The Subaru Outback has long been an anomaly—an off-road, lifted wagon that, while larger than the Forester, still isn’t as beefy as SUVs like the Toyota RAV4. Its exact placement in the wide world of crossovers remains a mystery, but that’s kind of been its best-selling point. Nobody really knows where the Outback is supposed to go, but everyone knows what the Outback is about.
Subaru has filled that niche for 30 years, and it’s paid off. The Outback is one of the brand’s best-selling SUVs of all time, and it's ubiquitous for people who enjoy camping, hiking, and all the other rugged activities a vehicle like the Outback invites.
For 2026, however, Subaru decided to change up the Outback pretty significantly. No longer is the Outback a fairly conservative sibling to the now-discontinued Legacy sedan; it's more SUV than ever. So, here’s the big question: Has it worked?
