Subaru unveils the redesigned 2010 Outback wagon

April 9, 8:09 PMDC Car ExaminerBrady Holt

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 The redesigned 2010 Subaru Outback is the station wagon version of the Legacy sedan. 
 See more photos of the new Outback in the slideshow below today's article.

After releasing the first photos and specifications of its redesigned 2010 Legacy last month, Subaru unveiled that sedan's station wagon counterpart today at the New York International Auto Show.

As with the current two cars, the upcoming redesigned Outback will have a higher ride height and extra body cladding compared to the new Legacy, but the cars will remain otherwise mechanically identical, including their standard all-wheel-drive system.

Subaru has said the new Legacy offers improved gas mileage, interior space, and refinement, and that the new Outback should follow suit. However, aside from roof rack crossbars that fold out of the way when they're not in use to reduce wind noise, there's little revolutionary about this redesign.

The Legacy sedan and Outback wagon are the only two midsize Subarus sold in the United States. A station wagon version of the Legacy and a sedan version of the Outback were perceived as redundant and cut from the lineup after 2007; the Legacy wagon lives on in other parts of the world.

As with the new Legacy, the 2010 Outback should feature a roomier interior and extra refinement compared to the current 2009 model, though the Outback will no longer share the Legacy's turbocharged 4-cylinder engine.

Car enthusiasts raved about the turbo in the 2005 Legacy wagon, but not enough seem to have voted with their pocketbooks to encourage Subaru to continue offering such a product after this year.

The Outback first appeared in 1995 as a version of the Legacy wagon with slight styling changes designed to make it look more like an SUV, and Subaru is maintaining that approach in the upcoming 2010 version, the model's third redesign.

Subaru has not announced pricing, performance or fuel economy for the new Outback, but expect it to mirror the new Legacy's in delivering up to 30 miles per gallon on the highway but without blistering acceleration performance, and expect the base price to stay similar to the current car's $22,295.

The new Outback will go on sale later this year.