Subaru Outback 2020: more tech, more turbo for all-new model

The all-new Subaru Outback has been unveiled in New York, with the sixth-generation model offering a bigger engine and better technology.

Chief among the changes is the new Outback's powerplant in top-spec models, with the American-spec car, revealed today at the New York Motor Show, packing a 2.4-litre turbocharged boxer engine good for 194kW and 375Nm.

Also available is a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre engine producing 136kW and 239Nm. In traditional Subaru style, both engines feed their power to all four wheels via a CVT automatic.

Both engines make bold claims, too, with the 2.4-litre unit promising a 1587kg towing capacity - the highest "of any Outback in history" - while the 2.5-litre engine promises "more than" 965kms per tank of fuel.

There's also a new suspension set-up (MacPherson front, double-wishbone rear) which pairs with the Outback's Subaru Global Platform, which is both stiffer and stronger than the bones that underpinned its predecessor.

Subaru made a gigantic deal of the Outback's 25-year history of delivering off-road adventures, and is promising this new model will provide even more capability, with more then 220mm of ground clearance and the latest in the brand's X-Mode off-road programming.

Subaru promises the new Outback will provide even more off-road capabilities.

While specification for Australian vehicles, which will be built in Japan rather than the USA, and are expected to arrive some time after the American cars launch later this year, is still being finalised, USA-spec cars will arrive with a comprehensive safety package as standard.

Subaru’s EyeSight Driver Assist Technology is included on every model, which offers adaptive cruise control with a Lane Centering function, as well as a driver fatigue monitoring system which uses facial recognition-equipped cameras to watch the driver for signs of drowsiness. Optional, but clever, is the brand's Front View Monitor, which uses cameras to monitor your blind spots, beaming the images to the 11.6-inch portrait-style display in the centre of the dash.

That display - the largest offered in a Subaru - headlines a cabin-tech overhaul, with the Tesla-aping screen both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto equipped, and which also acts in a similar way to a smartphone screen, with moveable apps and customisable screens.

The centre screen seems to take inspiration from the units used in Teslas.

Local pricing and specification will be revealed closer to the Outback's Australian launch.

What do you make of the all-new Outback? Tell us in the comments below.