MISSOULA, MT. — When the 2025 Subaru Forester was revealed final 12 months, it was pitched as an all-new mannequin. Besides it actually isn’t. The underlying platform is carried over and the size are nearly similar to the compact crossover it replaces — virtually to the inch. In actual fact, the adjustments are so refined that Subaru is snug promoting the 2024 Forester Wilderness mannequin proper alongside the 2025 for a minimum of the rest of this calendar 12 months.
Regardless of their subtlety, nevertheless, Subaru says there have been sufficient elementary alterations to label the brand new Forester as redesigned. And why not? The identical was true of the current WRX redesign; generally it’s the little issues that make the most important distinction.
Simply what are these little issues? You may learn our preview piece right here, however the gist is that this: The chassis is now assembled with stronger metal and extra structural adhesive, making it stiffer; there’s a brand new steering rack, making it extra responsive and cozy to drive, and there’s refreshed styling inside and outside, together with some small tweaks to obtainable options and packages.
If Subaru’s enhancements are to bear fruit, they’d be detectable in a minimum of one — and ideally all — of three classes: chassis composure, refinement (NVH, particularly) and cabin materials high quality. Happily for us, all three are readily evaluated, particularly because the first two go considerably hand-in-hand.
Our drive route included floor streets and two-lane highways offset by a wholesome chunk of fireplace roads and park trails. If it’s one thing you possibly can drive on in rural (redundant?) Montana, we put tires on it at one level or one other.
On stable pavement, the brand new Forester feels tight and composed. Each street and wind noise are diminished, and the absence of the previous was significantly noticeable on the sometimes damaged pavement of the roads we spent most of our time traversing. We’ll give equal credit score to each the NVH updates and Subaru’s tire choices; each paid dividends. However in case you dwell someplace the place you usually see snowfall, you’ll wish to swap Subaru’s OEM rubber for one thing that bites into the icy stuff a bit higher.
We discovered this firsthand driving the Forester down the aspect of a snow-covered mountain. The AWD system helped preserve issues manageable, however we relied extra on the deep ruts within the ice than the tire tread to maintain us pointed within the desired course. Conveniently, although, this weak point uncovered top-of-the-line upgrades the Forester obtained for this gen: new steering {hardware}.
Subaru made a giant deal about the truth that it ported over the WRX’s dual-pinion steering rack, and it’s comprehensible why. The brand new setup isolates the motive force from kick-back over sharp impacts with out considerably diminishing steering really feel, and eliminates the awkward shimmies and jiggles that had been beforehand induced by potholes and pace bumps — or the ruts and washboarding on these winter-beaten gravel roads.
That is additionally useful given how fast the brand new steering is, particularly within the Forester Sport mannequin. Fast steering and sharp impacts conspire to yank the wheel out of your wrists; Subaru’s updates remove that punishment to nice impact. Excessive fives throughout. The Sport even manages to really feel genuinely taut for one thing that’s by no means going to be pushed in anger.
And that’s an excellent factor, as a result of in case you crave pace, the Forester isn’t for you. The engine is nearly the identical because it was for 2024, albeit with changes to energy supply. The two.5-liter naturally aspirated boxer-four delivers 180 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque for 2025; these are literally downgrades, strictly talking, however we’re speaking single digits. The constantly variable transmission additionally returns with paddle shifters obtainable on principally all the things however the base Forester.
Peak torque now comes on at 3,700 rpm somewhat than method up at 5,400 rpm, which improves drivability however does nothing for final efficiency. Acceleration is clean and completely ample in consequence, however the reward ends there. For extra oomph, we’ll have to attend a 12 months for Subaru’s new hybrid; a hypothetical return of the turbo stays a non-starter. Demand merely isn’t there.
If we’ve any main gripe with the redesign, it’s that including Subaru’s five-year-old, portrait-oriented touchscreen isn’t a lot of an improve contemplating the system is mid-pack at finest. The show decision is respectable and there’s loads of tech behind the polish, however response instances are middling and the perma-docked choices on the backside make for a crowded residence display screen. To Subaru’s credit score, many of the usually used features are included in that jumble, however some easy actions require further steps. Enabling local weather management recirculation requires navigating to the local weather management web page, for instance. Once I scent skunk, I wish to hit a button and make it go away, not hunt by choices whereas the ammonia burns my nostrils.
Taking a step again, there are two excellent gadgets for the 2025 Forester workforce to handle: the hybrid and the Wilderness mannequin. The previous is due subsequent spring, whereas the latter stays up within the air (we heard hints on the L.A. Auto Present that this coming fall is feasible for a reveal). The 2024 Wilderness must do in the interim, however having performed round with the 2025’s new steering rack, we will confidently say that the improve is price ready for until it’s good to purchase a knobby-tired Forester proper freakin’ now.
As for the remainder of the 2025 Forester? Effectively, in each method that issues, you possibly can count on extra of the identical. The cargo space is nominally bigger, although we count on it is going to be functionally the identical (It was already an overachiever, in order that’s superb). It’s not appreciably faster or slower, heavier or lighter, smaller or bigger. And why ought to or not it’s? It sells reliably simply the way in which it’s, and Subaru enjoys class-leading or extremely aggressive metrics just about throughout the board (with the evident exception of horsepower).
The 2025 Subaru Forester is an incremental evolution of a solidly aggressive automobile. When you already personal a present Forester, relaxation assured that you simply’re not lacking out on a lot, however these available in the market for a brand new mannequin can relaxation assured that FOMO gained’t issue into the choice. There’s nothing the 2024 mannequin does higher than the ’25 except for Wilderness, and Subaru’s obtained that lined.
