Evidently Subaru tired of hearing that they are the vehicle of choice for lesbians, so they had to follow Chevy, Toyota et al and make their new Outback more masculine:
I don't find it ugly, but at the same time, I think that foreign car companies assume that 95 percent of Americans either are, or want to pretend to be living in the mountains with their tame wolf in their off-the-grid, handmade cabin.
Maybe more "Butch" is expanding or anticipated to expand the assumed market?
In all fairness, it's also no longer a lifted wagon. It's now a full on CUV. It has gone from having a small but loyal captive market, and left them all behind to chase a slice of the same pie everybody else is fighting over. So I guess they wanted to make sure it was unique... Just like everybody else's.
That has to be one of the ugliest cars in production now. WOW. At least it will have a crappy interior and questionable reliability. What makes a Subaru a Subaru.
it's all gone Origami Superman Bizzaro World.
This started on sport bikes at least a decade ago....................angles are in baby.
So they looked at a Suburban and said 'But what if we squished it?'
What is going on over at Subaru. They have to be making some of the most aggressively ugly cars on the market right now. That outback needs about another 2" in wheel diameter to begin to look right.
It's ugly, that's for sure.
i think the market for fake strong tough dude cultured products including vehicles is the dumbest thing ever. "Tactical" this and "rugged" that my ass. Bro culture can kick rocks, it's ruined [redacted], vehicles, guns, outerwear, boots...
Oh, it is most assuredly ugly.
The comparison with the Suburban is interesting in that the Suburban has a very clean look to it, whereas the Subaru has a bunch of random chunks of black plastic scabbed onto it. Dismal. Abysmal.
I wouldn't say "macho" I would say "aggressive", overly so. The trend towards aggressive styling has been going strong for a while now and it seems to have really turned it up in the last few years
The newest Tundra TRD Pro is one of the most overtly "trying to be tough and aggressive" styling exercises in a while. ......Barf.....
sigh..... we used to have these amazing and useful classes of vehicles. The station wagon and hatchback. But they weren't "rugged" enough, so they were ruined with lift kits and plastic body cladding and were rebranded as SUVs and crossovers. Now these seem soft so they have to be turned up again.
I had predicted this trend just before the New Edge Mustang debuted.
Noticing the trend from the very round and curvy cars of the 60, to the very angular/boxy cars of the 80, back to round again with all the domestic cars looking like used decorative soaps in the 90's.
I was convinced everything was going to go over the top stealth fighter/tacti-cool*/cyberpunk like the Aliens APC.
People thought I was nuts, but here we are with the cybertruck.
I don't mind the aesthetic, and actively liked it until it became so cliche.
*I know the term didn't exist yet, but it fits with the aesthetic in my head.
In reply to Trent :
Which is ironic because all that plastic is so easily destroyed, and so expensive when you add it all up vehicles are being totalled over relatively minor accidents.
I wouldn't be surprised to see legislation similar to the 5 mph rule go back into effect.
Driven5 said:In all fairness, it's also no longer a lifted wagon. It's now a full on CUV. It has gone from having a small but loyal captive market, and left them all behind to chase a slice of the same pie everybody else is fighting over. So I guess they wanted to make sure it stood out... Just like everybody else's.
Remember when they took the quirky WRX...and made it look like a Corolla?
Across many different topics, automotive and others, I find myself more and more frequently considering the word "performative," defined as "not sincere but intended to impress someone."
I'm sure some influencer will obtain and divulge the numbers on "ground clearance this," "approach angle that," "torque-splitting AWD whatever," and it'll probably be a nice trail/light off-roading vehicle. But it risks becoming a caricature of itself.
It'll sell like hotcakes.
In fairness, I quite like my wife's Crosstrek. But it isn't trying that hard to be anything more than a pimped out Impreza. And it's got the larger engine.
Sadly Coniglio is probably right about selling like hotcakes. Going blocky was a huge shot in the arm for Rav-4s.
And Patrick, don't get me started on "Tactical". There are few modern terms I like less.
Actually, I might like this version of the Outback if they made it into an extended cab pickup. (NOT another crew cab) But the chances of that are virtually nil.
theruleslawyer said:What is going on over at Subaru. They have to be making some of the most aggressively ugly cars on the market right now.
They saw how well it was working for Toyota and wanted in on the action.
I am so sick of everything looking aggressive.
There's some sort of cultural chicken and egg thing, and I hate every aspect of it.
That's a nice shade of blue though.
Crackers (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Trent :
Which is ironic because all that plastic is so easily destroyed, and so expensive when you add it all up vehicles are being totalled over relatively minor accidents.
I wouldn't be surprised to see legislation similar to the 5 mph rule go back into effect.
It'd make sense if that plastic was cheap to replace.
I'll give it one thing, I like the color
Nothing new - Dodge had a Macho Power Wagon back in the day.
Datsun240ZGuy said:Nothing new - Dodge had a Macho Power Wagon back in the day.
But look how simple and clean it looks/is.
That's awful. They berkeleyed up the new forester too IMO.
If you can stick your head between the top of the tire and the fender wheel well, there's too much clearance.
Over/under on what year Subaru introduces a brodozer?
Subaru has been making questionable, ugly vehicles for decades, but this thing looks like a pile of different shaped Pelican tactical boxes duct taped together and strapped to one of those wire frame pneumatic tire wagons you see at your local plant and garden store. In no way does it look useful, attractive, or even comfortable. They need to stop sniffing their own farts over there. Yikes.
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