Third generation · 2004–2009

The Outback's first factory turbo, and its first six-cylinder as a range-topper.

This generation added the 2.5XT turbo variant, rated 243 hp, alongside a 3.0L H6 — the beginning of the EZ36 flat-six as the Outback's recurring range-topping engine choice in later generations. It shared its platform with the fourth-generation Legacy, the same generation whose turbo Subaru had, for the first time since 1994, derived directly from the North American Impreza WRX STI.