2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid and 2026 Forester Wilderness First Looks: Frugal or Off-Road Fun

The Forester has long needed a hybrid option

Transcript

00:00If you're going to compete in the compact SUV space, you'd better bring a hybrid into the mix.

00:05And it looks like the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid finally got the memo.

00:14It's a 2.5 liter four-cylinder boxer setup that uses an electric motor to produce a combined

00:19claimed output of 194 horsepower, which is more than the 180 horsepower you get in the regular

00:26Forester. If the lack of power was something you didn't like about this car, then here's your

00:32solution. The added instant electric torque should help with acceleration, as well as provide extra

00:37low-end power to use out on the trails. Hybrid power also means better fuel economy. Subaru

00:45hasn't yet published the official numbers, but it claims the hybrid will return a 40 and 25 percent

00:51increase in city and combined fuel economy, respectively, over the non-hybrid. In that case,

00:57some quick math puts the Forester Hybrid's combined mpg somewhere across 36 across the board.

01:04By comparison, the non-hybrid gets 26 miles per gallon in the city, 33 on the highway, and 29

01:11combined. Just note that the Forester Hybrid's 1.1 kilowatt hour battery is actually too small to do

01:17any all-electric driving with, so don't go into this expecting that. We don't know where Subaru

01:23packaged this battery, but we're willing to bet it's under the cargo floor, seeing as the hybrid

01:28car has 1.9 less cubic feet of trunk space than the non-hybrid. It's a pretty negligible amount,

01:35though. The hybrid will probably be offered as one of the Forester's higher trim models and will be

01:40equipped as such. A 12.3 inch digital instrument cluster is standard, which is actually larger than

01:47the 11.6 inch infotainment screen, and you can display Apple Maps right in the cluster.

01:54Additionally, there's also the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness. This new one recognizes

02:00what a great idea the old one was, and so doesn't really change much. Here are the updates. An

02:06upgraded transmission cooler that not only increases the towing capacity from 3,000 pounds to

02:133,500 pounds, but should also help keep temperatures down during serious off-roading. Plus, there's an

02:19added temperature sensor on the rear differential so you know when to take a break. Courtesy of

02:25longer shocks and springs, the ground clearance is now 9.3 inches up from 9.2. The all-terrain

02:32tires are the same, but are now 235 width instead of 225. The Wilderness uses the same 180 horsepower

02:402.5 liter four-cylinder boxer engine as the normal Forester. We don't yet know if there

02:46will be a hybrid Forester Wilderness, though that would be cool. The rest is typical Wilderness fare

02:52with trim-exclusive body cladding, hexagonal LED fog lights, copper-colored accents, and Wilderness

02:59specific graphics. No official EPA fuel economy ratings or pricing have been announced, but just

03:06guessing, we'd estimate the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid to start at around $35,000, and the 2026

03:15Subaru Forester Wilderness, which won't be available until the fall, to start at around $37,000.

03:22For more on both cars, check out MotorTrend.com.