2025 New York Auto Show Best in Show: 2026 Subaru Outback
We understand that what you’re looking at is an extremely polarizing thing. The styling of the 2026 Subaru Outback is perhaps the most controversial thing about the new off-road family wagon, and that’s understandable — it’s that critical first impression that draws you in to learn more. And on that attribute, the new Outback is a smashing success.
Love it or hate it (and our staffers are equally divided on that account), you absolutely cannot ignore it. The boxiness is undeniable, but before you start emailing us imploring we update our bifocal prescriptions, we say that you have to see it in person. The 2026 Outback’s presence is significant, and we’ve named it our Best in Show winner for the 2025 New York International Auto Show despite its styling, not because of it.
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They Fixed Everything That Was Wrong
We’ve given the 2026 Outback our Best in Show award because of all of the other changes that Subaru has made. Quite simply, they’ve fixed just about every single gripe we had with the outgoing model. It’s rare that this happens when an automaker updates a vehicle, so the fact that Subaru has so thoroughly gone through the Outback and made everything better is stunning.
It starts with the interior, which is bigger, better in quality, more luxurious, and features more cargo and headroom than before. But upfront, the complete revamp of the Outback’s control systems and display screens is worthy of song. Gone is the previous model’s vertical touchscreen that bundled so many functions into unresponsive menus (everything from the X-Mode off-road driving modes to all of the climate controls); in its place are plenty of hard buttons that are always in the same place and don’t require you to hunt through menus to use. One press is all you need for most functions now, as God intended, eliminating distractions and restoring our faith in automotive designers.
The layout of everything in the new Outback is exceptional, as well. The digital gauge cluster is easy to read and highly configurable for what you want it to show. The all-new multimedia system is super-quick and features a useful, customizable home screen, too. And the seating position is a perfect balance of high-up views and low-down ease of entry and exit. It all works beautifully, looks fantastic and addresses every complaint we had about the Subie’s cabin. Consider us impressed.
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More Capability Is Always Welcome
We can’t judge the new Outback on how it drives yet, but the promise of what’s been updated has us excited. It’s always been a surprisingly capable dirt-road vehicle, and with the new electronically controlled shock absorbers and knobbier tires on the Wilderness variant, we’re eager to see what Subaru’s suspension engineers have crafted. They insist it rides astonishingly well on rough dirt roads, so we have that to look forward to.
The beefed-up roof rack is also easier to use and can carry more stuff, making it even more useful for outdoorsy families. While the powertrains mostly are unchanged, we had few complaints about the last one (provided you opted for the turbocharged version, which is much more powerful).
Overall, the completeness of this redesign is what won our editors over, looking past the polarizing styling to the accomplishment underneath. We wonder what other awards are in the 2026 Outback’s future, but for now, it’s absolutely won our Best in Show award for the 2025 New York auto show.
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