As conservative as Subaru is with redesigning their cars, the claim was verified when redesigning the new Outback. The black body cladding extends higher up the front bumper, which I don't particularly like, as it makes me think that the car is trying too hard to look like an off-roader. LED headlights are standard equipment, and LED fog lights are on every model but the base "standard model". The grille is larger, and the headlamp assembly gets a little more aggressively shaped.

You really won't be able to tell this is the new Outback by looking at the side. Sure, they still have nearly the same styling and nearly the same window sizes and the nifty roof rails with integrated crossbars, but that's where the differences end. The new Outback grows 1.7 inches in length, but the wheelbase and height stay the same. What also stays the same is the impeccable 8.7 inches of ground clearance. All of Subaru's SUVs and crossovers have 8.7 inches of ground clearance, which I wonder how they are able to have that much ground clearance, even on the large Ascent!

Out back (no pun intended) is where the biggest changes happen. The exhausts are really neatly tucked behind the rear bumper. The taillights are all-new, and they do take a little bit of design from the Honda Accord, but they are really sharp-looking and fit the overall new mission of the Outback. Out back (me with the puns...), there is only one way to tell what engine you have. There will be a subtle "XT" badge if you got the new engine, more on that in the Performance section.