Many peeps consider the Outback a wagon-bodied Legacy with a suspension lift for good measure. It appears that someone at Subaru has had enough of this "lifted wagon" talk, for the next-generation Outback has been spied looking more utility vehicle than longroof.
The seventh-gen Outback prototypes captured by the carparazzi definitely show a bit of ground clearance. It's equipped with camouflaged alloys mounted with Dunlop Grandtrek PT20 rubber boots, the PT20 being a crossover tire of the all-season variety.
Expected to debut for the 2026 model year, the mid-size crossover appears to be a strict five-seat affair with large rear side windows. Gifted with a shark fin-style antenna, taillights that have a certain Toyota aesthetic to them, roof rails, and quite a large radiator grille, the newcomer further boasts a relatively flat roof, split headlights, and a tow hitch receiver.
One shot clearly reveals a part of the dashboard, with the infotainment system's touchscreen sticking out of the top of the center stack. By comparison, the outgoing 2025 model features an 11.6-inch touchscreen fully integrated into the center stack. We can also see a pair of round fog lights up front, along with black-painted side mirrors affixed to the doors because the A-pillar area sports tiny quarter windows for improved visibility.
Although it's hard to tell from these pictures, those A pillars are chunksters due to increasingly stringent crash safety performance criteria from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The current model aced three crashworthiness tests, but could not do better than marginal in the updated moderate overlap front crash test due to a high risk of injury for the rear occupant.
Photo: Baldauf
More specifically, the rear dummy's head approached the front seatback too much, with the sensors indicating a risk of injury to the head, neck, and chest. Furthermore, the lap belt of the rear-seated dummy moved from the pelvis area onto the abdomen, which equates to abdominal injuries in the event of a crash. Although the Outback comes with side curtain airbags, the crash test dummy's head contacted the rear window door trim during rebound.
More angular and more upright, Subaru's next Outback is likely to improve on its forerunner's performance in the updated moderate overlap front crash test. It's also likely for Subaru to debut its first-ever hybrid setup for the Outback, with said hybrid system detailed by the Japanese automaker in October 2024.
To debut in December 2024 in the JDM-spec Subaru Crosstrek, the system incorporates a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated boxer, a transaxle with two electric motors, a front differential, and an electronically controlled coupling, plus a driveshaft going to the rear differential to achieve Symmetrical AWD. It's a series-parallel system, which means that either the four-pot internal combustion engine or the traction motor are used as the power source.
Subaru claims the 2.5er is a new engine that was specifically designed for this hybrid system. Although max output figures have not been released by the manufacturer, we do know that said combustion engine makes 118 kilowatts (158 horsepower) and 209 Newton-meters (154 pound-feet) of torque, whereas the AC synchronous traction motor generates 88 kilowatts (118 horsepower) and 270 Newton-meters (199 pound-feet). The lithium-ion battery pack is rated at 1.1 kilowatt hours.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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