Subaru of America has just announced the prices and equipment changes for the 2025 model year Outback and Legacy. First and foremost, starting prices remain unchanged, meaning that Outback and Legacy start at $28,895 and $24,895 before destination. EyeSight Driver Assist Technology is standard across the board, yet the well-equipped Limited trim flaunts more kit than ever before.
The standard goodies list now includes a 360-degree heated steering wheel, satellite navigation for the 11.6-inch Subaru Starlink infotainment system, a power moonroof, and the Subaru DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System. The latter is designed to monitor the driver's eyes and head position by means of an infrared camera.
If the driver seems to nod off or the driver isn't focused on the road, the Subaru DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System alerts them to bring their attention back to the task of driving. Turning our attention back to the cars, the Outback and Legacy feature different freight charges: $1,395 for the crossover-y wagon and $1,145 for the sedan.
Advertised as being a sport utility vehicle even though it clearly has more in common with station wagons, the Outback comes in a grand total of nine trims. Only the off-road-oriented Wilderness and XT grades come with the 2.4-liter turbocharged four-pot boxer, whereas non-XT grades feature a 2.5-liter H4 of the free-breathing variety. In both cases, the engine is connected to the Lineartronic chain-type continuously variable transmission.
Said transmission simulates eight-speed shifting, which may raise a few eyebrows. On the other hand, a simulated lower gear makes plenty of sense when driving down an inclined road. The naturally aspirated 2.5 cranks out 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet (239 Nm) of twist, while the force-fed 2.4 has 260 ponies and 277 pound-feet (376 Nm).
Photo: Subaru
As expected, the 2.5 is the more frugal of the two engines. The EPA combined rating is 28 miles to the gallon or 8.4 liters per 100 kilometers in the metric system, while the 2.4 is rated 25 mpg (9.4 l/100 km) or 23 mpg (10.2 l/100 km) for the Wilderness. Because it's lighter and sits lower to the ground, the Legacy is more frugal still, posting 30 and 26 mpg (7.8 and 9.0 l/100 km), respectively.
Because it's not as big of a seller as the Outback, the sedan-bodied sibling has only five trims to its name, of which only the range-topping Touring XT sports the punchier engine. That one is $39,340 after destination, which is pretty good value for a mid-size sedan with pretty much everything you could wish for in this type of vehicle (Nappa leather upholstery and ventilated front seats included).
Speaking of popularity, Outback moved 161,814 units in the United States last year, making it the most popular Scooby in this part of the world. The Legacy racked up 25,510 sales, putting it between the WRX (24,681) and Impreza (34,719). Outback sold 35,213 units in the first quarter of 2024 as opposed to 48,546 examples of the Forester.
Subaru's Q1 2024 sales report further shows an increase in deliveries of 59.7 percent for the Forester compared to the first three months of 2023, which is barely surprising. Dealers moved as many 2024 models as possible to make room for the 2025 Subaru Forester, which – for some reason or another – comes with the 2.5-liter engine only.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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