2025 Subaru Forester

The Forester is one of Subaru’s most important models – to Subaru, in that it is one of Subaru’s best-selling models. For this reason it’s really important – to Subaru – to not fix what isn’t broken.

That’s always a risk whenever a model that sells well as it is gets redesigned. Of course, not redesigning it also runs the risk of it getting old and for that reason, not selling well.

You see the problem.

Has the just-updated Forester solved it?

What It Is

The Forester is a compact crossover with two rows and seating for five. It differs from the others in its class – models such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Tucson (among many others) in that it is the only crossover you can buy – that isn’t a Porsche – that has a a boxer engine rather than an inline engine. It also comes standard with more ground clearance (8.7 inches) than most which – along with standard AWD – makes it more able to deal with deep snow and uneven terrain such as washed out dirt/gravel roads than most of the rest.

Prices for the just-updated 2025 model begin at $29,995 for the base trim. There are several other trims, including Premium ($33,385) Sport ($36,105) Limited ($37,695) Touring ($41,595) and Wilderness ($36,285).

A hybrid drivetrain is available with Premium, Limited and Touring trims, the latter stickering for $43,2945.

What’s New For 2025

The Forester gets major cosmetic makeover, outside and in – and a new (optional) hybrid drivetrain.

What’s Good

Boxer engine is something different in a class where too much is pretty much the same.

More standard ground clearance – and even more clearance is available (9.2 inches with Wilderness trim).

Can pull up to 3,000 lbs. – more than most of the others in the class.

What’s Not So Good

Significant increase (almost $3,000) in base price vs. last year.

The only version rated to pull 3,000 lbs. is the Wilderness trim.

No optional engine – or transmission.

Under The Hood

Every Forester – including the new hybrid version – comes standard with a 2.5 liter, horizontally opposed or boxer engine. This type of engine lays flat rather than stands upright and its cylinders (pistons) are divided in pairs of two – in this case – on each side that box each other from opposite sides of the crankshaft, as opposed to being lined up in a row and going straight up-and-down. The advantages of the boxer layout are that the weight of the engine is spread out low-down in the car’s chassis, which improves balance and handling. This is one reason why Porsches have this kind of engine. The boxer engine is itself also more balanced because the “boxing” pistons cancel out what would otherwise be vibrations needing balancing weights to do the same – so the boxer engine is also lighter and smoother.

The main downside of the boxer layout is that engine oil doesn’t drain down from the topside of the engine when it’s not running and so pools in the cylinder heads; this can lead to oil seeping past the valves/seals in the cylinder heads, which can lead to higher oil consumption (via oil burning)  if the valve guides are worn, as in a high-miles engine – allowing the pooled oil to seep by them into the combustion chamber.

The Forester’s 2.5 liter engine is also not a turbocharged engine, because it’s a larger engine than has become in other small crossovers. Some of the Subaru’s rivals in the class, such as the Honda CR-V, come standard with much smaller engines that need to be turbocharged for exactly that reason. Without the boost, the CR-V’s much smaller 1.5 liter engine would not make the 190 horsepower it touts. Interestingly, the Soobie’s 2.5 liter four makes nearly the same horsepower (180) without the boost and it touts about the same gas mileage – 26 city, 33 highway vs. 28 city, 34 highway for the Honda. This is interesting because the chief reason given for installing smaller engines – with turbo boost “on demand” – is for the sake of better gas mileage.

Except it often doesn’t pan out that way.

The big upside to not having a small, turbo-boosted engine is not ever having to worry about having to pay for a replacement turbo. And a decreased likelihood of ever having to worry about paying to fix or replace a prematurely worn-out engine.

The downside – as regards the Forester – is there’s no optional engine, unless you count the hybridized version of the 2.5 liter engine. It’s the same engine but gets shut off automatically whenever possible by the system, as when the car’s not actually moving or when it is decelerating/coasting. During these times, the lithium-battery powers accessories and (as in other hybrids) a small electric motor allows the vehicle to move for short distances at low speeds without the engine on while also boosting the combined output of the ensemble to 194 horsepower and increasing the touted gas mileage to 35 city, 34 highway.

This savings on gasoline is however offset by the considerably higher cost of the hybrid drivetrain, which also requires buying the higher-cost Premium trim. This the least expensive hybrid Forester costs $36,595 or $6,600 more than the base trim, non-hybrid Forester. It is doubtful you’ll ever see a net savings – on what you spend to own the car vs. what it costs to drive it – but you do get a 14 horsepower bump for the money.

All Foresters – like all Subarus (except for the BRZ sports coupe) – come standard with all-wheel-drive and a continuously variable (CVT) automatic with driver-selectable modes.

All Foresters also come standard with the most ground clearance (8.7 inches) in the class and can be ordered (if you order the Wilderness iteration) with even more clearance than that.

The Wilderness is also rated to tow as much as 3,000 lbs. or about double what other Foresters are rated to pull and also more than most of the others in this class are rated to pull.

On The Road

One of the criticisms leveled at CVT transmissions is that they feel – and sound – weird. More finely, that they feel (and sound) like they’re slipping. This being a function – typically – of two things. The first being that in many instances, CVT transmissions are paired with underpowered engines. The second – related thing – being that CVT transmissions are designed to make the most of what power there is by letting the engine rev to make what power there is – and then holding the engine at that RPM when the driver pushes down hard on the accelerator. This of course makes a racket and gives one the feeling that the engine is really struggling, which of course it is.

But that’s not the CVT’s fault.

When paired with an adequately powerful engine such as the Forester’s and programmed to emulate the shift-action of a conventional automatic a CVT offers less noise and more smoothness, due to the elimination of “shift shock” – the perceptible feel of the transmission shifting up (or down) from gear to gear. With a CVT, you get linear acceleration and no feel of gear changing because there are no gears changing.

Is the Forester quick? A better question is whether it is quick enough – and relative to other small crossovers in the class. The answer is that it is. The non-hybrid can accelerate to 60 in just over 8 seconds; the slightly more powerful hybrid is slightly quicker. It also feels stronger because of the assist of the electric motor/battery side of the hybrid drivetrain that bumps up the low-speed throttle response. It’s not going to beat a WRX but that’s a silly point of comparison – like bitching about how terrible a Corvette is in the snow.

The Forester is soft and comfortable. It does not try to be WRX-like. The WRX is for people who want that. But it does have something in common with the WRX. More finely, it does something better than the WRX. While the latter is Hell-on-wheels in the snow (and the dirt and gravel) due to its tenaciously grippy AWD system and high-powered turbocharged engine it is not the hot ticket for rutted dirt/gravel roads or several inches of standing water – because it only has 5.4 inches of ground clearance.

Because it is a performance car.

The Forester has 8.7 inches of ground clearance; the Wilderness ups that to more than 9 inches. That latter is nearly twice the WRX’s clearance and that means a lot of air between the Forester’s vulnerable underside and the rocks and other such that would otherwise potentially put a dent in the floorpans or just break/tear off some other thing. That generous ground clearance even more than the AWD is what makes the Forester a particularly practical vehicle.

That’s of course not exciting – in the usually meant sense. But it is exciting to people who like a particularly practical vehicle.

At The Curb

The 2025 Forester is only a little bit larger overall than the 2024 Forester (183.3 inches end to end for the ’25 vs. 182.7 for the ’24) but it looks more substantial. More finely, it looks more like an SUV than a crossover – even though it still is exactly that, meaning it is not based on a 4WD truck chassis. The makeover seems to be meant to make the Forester more appealing to buyers who prefer the more rugged look of an SUV. The SUV-like ground clearance and body cladding around the perimeter helps with that.

Of course, the main thing most people who buy crossovers rather than truck-based SUVs is that crossovers have more room inside than a same-sized SUV – on account of the flatter floorpans that crossovers have because they don’t have the bulky rear axles, two-speed transfer cases and heavier duty underthings for which space has to be made.

That’s the main reason why this compact-sized crossover has 27.5 cubic feet of space for stuff behind its second row and 69.1 cubic feet when the second row’s folded down. To get a sense of this, a Jeep Wrangler – which is an SUV – only has 12.9 cubic feet of space behind its back seats and the total available cargo space is just 31.7 cubic feet, only a little bit more space than the Soobie has behind its backseats (and with passengers riding back there). The back seats in a crossover almost always have more legroom and headroom, too – chiefly (again) because the floorpans are lower and because there’s more space for legs because space didn’t have to be used for things under the floorpans.

Relative to others in its class, the Soobie has significantly more backseat legroom – 39.4 inches – than the Toyota RAV4 (37.8 inches) though not as much as the class-best Hyundai Tuscson (41.3 inches). The Honda CR-V comes out on top vs. the others in terms of maximum cargo space: 39.3 inches behind the back seats and 76.5 total.

The Rest

All but the base trim Forester come standard with a new/larger 11.6 inch LCD touchscreen which is easier to use than many because there are manual knobs for the volume and station-tuning, so you do not have to look at the screen to make changes while you’re trying to keep your eyes on the road. There are also still push-button controls for changing the cabin temp settings and Subaru very thoughtfully provides both the new-style (oval) phone charge ports and the old style (rectangular) ports, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to charge up your phone, if you don’t have the right cord.

The Bottom Line

The main not-so-great thing is the new Forester’s price – which is almost $3k higher now. Yes, it’s new – and nicer in some ways. But – like its rivals – the new Forester is less affordable than it was and not by a little, either.

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