2025 Subaru Forester Sport: The Emotional Choice

Whether or not Taylor Swift’s music is to your taste, her ability to win the hearts of young girls en masse is remarkable. Her ascent to the top echelon of pop music came less from technical brilliance than a masterful understanding of her target audience and her ability to package that message in a compelling way. Subaru has followed a similar trajectory, albeit at a different scale, since ad agency Carmichael Lynch debuted its “Love” campaign in 2007. The Japanese automaker knows what it is about and presents its identity effectively: Subarus are thought of as no-nonsense vehicles that appeal both to the head and the heart. But while Swift’s consistency enabled her to genre-hop to the top, Subaru’s latest offering deviates from the script. In a highly competitive segment, the 2025 Forester feels off-key.

To its credit, Subaru has made two welcome changes. The big news for the seventh-gen Forester is the addition of a hybrid model, which debuted in February, and the relocation of production from Japan to the United States. Beginning this fall, Outback production will move to Japan, and assembly of the 2025 model-year Forester will move to Subaru of Indiana Automotive. Located an hour northwest of Indianapolis, the plant opened in 1989 and currently builds the Ascent, Outback, Crosstrek, and Legacy. Production of the hybrid Forester won’t come stateside until the 2026 model year, when it should begin to roll off the line in spring.

As for the non-hybrid Forester, reviewed here, the driveline is nearly the same as before—a gravelly 2.5-liter boxer-four backed by a CVT and an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch that splits power 60/40, front/rear, in normal conditions. The car is only half an inch wider and longer than its predecessor. The basic architecture remains the Subaru Global Platform. Ground clearance and suspension format carry over, as does tow rating (1500 pounds, except the Wilderness). The trims have the same names and order: base, Premium, Sport, Limited, and Touring. (The Forester Wilderness is a carry-over model; the new-gen Forester Wilderness debuted alongside the 2025 Forester Hybrid but won’t appear until the 2026 model year.) What is changed: wireless CarPlay is now available, the styling has gone from rugged to try-hard, and the huge, slanted 11.6-inch touchscreen is now present in all but the base model. For those changes, Subaru is charging $3100 more than it did for the 2024 model.

We tested a Sport model, which is the Goldilocks trim, at least on paper. It stickers at $35,915 and is distinguished by bronze accents, most obviously a set of metallic-finish 19-inch wheels. Springing for the Sport gets you a heated steering wheel, the lower-profile roof rails, two “X-Mode” functions (lower trims get only one), Hill Descent Control, blind-spot detection with lane-change assist, and rear cross-traffic alert. Our $37,756 tester also had the single available option package ($1700): an 11-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, Power Rear Gate with Hands-Free Foot Activation Sensor, reverse automatic braking, and “SI-Drive,” which enables Intelligent (i) and Sport Sharp (S#) mode. Our car also had rubber floor mats—whether or not you buy them from Subaru, these are a must-have.

To our eyes, the Forester is only getting uglier. Its days as a handsome, boxy wagon are long gone, and the new design seeks to set itself apart amidst a horde of compact SUVs (led by the RAV4, whose 475,193 sales in 2024 made it the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. that isn’t a truck). We aren’t above appreciating some bronze accents, but they don’t redeem the awkward, enlarged grille, overwrought fender flares, and top-heavy proportions. Subaru has at least tried to make some of the plastic bits more interesting, with tessellated or topographical textures, but it may have finally discovered how much plastic cladding is too much.

Specs: 2025 Subaru Forester Sport

• Price: $35,915/$37,756 (base/as-tested)
• Powertrain: 2.5-liter, DOHC horizontally opposed four-cylinder, CVT
• Output: 180 hp @ 5800 rpm, 178 lb-ft at 3700 rpm
• Layout: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, four-door crossover
• EPA-Rated Fuel Economy (city/highway/combined): 25/32/28
• Competitors: Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Mazda CX-50, Ford Bronco Sport, Chevrolet Equinox
• Curb Weight: 3611 pounds

The Forester is huge, with a massive greenhouse that taller buyers will surely welcome. So will anyone who wants a high driving position and panoramic visibility—and, let’s face it, this is true for most SUV buyers. Apart from a redesigned dash pad on the passenger side, the interior is nearly copy-and-paste from the 2024 model: Analog gauges sandwich a small screen behind the steering wheel, a chunky shifter juts from the center console, black plastic abounds, and the 11.6-inch touchscreen looks nicely integrated into the dash (its rake, however, proves problematic when it comes to glare). One advantage of the Sport is the upholstery material: StarTex, a nifty, water-resistant synthetic material that’s easy to clean up.

The driving experience is a mixed bag. The ride is comfortable and on the soft side. Steering feel is isolated, though that’s par for this segment. The driveline is familiar Subaru—jumpy throttle response, raspy engine noise, joyless continuously variable transmission (CVT). Depending on your tastes, you’ll either embrace those characteristics as part of Subaru’s rugged vibe or find them unrefined. Despite the otherwise comfortable ride, the 19-inch wheels still allow harsh bumps to invade the cabin, both in feel and in sound. Subaru’s “advanced” adaptive cruise control is a bit of a misnomer—it isn’t built to handle stop-and-go traffic, and even in normal, at-speed scenarios, the safety-focused system can be more distracting to monitor than simply doing everything yourself. On the highways between Detroit and Ann Arbor, the lane-centering liked to cheat to the right, and (in totally dry conditions) didn’t always spot when we were drifting over the lane lines. Not confidence-inspiring.

Our main gripe with the new Forester is the infotainment screen. The response is laggy and the graphics are dated. Not only is the display leaned back in the dash, making it vulnerable to glare, but the display is weak enough that is frequently washes out—on a beautiful spring day, with the windows down, the glare was so bad that I had to keep the sun shade pulled to discern navigation directions off CarPlay. Multiple times, the touchscreen didn’t register the first poke of a finger. Yes, you’ve got a bigger view of CarPlay — but because the analog controls for fan speed, fan direction, and heated seats are now digital and arranged at the bottom of the screen, the display is frustratingly crowded. You always have to look before you adjust something. Physical buttons for adjusting temperature remain, but they’re nearly flush with the frame of the touchscreen—again, you have to glance. There’s no convenient place around the screen to brace your pointer finger with your thumb, or vice versa, so making any adjustments on the move, especially over uneven pavement, is an uncertain exercise. The premium stereo, which now boasts an extra two speakers, sounds hollow and tinny. Combine that with the skittish driver-assist features, and a commute on familiar highways can become stressful.

The Sport would be a fine deal if the higher-tech add-ons weren’t so lackluster. The screen is the deciding factor; we’d buy a 2024 higher-trim model and avoid it entirely. Even if you don’t mind the new styling or the giant screen, the Sport may not be the best place to put your dollars. You can save $2720 by choosing the Premium trim. Though it’s the next rung down, you still get wireless charging and wireless CarPlay, power windows, a moonroof, and LED foglights—plus the basic Forester virtues of full-time all-wheel-drive and cavernous interior space. You get more usable roof rails, and ride quality will improve with the smaller (17-inch) wheels and taller (60- vs. 50-section) sidewalls. Heated exterior mirrors, heated front seats, windshield wiper de-icer—all the cold-weather niceties—are included, too.

A base or Premium Forester makes sense: tons of space for stuff, people, or dogs, full-time AWD, all for under $35,000. But for someone who wants as refined a vehicle as they can get for that money, there exist a wealth of other options. Many other compact SUVs are easier on the eyes—the Mazda CX-5 in particular is pretty—and almost all are available with AWD. If made-in-America is a priority for you, there’s the perennial favorite, the CR-V (Indiana) or the CX-50 (Alabama). If you want off-road-cute gone retro, executed with refreshing simplicity, the Bronco Sport is an excellent option. Subaru advertises its cars as highly rated by the IIHS for safety—and they are—but other SUVs are even rated higher: The Forester is a 2025 Top Safety Pick, along with the RAV4 and Nissan Rogue, but the Hyundai Tuscon and Mazda CX-50 score even higher (2025 Top Safety Pick +). For our $35,000-odd dollars, we’d take the Mazda.

You have to hand it to Subaru—the Forester has had a genuine following for years, built on the capable, steady previous generations and a well-presented identity. The first few months of sales figures indicate that the new Forester has broad appeal, too. However, as the competition raises the standard for intuitive infotainment, premium amenities, and elegant styling, the new Forester lags behind. It remains to be seen whether the traditional Subaru virtues—spaciousness, AWD, and rugged persona—will be enough to guarantee the Forester’s success. That combination may be enough to keep the loyalists happy. If Subaru did something bad with the 2025 Forester, its fans might say along with Taylor Swift, why’s it feel so good?

2025 Subaru Forester Sport

Highs: Spaciousness, water-resistant upholstery, cushy ride.

Lows: Tinny stereo, garish and frustrating infotainment system.

Takeaway: Rough around the edges, the 2025 Forester appeals more to heart than head.