Review: 2025 Subaru Forester Improves In Key Areas, But Not Character

As I enter one of my favorite back roads with the 2025 Subaru Forester, I’m not greeted by the expected Impreza on stilts, energetic feel of its predecessors. Rather, this more mature iteration gracefully carves its way through the apex thanks to one of the best all-wheel-drive systems in the business. But dare I try to have more fun than that, the Forester’s long list of intrusive safety nannies will prevent any rebellious act of spirited driving.

Yes, Subaru’s compact crossover will still grip the tarmac, snow, gravel or even ice better than more technologically advanced machines. But the priority no longer seems to be on its ability to eat up country roads like its rally-inspired ancestors. It’s obvious with this all-new, sixth-generation model that the Forester’s focus is now on being just that: a good compact crossover. The end result is a product that is indeed potent enough to take on a RAV4 or a CR-V, but that has also lost some of its charming character in the process.

2025 Subaru Forester Exterior: What Exterior Design?

There’s a running gag in the automotive journalism world that Subaru has essentially given up on design more than a decade ago. After all, its vehicles have always put an emphasis on capability and practicality rather than style, and the 2025 Forester carries that torch rather well. It’s so bland that you could slap another carmaker’s logo on its grille and nobody would notice.

The original Forester was always meant to be Subaru’s answer to a growing demand for crossovers and SUVs. Back in 1997, Subaru was mostly known for its all-wheel-drive wagons, so the first Forester sort of combined the company’s go-anywhere wagon appearance with that of a compact utility vehicle. It allowed the Forester to look sort of weird in a fun and distinguished kind of way.

This new one? It’s a box. A box wearing a fancier set of LED head and taillights. But even those aren’t striking enough to allow the Forester to truly stand out. It may appear larger than its predecessor, but the new Forester is actually about the same size as before; only 0.5-inch wider and 0.6-inch longer overall. It also weighs about the same, which allows it to be one of the lightest in its class.

I personally appreciate the plastic wheel arches with integrated air vents. The fenders themselves are also sort of bulging, with more rugged, squared-off wheel wells. That’s kind of cool, and all directly inspired by the WRX. So, at least, Subaru is giving its mundane Forester a bit of rally heritage. I also find it at least looks better than the model it replaces. But it’s still not enough to give the Forester any sense of aesthetic desirability.

Exterior Dimensions

2025 Subaru Forester: Differences Between The U.S. And Canadian Market

Both markets sell the Forester in six available trim packages, including the last-generation, 2024 Wilderness that’s still on sale. At the moment of writing this review, Subaru had no explanation for a 2025 Wilderness, but the general assumption is that, since the Wilderness arrived late in the last Forester’s lifecycle, we could see it come back for this new generation later down the line.

The difference between the U.S. and Canadian markets is mostly how Subaru names the trim levels. Interestingly enough, Canada’s Touring model sits at the bottom of the lineup, while in the U.S., it towers the lineup. There are obviously packaging differences in each case, but both markets essentially sell the same car.

U.S. Versus Canada Lineup Breakdown (model tested in bold)

Driving Impressions And Performance: Smooth And Quiet, But Never Entertaining

Subaru definitely made huge improvements to the new Forester’s cabin NVH (for noise, vibration and harshness). There’s now significantly improved sound deadening, but also three times more structural adhesive than the model it replaces, as well as a thicker windshield. It all helps tone down Subaru’s expected engine drone, tread roar, and wind buffeting.

Thankfully, you can still hear the Boxer engine doing its thing, except, it no longer really sounds like a Boxer engine. If anything, it now sounds more like a conventional four-cylinder. For average folk shopping for a sensible crossover, that’s all fine. But for those expecting the iconic sound of a Subaru, they’ll definitely be disappointed.

Power comes from Subaru’s now ubiquitous 2.5-liter flat four-cylinder. Sadly, there is still no turbocharger in sight for the Forester, which is a shame considering how fantastic Subaru’s turbocharged 2.4-liter unit is. Adding turbo power would also give the Forester the extra shot of sex appeal it deserves, especially considering we’ve seen some pretty punchy turbo Foresters in the past.

Instead, this 2.5-liter mill puts down a humble 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque. That’s a full 47 horsepower less than a Mazda CX-5 Turbo. Thankfully, a hybrid is in the works, which should help the Forester gain a few more ponies. But for now, don’t expect much performance from Subaru’s family-friendly shuttle. Acceleration is fine. The continuously variable transmission (CVT) has a neat way of mimicking gears. It’s actually one of the best CVTs I’ve ever tested, and does a bang-up job of extracting everything it can out of the lukewarm powertrain. But it remains a CVT, a type of transmission that will never be enthusiast-friendly, no matter how hard it tries.

There’s good news on the chassis side, at least. Subaru considerably increased overall structural rigidity, allowing the Forester to constantly feel solid, well-buttoned down and sure-footed on loose gravel. Suspension damping is also superb for everyday driving on beaten-up tarmac. The Forester feels safe, and its road composure remains top-notch. But it also now feels softer and less keen to play around.

For this Touring model, Subaru sourced the Forester’s electronically assisted power steering unit from the WRX. But out there in the real world, it doesn’t feel the way it should. It simply doesn’t provide the same sort of feedback the last-generation Forester did, which, again, dilutes the driver’s involvement and kills whatever soul the poor, little Forester had left.

Performance Specifications

2025 Subaru Forester Fuel Consumption

The EPA rates the 2025 Subaru Forester Touring at 28 MPG combined (1 MPG less than the base model). It’s also 1 MPG more fuel-efficient than its predecessor. These numbers remain impressive considering that the Forester’s all-wheel-drive system is always on, contrary to the competition’s reactive-type systems which engage the rear wheels only when front-wheel slippage is detected. But it’s still nowhere near what some of the competition’s hybrid systems can do.

As for me, during a cool week in late November, and about 400 miles of driving in town and on the highway, I averaged 27 MPG without really trying.

EPA And As Tested Fuel Consumption

Interior Design And Comfort: Spacious, Comfortable And Well Put Together

Where the new Forester makes huge strides is in the quality of its interior, its level of comfort and how everything is put together. There’s a familiar look and feel to everything, but at the same time, you sense that every surface has been massaged to look and feel more upscale. The front seats are comfortable and supportive thanks to more aggressive thigh and shoulder bolsters, an irony given how non-enthusiast-friendly this new Forester is. Rear leg and headroom is ample, even for tall passengers, and the rear seat itself feels more padded and generally more inviting.

Unfortunately, very much like the Forester’s exterior design, this cabin doesn’t really look all that great. In Touring guise, the Forester tries to spruce things up with added bronze touches here and there, but it’s all more functional than aesthetically appealing.

But the good news is that this functionality leads to class-leading ergonomics. Everything is where it should be, and nothing is all that hard to comprehend. That’s because the Forester still relies on a set of analog gauges in a world where everyone else has flocked to screens. That said, although I appreciate the Forester Touring’s massive sunroof, why do I need to reach all the way back to manually slide the enormous sunshade?

2025 Subaru Forester Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use: Subaru’s Starlink System Is Showing Its Age

When Subaru introduced its Starlink 11.6-inch infotainment tablet in the Legacy back in 2019, it was up there as one of the most technologically advanced systems in the business. But now, it has become a sort of dated piece of hardware next to the much more modern systems that have since been released by other carmakers.

Starlink’s best quality remains its ability to be operated with a pair of gloves at a surprising level of accuracy. That’s handy for those living in a northern climate, which is also probably why people buy a Subaru. Most of the car’s vital controls, like climate control and audio settings, are operated via the tablet, but Subaru does put at your disposal physical buttons to adjust cabin temperature and volume. It’s a great setup which helps the system remain highly effective. That’s until the software starts lagging annoyingly, revealing its age in the process. Some features, like the furiously intrusive driving aid technology, require you to cycle through a few menus to be turned off. And you’ll need to do this each time you turn the car back on, because the system won’t remember your previous settings.

Cargo And Storage Space: Between A RAV4 And A CR-V

While about the same size as its predecessor, the new Forester does gain a few extra cubic inches of cargo space; 2.7 cu-ft with the rear seats in place, and 5.3 cu-ft when all seats are folded flat. This places the Forester somewhere between a Toyota RAV4 (37.6 cu-ft/69.8 cu-ft) and a Honda CR-V (39.3 cu-ft/76.5 cu-ft).

2025 Subaru Forester Cargo Space

I’m Sure It’ll Continue Selling Strong

So, the 2025 Subaru Forester is a better crossover than before! It’s more comfortable. More spacious. Better put together and quieter inside. It’ll also carry its passengers safely to their next destination no matter how bad the weather gets.

In other words, this new model should allow the Forester nameplate to continue selling strongly. After all, Subaru sold more than 175,000 of these things in the U.S. and Canada last year. I don’t foresee that momentum slowing down. As far as affordable, back-to-basics and go-anywhere crossovers go, a Subaru Forester is a hard one to beat, especially considering that it was recently ranked as one of the IIHS top safety pick winners. It’s what young families on a budget need.

But as far as being a Subaru, i.e. a bit quirky, fun to drive, energetic and a tad marginal, the new Forester no longer fits that description. And that’s a shame, because tame and generic is not what the compact crossover segment needed.