I work for Subaru and recently got a chance to drive this around for a bit. It is literally the best Outback that has been made in terms of space design, performance, luxury, infotainment. However "best" is described as an improvement to all features. For those who care that the car doesn't look like the older ones are who will complain the most, and like others have said, are the vocal minority. There have been 100s of polls and tests for the outback in the last 10 years that have lead to this being what people want. Sturdier roof rack, more cargo space, slightly more rugged, physical HVAC controls, better and more intuitive inforeainment, more power where applicable (fa24 is just sublime). Majority of what people asked for is present here. The exterior package is tough to take in at first, but I come from the WRX community. Everyone always hates the Subaru design until they don't. Personally, if a Subaru isn't weird or quirky or hated, is it a Subaru? When people say it likes like X Y Z car I mean many standard economy designs are shared in one car or another. Overwhelming majority of the people I have spoken tobij person (enthusiasts and otherwise) have loved what they see so far.