2026 Subaru Outback Pros and Cons: Do You Really Need the Wilderness?

• The new Subaru Outback is very good, and we just drove the Wilderness model. 
• If you just want to know what's good and what isn't, this short list is for you. 
• Check out the pros and cons below. For something more in-depth, check out the full Edmunds rating here.

Pros

The interior gets a major redo. Real buttons for all of the climate controls make adjusting the temperature and fan speed a cinch to get the hang of and use without distraction. Big carpet-lined door bins and easy-to-reach cupholders make small items easy to store, and everything you touch and see feels high-quality. Plus, there is a ton of glass around the sides and, um, out back, so visibility is excellent. 

No more Subaru tech woes. The Outback's old Starlink multimedia system is no more. A new 12.1-inch horizontal display sits atop the dash. The screen is much snappier to respond to your inputs, and it renders the many available camera views in much, much sharper quality. This is a change we've been begging for, and we're glad Subaru finally gave this system an update. Starlink remains one of the things we dislike most about the Forester Hybrid in our One-Year Road Test fleet.

Comfortable ride without feeling floaty. The Outback has always been a comfortable car, but the trade-off was that you constantly felt like you were floating around aimlessly on the road. The new Outback Wilderness retains 90% of the old car's ride comfort while managing to dial out all of the wallowy body roll. The result is a car that is comfy and composed everywhere — and it won't make you or your pets sick.

Cons

The Wilderness isn't the off-road upgrade we expected. Subaru has a lot of experience with off-roading. The new Outback is great to drive off-road in tons of different environments. So good, in fact, that the Wilderness is no longer the big upgrade it used to be. You still get a tougher look and a slightly higher ride height (to help clear obstacles), but most buyers won't need anything more than what the non-Wilderness Outback provides. Trust us, it's more than enough. 

No hybrid model (yet). Hybrids are hot right now, but they are distinctly absent from the Outback's lineup of engine options. The base powertrain is a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque. We don't recommend going for the base engine, though — it's sluggish and sounds bad. Wilderness models get the turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder that makes 260 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque. This engine is peppy, and definitely the one to get, but fuel economy estimates from the EPA put it at just 23 mpg combined. We think a hybrid model is somewhere in the Outback's future.

Not as roomy as its rivals. Despite it appearing that Subaru has ditched the wagon aesthetic, the new Outback is nearly the same size (in height, width and length) as the car it replaces. That means it's down on cargo space compared to rivals like the Mazda CX-70 and the Honda Passport. However, in a comparison test we did between the Subie and the Honda, it became clear that in the end the difference in cargo wasn't as important as everything else that makes the Outback so good. It's just worth noting that you might struggle to make everything fit every single time in the Subaru. 

Which one would we buy?

The regular Outback is so comfortable on the road — and more than good enough off-road — that it's the clear choice. We'd have a Limited XT trim, which brings niceties like leather-trimmed seats, an upgraded sound system, and the all-important turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The Touring brings yet more in the way of goodies, but the Limited XT is $45,815 — less than the average transaction price of a car in 2025 — and is the clear value leader in the lineup.