Official leaked pics of the new Subaru Liberty

[demondan]

Ah Subaru you have done it again, they have officially lost the plot.

[tranquilized]

Doesn't look great, but I actually think its an improvement over the tripe they've been releasing lately. Subaru's design high water mark is well and truly behind them.

[madmelon]

Yuck. Subaru are getting more and more boring- looks like another anonymous American market sedan.

[InfernoSR]

kinda reminds me of a Suzuki Camry cross over... bland as!

[Mighty Reds]

The grille looks similar to the one on current Taurus.

[Hawkeye84]

Agreed its a lot better than the stuff that theyve been pumping out lately
Looks very Toyota - havent they killed Subaru....

[Road_Warrior]

Well it looks better than the current one.

[Dave R]

They're clearly trying to be Volkswagen. Inoffensive and functional. That interior particularly screams VW.

[XR Martin]

How ordinary.

[Focused]

Looks rather conservative. If cars aren't your thing, why would you buy one of these over a Camry or Aurion? Let alone similarly sized Hyundais and Kias. It seems that after the bug-eyed Impreza, Subaru got such a shock from the negative press that they went to the other extreme and went ultra-conservative.

[GT014]

Another massive letdown after a awesome concept. The interior is very Camry to me

[Ford_The_Win]

I like it, I think it looks fine. I would go for a Mazda 6 before one of these but it still has more character than a Camry.

[Bossxr8]

What an ugly POS. The last gen Liberty was a good looking car, the current one is terrible and this one is just as bad.

[Nikked]

I fail to see the complete ugly in it?

The only real questionable part of it is the roof, the rear headroom looks compromised. NO more bland then any base model falcon or commodore...

[zebby]

You can tell by looking at the front seat positioning in the pics who this car is aimed at, straight to the bowls club dear

[usernametaken]

next!

[Fordman1]

Ugly !!!

[MAGPIE]

Boring ugly grandpa car much like the little brother Impreza and WRX, and that's coming from a Subaru fan.

I think FHI have finally lost the plot, the only decent looking car in their entire line up is the BRZ.

[Polyal]

The last decent Liberty....



Where did it all go wrong?

[SavVYute]

It's got a wood grain shelf running across the dash....as well as cup holders.
C'mon....you've got to give them a tick for that.

[kaniSS]

Looks terrible. I can't believe people actually buy these cars...

[stazza]

Looks like a VF

[JG34JA]

4th GEN wagons, Liberty and Outback were an absolute high point. Beautiful interiors, frameless windows, sleek and flowing exterior, great materials and craftsmanship inside and well equipped. Someone once called that model the 'thinking man's BMW' - probably more reliable and cheaper to boot.

Add the AWD and boxers and what a win.

Ever since, the exterior styling has really taken some coercion to like, interiors have been described as using cheaper plastics (and I'd agree, although I like the current interior which is very spacious) - but styling really seems to be targeted at the US market with its preference for chunky FWD high midsizers. Yuck. The basic DNA remains however, AWD + boxer, and now you can get an auto diesel. Hmmm, attraction and substance, or just substance?

[ray38l]

Subaru are making what sells, boring cars.
Toyota mastered it a long time ago and it seems everyone else is catching on.

[jpblue1000]

I work in a design industry, as such I am generally aware of styling and to be honest, most 3 box cars look the same to me, the bumpers, lights and grilles being the defining elements. Very similar angles to screens, side profiles/silhouettes , the similar shoulder line and hip line running from front to rear a palm width down from the glasshouse either straight or curved down at the front. scallops to base of doors
Even the body kitted factory cars have same same but different approach with black inserts, lips and slits.
The headlights all have a similar theme long, expensive to replace and flowing into the front 1/4.
Gaping guppy mouths and bonnets that touch the upper front bar with a fashion grille between.
Spotlight location and treatment. Spoiler additions, side skits shape size and fitting. all the same just different themes, a twist here flourish there.
So I say people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. all modern cars look too similar, to label one boring or hideous is to insult them all.
There are of course exceptions but not enough. there are some loverly details in some models but not enough to truly make them stand out as different, and some obviously poor attempts to put them all together. But it seems that for the most the lowest common denominator wins the style stake and manufactureres aim for them. Toyota, ford, holdem, subaru, etc, etc
JP

[superfly]

Looks a little better than the current one.

[JG34JA]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

I work in a design industry, as such I am generally aware of styling and to be honest, most 3 box cars look the same to me, the bumpers, lights and grilles being the defining elements. Very similar angles to screens, side profiles/silhouettes , the similar shoulder line and hip line running from front to rear a palm width down from the glasshouse either straight or curved down at the front. scallops to base of doors
Even the body kitted factory cars have same same but different approach with black inserts, lips and slits.
The headlights all have a similar theme long, expensive to replace and flowing into the front 1/4.
Gaping guppy mouths and bonnets that touch the upper front bar with a fashion grille between.
Spotlight location and treatment. Spoiler additions, side skits shape size and fitting. all the same just different themes, a twist here flourish there.
So I say people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. all modern cars look too similar, to label one boring or hideous is to insult them all.
There are of course exceptions but not enough. there are some loverly details in some models but not enough to truly make them stand out as different, and some obviously poor attempts to put them all together. But it seems that for the most the lowest common denominator wins the style stake and manufactureres aim for them. Toyota, ford, holdem, subaru, etc, etc
JP

Nice post. I guess within the 3 box arena, you also have the trend to 'coupe-fy' (sorry about the term) cars, such as the Mercedes CLS, Jaguar XJ, BMW 6, Audi A7. Then there are the crossovers between 2 and 3 box such as the BMW 3 series GT and Audi A5 sportback which give some load practicality as well as the mimic of coupe looks. At least it's something different.

There's also the battle between angular lines and flowing curves throughout the design history - in this case the new Liberty is more angular while the 4Gen was more flowing. In much the same way an EH or XY; VC or XD was more angular, and HD, XA, AU, VT are more curvy examples.

The 2 box world is currently seeing some great designs, from the reinterpretation of classic Range Rover shapes and GTi themes, to new angles and lines in products like the Veloster, to reimagination of 1980's squareness in the FJ Cruisers and Cubes out there... And then the 86 has re-birthed the seriously sexy curves of Japanese sports cars while the GTR has given an angular interpretation of these...

[turbodewd]

I regard AWD as an over-rated feature. Hear me out.

1. You pay a fuel economy penalty for it daily. If you examine models offered in FWD and AWD, the AWD chews about 1.0L/100km extra.

2. If you drive urban and the road isnt wet then what advantage do you get? So what if your cornering feels a bit nicer?! I can corner too. Either way, we are both bound by the speed limits.

3. It adds expense to the price of the car. AWD models are dearer than FWD.

Seriously, for A-to-B dodderers around town (like most of us are) - waste of time.

[jpblue1000]

Originally Posted by JG34JA

Nice post.

Thanks, but even within the angle vs curve the key design motif is still common amongst most of them. As you will see this is not a new phenomenon, when grilles extended from headlight to headlight were new thay all did it, the way taillights expanded into the lower sill boots across all manufacturers of that era, C or D pillar lights in Wagons, The relationship to wheels and arches, mild flaring across a generation of cars rather than just a model or two. Shaped tailpipes integrated into bumper skirts, door handles flushed then a whole generation of protruding handles again. I could keep going and probably will. Always a slight interpretation of each other but the same basic recipe.
As I type I’m asking myself if I’m being harsh and unobservant but in my opinion its only once you start looking at exotics or niche cars do you start to see innovation or just difference.
Not saying many and all are ugly just too many common design language elements

JP

[Adamz Ghia]

That's not limited to cars, seen the new housing estates these days, all a clone of each other...