automatic braking are also part of the deal, along with a wide-angle camera that utilizes a 180-degree view ahead to help prevent collisions with walkers, joggers, and cyclists. A standard distraction mitigation system helps drivers keep eyes on the road.

In what may be another pre-pro bug, our car's EyeSight system flashed at my co-driver even when his eyes were on the road and continued to do so even after we disengaged the system.

The advanced EyeSight available in the Touring trims adds emergency stop-assist with safe-lane selection, highway hands-free assist, highway hands-free pre-curve speed control, highway hands-free active lane-change assist, and highway hands-free automatic resume assist.

EPA-estimated fuel economy is TBD.

The Outback remains laser-focused on its mission. That is to get you to the trailhead, even over some rough stuff, and/or to make it easy for you to haul small amounts of luggage/cargo around town with no fuss and no muss.

It shouldn't shock that the Outback is no back-road burner, that's not its lot in life. But the shakes and rattles on the gnarliest trails are a bit concerning -- and it's hard to judge properly since these cars were pre-production. I also found some interior materials to be a tad too lower-class for the price point. The 2.5 also needs to hit the gym, pronto.

On the other hand, the newer infotainment screen is an improvement, the car works perfectly well in sedate around-town driving, the turbo has some pep (though it could a skoosh more), the X-Mode switch is on the steering wheel where it belongs, and the experience will be instantly familiar to anyone who's ever driven an Outback before.

I can't wait to test a regular build to see if some of my critiques here can be laid at the feet of the pre-production builds. What I can say, in the meantime, is that the Outback experience is little changed -- there are some improvements but the overall vibes are quite familiar.

[Images © 2025 Tim Healey/TTAC.com]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.