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Consumer Reports sneaks in early review of 2015 Subaru Outback

Subaru is taking a bit of a measured risk with its new generation of Legacy and Outback. While they ride on a slightly larger platform than before, with a revised front-end design, neither of them looks to be a radical departure from models they replace. Instead of focusing on exterior styling, the Japanese brand is trying to make the vehicles better to own with more sound deadening, improved fuel economy and more available tech. Pricing for the 2015 Outback isn't available yet, but with the 2015 Legacy pricing as a guide, it's likely a few hundred dollars more than the current model.
We just had our first stab at the new Legacy, which is slated to go on sale this summer, but Consumer Reports managed to snag an early look at the 2015 Outback in a sort of mini-review to get an idea of how the new model shakes out. Like many, we'd wager, CR isn't completely sold on the new styling, but seems otherwise moderately impressed by the upgrades. The improvements to the interior and infotainment system are especially well received by them. Naturally, though, CR notes that not everything is perfect with the high-riding wagon.
Scroll down to watch CR's preview of the new Outback and see what it thinks of this practical family hauler.

2015 Subaru Outback

Realistically, many enthusiasts give horrible, horrible car buying advice. They will recommend something bizarre, inappropriately high performance, compromised or utterly impractical for a given consumer's needs, and they'll almost never recommend something that makes sense. And then they'll come up with 3.7 million reasons why the leading vehicle someone is thinking about is a bad choice.
Or maybe that's just what I do.
Regardless, if you poke, prod, bother or just get us drunk enough, eventually you'll begin getting honest feedback. And more than likely, we'll tell you, in hushed tones, about the many virtues of very, very boring cars. We'll talk about why the Toyota Camry is actually a pretty decent purchase or we'll explain how spacious and feature laden the Nissan Versa is.

Day 2: We made it to Patagonia | Subarus in South America

We made it. After Monday's layover in Buenos Aires on Tuesday afternoon, Chris McGraw and I landed in El Calafate, Argentina – right smack in the middle of Patagonia. The Andes mountains were to our west, open plains and lakes cut by glaciers to our east. McGraw and I settled inside a Subaru Outback, and with big smiles on our faces, high-fived as I said the words, "Dude... We're in f*cking Patagonia." Our official adventure starts today, where we're driving a number of Subaru crossovers on all sorts of terrain, visiting glaciers that are larger than most American cities, and taking in some of the most scenic landscape I've ever laid eyes on. Crosstreks, Foresters, and Outbacks will get us to our next destination, and we'll have a full recap of the day's activities for you tomorrow morning. Be sure to follow along with us on social media – Autoblog's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will provide more insights into our journey. Of course, both Chris and I will be posting individual impressions from the journey, so follow us, too (@stevenewing and @thequikdraw). In the meantime, get an idea of our epic surroundings in the video above.