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2020 Subaru Outback's First Adventure Is In the Canyons of New York

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Subaru has confirmed that its redesigned 2020 Outback SUV/wagon will make its debut next week in the shadows of Manhattan’s new Hudson Yards skyscrapers at the 2019 New York International Auto Show.

Related: More 2019 New York Auto Show Coverage

Shop the 2019 Subaru Outback near you

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2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium
47,055 mi.
$21,114 $288 price drop
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2019 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited
20,909 mi.
$28,998

Like the redone 2020 Legacy sedan unveiled in February, the high-riding and cladded Outback — which is, at heart, a Legacy wagon — will move to the company’s new and stiffer global platform; that platform underpins all other recent new Subaru vehicles and has improved their ride, handling and noise levels.

An exterior teaser photo released with the announcement shows the new Outback with real canyons and reveals, no surprise, a more aggressive bumper than the new Legacy, featuring stacked LED foglights, plus a generous dose of bumper, wheel-arch and lower-body cladding. The headlights also have a more outdoorsy and sturdier look.

But the headline for the 2020 Legacy was the redesigned and techier interior, with higher quality trim and an oversized 11.6-inch touchscreen display positioned vertically in the center of the dash. We hope the Outback gets a lot of that updated new look and tech, along with, as Cars.com News Editor Jennifer Geiger discovered in the Legacy, an even roomier rear seat.

It’s also likely that the all-wheel-drive Outback, like the 2020 Legacy, will lose the aging and not-very-fuel-efficient 3.6R six-cylinder power upgrade option and replace it with the 260-horsepower, turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder and continuously variable automatic transmission first used in Subaru’s new 2019 Ascent three-row SUV. It is similarly likely that the base engine will be a version of the 2020 Legacy’s revised 182-hp, 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder with a CVT.

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We’ll be there for the reveal and have all the details and photos. Our full team of automotive journalists will be at the media preview for the 2019 New York International Auto Show, April 17-18, and will be bringing you all the action from the show floor, so be sure to check back in with us often.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.

Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief
Fred Meier

Former D.C. Bureau Chief Fred Meier, who lives every day with Washington gridlock, has an un-American love of small wagons and hatchbacks.

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