2009 Subaru Liberty and Outback revealed
May 21, 2009 by George Skentzos
The new generation Subaru Liberty and Outback have been unveiled in Japan, following the debut of the North American version last month.
Subaru has confirmed that the Australian versions will be based on the Japanese market vehicles, meaning this is our first glimpse of what we should come to expect in September when the local models arrive.
The Subaru Liberty will continue to be offered in both sedan and wagon variants alongside the Outback, coupled with Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive as expected.
“New Liberty and Outback are stronger, more spacious and even safer than the current cars.” said Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia
“They also adopt the Subaru Dynamic Chassis Concept that’s been so successfully applied to new generation Impreza and Forester, producing a great drive. Both models have proved their customer appeal by achieving record sales.
An efficient Lineartonic Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT) will be available for all new models, coupled with a six-cylinder 3.6-litre engine – the biggest yet for both Liberty and Outback.
Safety has been enhanced with the addition of knee airbags, with Subaru confident both cars will achieve strong five-star occupant safety ratings when tested locally by the independent Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
Rain sensing windscreen wipers and auto on/off headlights have also been included along with push button start options and a reversing camera with factory-fitted SatNav options.
Pricing and full specifications for the new generation Subaru Liberty and Outback will be announced closer to the local launch in September.
Subaru Australia has also confirmed it will launch the six-speed manual Outback diesel in November.
Print it: 
Why did Subaru start designing their cars based on the Geely and the Chery?
see, all it needed was a decent colour (black), and some better fotos and slight cosmetic changes to the bumpers to make it look a whole lot more appealing!
i actually love the pictures of the ‘B4′.
but only the B4… lol
I’m really digging the silver wagon.
I’m glad you like it Jaz’, because in my opinion they have spoilt the best looking Japanese car on the market. Liberty had the looks to compare with A4, S60, Mondeo and Passat. Now it has gone the route of the Accord Euro and is trying to hard to be Rice
Dont worry, if you dont like it, they’ll do a redesign within the next 18 months
Who does the design work at Subaru? These pictures look pretty ordinary. You would need 24 inch wheels to suit the size of the wheel arch flares
Not a fan of those bug eyes. All the rear lights, looks like a mixture of a Cruze and the Accord V6.
I had an Outback once upon a time. Was pretty good driving although every service was pricey. This won’t make me be going back there any time soon.
I thought Subaru had learned their lesson with the MY01-07 Impreza – i.e. flared wheel arches bodywork make normal sized wheels look tiny.
obviously not.
I cant help but think this is a step backward from the existing liberty to fussy overstyled design for the sake of it.
looking forward to the diesel though
Agree with Jazrod, only in black does it look in any way acceptable. This is because the shadows cast by the over-flouncy curves and grotesquely exaggerated flares can’t be seen.
Subaru has a real problem here. The current one (especially in wagon form) is crisp and stylish. The new one is a bulbous pig with ridiculously big headlights and a grille that looks like Kevin Rudd attempting to effect a smile. Also, the cost and fuel use of all wheel drive is less saleable as a safety benefit now that everything has ESP.
I predict that it will only sell half the numbers of its predecessor over its lifetime.
That thing is ugly. The wagon has the awkward looks of the Exiga and both look really boring. More to the point though, the current one looks so good. Why ruin it?
I think it looks quite good, but it really isn’t that much diff to the US spec.
Perhaps it just looks good now because we’ve been looking at the Cruze photos recently.
Not sold on the styling. The current wagon is one of the best looking wagons on the market, even after 6 years. The new one doesn’t look as smart and I prefer the sedan this time around.
I’ll reserve final judgement until the full specs are released and I see the car up close, but I’m not convinced Subaru has moved the game forwad far enough with the new Liberty.
They are myspace angles, its still really ugly
Looks retarded. I have the current gen Liberty and am looking to upgrade but I guess I’m going to have to look elsewhere. Looks like they took everything good about the current designed and changed it to look as bad as possible. When I see this new design I think Kia, Hyundai, Cruze, etc. I actually think I’d prefer a Hyundai to this if they were the only options. I’d even go the Impreza over this which is saying something!
Very disappointed. Might as well go a Lex for the B4 money.
Looks good EXCEPT from the front end!
I hope the B4 has WRXish performance.
Oh, and agreed – the grill is totally cruise, unless cruise stole it from Subaru? Either way its uuuuuugly!
Its not as ugly as the US model at least
Wheel arches do look big but I’ll wait to see it in the metal before final judgement….As they look good on current crop of mazdas.
This model is bigger in every dimension apperantly so it should appeal more. Subaru sales continue to grow globally despite a shaky world market and given the average styling cues of some of the model line up that shows that people dont just make their purchasing decision based on the siloutte of the body.
Turbo Diesel Boxer & 6 speed nice!!! and about time. Do Outbacks come with low range gearboxes like the Forester?
the rear looks like my 2009 Honda accord but a bit more rounded. This thing is totally ugly YYYUUUUUCCKKKK !!!!
ONE WORD – UGLY !
And just when I thought X-Trail was hideous….
Well the only two cars in their range that weren’t vomit inducing, the Libery and Outback, are now just as horrible as the rest. sigh. Subaru need a new design team I think…
Looks great from every angle, except the front – butt ugly lights and grill. That silver wagon from the back looks the goods. Manual diesel a great idea for Oz
Subaru obviously needs to fire the designers
and hire people here who commented in this website
Front looks like an Holden/Daewoo Epica or Skoda Octavia.
Which is not a good thing.
Agreed it doesn’t look all that great in these photo’s, but i’m going to wait till i see it in real life to jugdge completely
When they say about more space and bigger than previous the they have all got it wrong…more and more buyers are today are looking for smaller smarter cars. They go it wrong with the current forrester which looks like truck..previous size was perfect. Not sure why the car makers are not listening at all and throwing these forced choices on public.
i like the look of these cars. but what really caught my attention is the reverse camera and 3.6L engine.
Reminds me of new Maxima. Further push by Subaru to switch to ‘mature’ customers?
Disappointing looks, but could still be a class leader: V6 is not available in Accord Euro or Mazda 6. the new CVT maybe better than Accord’s and 6’s 5 speed autos. Full-time 4WD. Probaly better interior and refinement than the 6 and faster than Accord Euro.
I think it looks really good! narrower jap/aus body looks much better than fat us version..
will definately look at trading my wifes 07 liberty 2.5i man wagon.. on the new 6sp man outback (wife wants higher up car)..
i think i like the look of the us version of the outback though, has more of a tough suv look!, will wait to see aussie version in the flesh, but the jap spec liberty sed and wagon look great!!!!
This car is nothing compared to the Holden sports wagon. Why people would want this over a sports wagon is beyond me. Subaru’s are over priced and over rated.
Splatter, Why would anyone choose this over the VE wagon.
1. Quality
2. Resale
3. Better fuel consumption
4. Better interior
5. Just as much cargo are in a smaller package
6. Safer
7. Durability
8. AWD
9. Handling
10 Braking
Why would anyone choose a VE wagon over a Liberty wagon
1. Blind badge loyalty
2. Ya’ can get a V8
3. Blind badge loyalty
4. Support local industry
5. Blind badge loyalty
Oh and BTW it’s “Sportwagon” not sportS wagon if you want to go quoting the advertising garbage. Funny how the last Sportwagon I remember was a Daewoo.
Well said DrPhill, took the words right out of my mouth.
It looks ok, but I can understand why people would be put off. Especially since the last Liberty’s looks were so conservative.
Australian’s should buy Australian made cars, like the Commodore, Epica and the new cruz. We need to support our local car industry and Holden are the only ones left making cars in Australia.
HoldenLuvR
LOL nice joke.
Everyone knows hwo totally wrong you are – and yes I know you’re just fishing, with BS as the bait.
Oh, if the Subaru designers are proud of their current work then good for them. Whoever will be buying these cars won’t be saying to their friends look how beautiful my new car is, they will be probably talking about how reliable it will be and how it drives like a road car and not like a excessively large 4WD.
Many Australians are quite pragmatic and tend to buy new Japanese cars because they are quite cheap (in monetary terms) and more reliable than many European cars, not because they evoke a sence of emotion with the design or how exclusive the car is. There are some exceptions of course, WRX STI and Evo the obvious ones.
HoldenLuvR
Isn’t the Epica and Cruz biult in Korea in the old Daewoo factory?
agree they could have done better with the styling. but also the pics here don’t do the wagon justice as there are some much nicer pics floating around the web (japanese websites)
3.6 boxer, AWD bliss and a wagon with subtle hints of aggression… elements of a niche “sleeper”
looking forward to seeing it in the flesh
Subaru has lost a number of traditional Impreza owners with the “controversial” styling of the current WRX.
If this is waht the new Liberty is gonna look like.. and if Holden either import or build the AWD Insignia here; than its sales could also be under threat.
Dual clutch gearbox please (in the turbo models at least).
Current generation looks much better, these designs look too aggresive macho in a slightly weird Korean way. Current design is between Japanese and European in a subtle prenium way.
Subaru took the flared guards away from the Impreza-WRX range in an attempt to try and lose the “ricer-boy/racer-boy” image – yet they have given the Liberty [rather severely] flared guards. What’s going on?
The Liberty is supposed to be a more refined more upmarket model for those who are after more style/class etc..
a “step up” from the Impreza. Thing is flared guards don’t look right on a car such as this..
One of the many things that makes the current Liberty so good is its understated styling – not any more..
In case anyone is interested, attached is link to 360 view of the JDM legacy wagon, from the japan site
http://www.subaru.jp/legacy/touringwagon/
take that silver wagon, ensure its got dual exhaust, som low profile oof rails, and I am starting to appreciate the new look.
I can’t say the looks of the liberty is horrible, just not nice at all (50.1/100). Not attacted to buy one
So now the entire Subaru range as been hit with the ugly stick. It’s really sad, as they are quality cars underneath. If you get one park it next to a BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo – that will make it look good by comparison. The stick is sure getting a workout.
these pictures look a little better than previous ones
ive seen,more bulbous than current model,i just hope that the car looks more striking in the flesh.
FAIL. Though I guess this will keep the prices up on previous models…who is telling these designers the world wants more butt ugly wheel arches and a “nose” that looks like it was kicked in on Saturday night??
From cool to crud.
The design is slowly growing on me, Subaru still needs to address fuel economy though through a greener version which has diesel engines with CVT, better drag coefficency, lighter components and manual select AWD to save even more fuel and by reserving AWD when actually needed.