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2020 Subaru Outback Review & Buying Guide | All hail the mighty wagon!

It may not look it, but the 2020 Subaru Outback is a completely redesigned model. Eager to keep its snowball of success rolling, Subaru chose to evolve and refine its popular, genre-bending utility vehicle rather than re-inventing the wheel. The key improvements can be found inside, where swaths of padded simulated leather are pretty much everything, creating an overall environment that's more pleasant for your eyes and fingers. Even the armrests are pleasantly squishier than before. Ultimately, though, the cabin's show-stopper is the massive vertically oriented touchscreen found on most trim levels. Mechanically, the 2020 Outback sees the welcome return of a turbocharged engine upgrade – good news for those living at higher elevations – but the overall driving experience remains familiarly comfortable yet drably uninvolving. The near-constant beeping and flashing of the car's over-eager standard safety nannies will at least keep you awake. The Outback's overall packaging also remains on par, boasting a more spacious and comfortable back seat than compact SUVs can manage along with a cargo area that's basically an unending void for your stuff. And if that's not enough, it has the most useful roof rails in the industry. Basically, if you need your utility vehicle for actual utility, the Outback remains a superior choice. The changes for 2020 just make it a more pleasant place for repeat customers and a more appealing alternative for those otherwise considering SUVs. What's new for 2020? The Outback was completely redesigned for 2020. What's the Outback's interior and in-car technology like? It's all about the screen. Nearly every 2020 Outback comes with a vertically oriented 11.6-inch touchscreen (and even that lone exception comes with a pair of 7-inch units, pictured above right). Its functionality isn't flawless, as the audio controls when using Apple CarPlay are compromised, and the colorful cartoonish graphics have an aftermarket look to them. Still, it's generally easy to use, read and reach. Feature content is excellent as well (see pricing and features section below). Unfortunately, typical for Subaru, stereo sound quality is poor in the standard four- and six-speaker systems. In terms of design, we can't say the new Outback is especially attractive, but at least an influx of better materials elevates the overall ambiance.

Subaru Crosstrek gets an injection of Baja racer DNA from Crawford Performance

Subaru's idea of updating the Crosstrek is dropping a bigger, 2.5-liter flat-four engine in the engine bay. American tuner Crawford Performance has other plans for the city-friendly crossover. It turned the model into an off-roader enhanced with a lift kit, skid plates, and extra lights reminiscent of Subaru's rallying past, among other add-ons. California-based Crawford Performance knows what it takes to improve a Subaru. It's one of the companies responsible for the Crosstrek Baja Racer introduced in 2019, and it's the only aftermarket parts manufacturer ever factory-backed by Subaru. The suspension lift it developed for the second-generation Crosstrek adds 2 inches of ground clearance to the front axle and an extra inch and a half to the rear. For context, the Crosstrek sits 8.7 inches off the ground when it rolls off the assembly line, so the lift alone raises it above the 10-inch mark. Subaru didn't develop the Crosstrek for hardcore off-roading, so Crawford added tubular bumper overriders on both ends and over both rocker panels, aluminum skid plates that protect vital mechanical components from oily (and expensive) encounters with boulders, and additional lights mounted in front of the door mirrors. Spot lights and 15-inch alloy wheels wrapped by beefy tires ensure you can see what's ahead and effortlessly drive over it. Crawford kept the stock, naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter flat-four engine but Top Gear learned it installed an air-oil separator and intake spacers to increase its output from 152 to 167 horsepower. That's not a huge bump, but it should be enough to make the Crosstrek a little peppier. The four-cylinder still spins the four wheels through a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and it exhales through an upgraded exhaust for a rally car-like sound. Adventurers who want to build a lifted Crosstrek need to set aside $550 for the kit, which includes aluminum strut spacers, strut extensions, and other bits and pieces like sway bar link extensions. Other parts like the skid plates, the air-oil separator, and the tubular add-ons are sold separately. And, of course, you'll need a good set of tires. If you're not a DIYer, Top Gear reported Crawford plans to sell a fully-assembled model positioned between the production Crosstrek and a purpose-built race car. It will cost approximately $35,000 when it goes on sale.  Related Video:    

2022 Subaru BRZ to debut Nov. 18

The 2022 Subaru BRZ will be officially revealed to the world in production form on Nov. 18, the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday. Like most of 2020's big reveals, the 2022 BRZ will be shown online. We've known for some time that the next-generation BRZ's debut was imminent. After all, disguised prototypes have been testing on public roads in southeast Michigan, and one such prototype was also shown (still camouflaged) to attendees of a charity preview event last month, from which a few images leaked.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. To put it bluntly, we really don't know much else about the forthcoming Subaru BRZ (or its Toyota twin, the 86). In fact, Toyota has been even more tight-lipped than Subaru in this regard. What little we've heard suggests that most of the platform enhancements will come from Toyota's side of the twins' joint development program, while the powertrain will again be sourced from Subaru. This runs counter some rumors we've heard that longitudinal engines from Toyota's portfolio, which includes turbocharged four-cylinders, could potentially make their way under the hood.  An evolutionary engine offering makes more sense than any sort of revolutionary leap forward, as Toyota now has a four-cylinder Supra model in its lineup. This effectively acts as a ceiling for the 86's performance. Subaru has its WRX and STI models to consider too, but that's a fundamentally different conflict of priorities, as the Supra is far more similar to the 86 than the BRZ is to either of its performance-oriented showroom siblings.  Encouragingly, the prototype we saw on public roads was being benchmarked against a turbocharged Ford Mustang. While it would be tempting to jump to the conclusion that Subaru is targeting the Mustang for power output, it's far more likely that the comparison is more holistic, rather than focused on powertrain performance alone. The lighter Subaru and Toyota coupes won't need quite as much power to keep up with the larger, heavier pony car, so expecting the twins to compete with the EcoBoost Mustang's 300-ish horsepower is grounded more in wishful thinking than reality.  Fortunately, we only have a couple of weeks left until we find out for certain. Stay tuned! Related Video: