2026 Subaru Outback vs. 2025 Subaru Outback: How They Compare

After three decades, Subaru is giving the Outback the gift of more interior volume as well as its latest array of tech features.By David GluckmanPublished: Apr 16, 2025Save Article

Subaru|Car and Driver

• Subaru unveiled the seventh-generation Outback at the 2025 New York Auto Show.
• Along with new tech, the redesign includes a change to a taller, more SUV-like shape.
• The automaker hasn’t shared pricing for the 2026 model, but expect at least a modest increase given the new version’s added feature content.

For the Outback’s 30th birthday, Subaru is making some big changes. Most noticeably, the iconic model is transitioning from the wagon we know and love to a more conventional SUV shape. There’s a lot more inside the seventh-generation Outback, including more room than its predecessor. We’ve collected details and specs for this new version and compared them with those of the current model to see just how much has changed.

Design and Dimensions

While still recognizable as an Outback, the 2026 iteration has a decidedly more upright look. Subaru even says its designers purposely emphasized this newfound height with the rear lighting design. Perceived bigness aside, the new model is larger in all three directions. Length is up a little over an inch to 192.3, and body width increases more than an inch and a half to 75.8, while the 2026 model is two inches taller without roof rails than the 2025 model is with them—68.1 versus 66.1 inches. The 108.1-inch wheelbase remains unchanged, as does the 8.7 inches of ground clearance on non-Wilderness models.

View Exterior PhotosSubaru

2026 Outback Wilderness

Subaru

2025 Outback Wilderness

The 2026 model also features a larger and more upright grille. The utility’s softer edges have been sharpened and its side glass is squared off, resulting in a blocky look akin to that of the latest Subaru Forester. As far as automotive embiggening goes, this one seems successful in that the overall proportioning does still give clear Outback vibes. This is also the first Outback to offer 19-inch wheels from the factory.

Interior and Cargo

The expansion pays dividends inside, where Subaru promises those two additional inches of height translate to increased headroom and a taller cargo area. Seats-up stowage rises from 33 cubic feet to 35; Subaru hasn’t shared the max cargo volume, but we expect it will meet or beat the current model’s capacity. The width of the cargo bay is the same 43.3 inches as before.

View Interior PhotosSubaru

2026 Outback

View Interior PhotosMarc Urbano|Car and Driver

2025 Outback

Interior design language takes a step forward in the seventh gen, which gets a more simplified look and feel. The headliner, if you were wondering, uses material from 12 recycled plastic bottles, and a slot in each door will accept 32-ounce water receptacles. Sticker-covered Nalgenes rejoice.

Hard controls for the climate system are worth celebrating, as Subaru says it ditched the screen-based controls to better accommodate users wearing gloves. The knobs and buttons are situated below a new 12.1-inch center touchscreen that’s standard across the range. It features a new view that supports the available EyeSight-enabled Highway Hands Free Assist function, showing the driver a representation of neighboring vehicles that it detects.

Powertrains

Things are familiar under the hood, where Subaru once again offers a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder as the base engine and a turbocharged 2.4-liter on XT and Wilderness trims. The base motor trades 2 horsepower for 2 additional pound-feet of torque, for totals of 180 hp and 176 pound-feet. The turbo carries over its 260-hp and 277-pound-feet ratings from the 2025 model. A continuously variable automatic continues transmission duty, while the all-wheel-drive system has a standard X-Mode for off-tarmac use.

View Exterior PhotosSubaru

Trims and Price

The 2026 Outback’s trim lineup largely mirrors that of the 2025’s: Premium, Limited, Touring, Limited XT, Touring XT, and Wilderness. There will be be no base model, at least for 2026, and the Onyx Edition—primarily a dark appearance package built off of the Premium—has been dropped for the time being. No pricing information has been announced for the 2026 Outback yet, but we expect it to carry the usual new-generation markup of a thousand dollars or two above the 2025 Premium’s $32,730 base price. For a vehicle that will be more accommodating for a Costco run, that kind of bulk pricing makes sense.