2025 Subaru Forester: 3 Things I Like About the Subaru Forester and 3 Things I Don’t

The 2025 Subaru Forester features an all-new design for its sixth generation. In typical Subaru fashion, the changes appear more evolutionary than revolutionary. Most of the Forester's safety, refinement, and powertrain updates are only subtly felt behind the wheel. While you can see Road Test Editor Dan Ilika’s full review and video here, here’s a further breakdown of three things I like about the Forester, as well as three things it could do without.

3 Things I Like

Safety

Front seat passengers get a new style of airbag that wraps around the occupant’s head, offering better protection in the event of a collision. There’s also a new centre airbag in between the front seats, which can reduce injuries between occupants or other interior objects. The 2025 Forester received a five-star crash test rating from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a Top Safety Pick honour from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Top Safety Pick distinction was awarded despite recently updated, more stringent testing requirements. 

In terms of advanced driver assistance systems, the latest version of Subaru’s EyeSight brings improvements to automatic collision avoidance measures, including pedestrian detection and rear cross-traffic alerts. The system can provide gentle steering assist to help prevent impending collisions, and on higher Limited and Premier trim levels, the DriverFocus feature keeps track of driver attention levels with audible reminders to keep eyes on the road.

Improved Refinement

Increased use of high-strength adhesives in the chassis has improved structural rigidity, bringing improvements to both refinement and the overall safety structure. The added strength and reduced flex allow the Forester to make better use of its suspension, resulting in less bouncing on rough roads. Its highway ride is smoother and quieter, and handling has improved, too. 

Perfect Practicality

As far as compact crossovers go, the 2025 Subaru Forester does great for overall practicality. The external dimensions are perfect in tight urban settings, with excellent visibility and enough space for families of four (and seating capacity for five). Car seat installation is a breeze, and each of the doors can open up extra wide for easy ingress and egress. It’s the kind of vehicle that seamlessly blends into everyday life without being completely anonymous.

Subaru also offers a wide range of accessories for outdoor recreation. The brand has provided an assortment of all-weather protection and cargo organizers that can be purchased at a dealer, and equipment for activities like cycling, camping, kayaking, and canoeing are all well-represented. 

3 Things I Dislike

Oddball Infotainment

Subaru's 11.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system has slowly improved over the years, but it is still relatively cumbersome and laggy. The vehicle drive mode, climate control, and heated seat functions are accessible only through the screen and operating them requires attention away from the road. Thankfully, hard buttons or knobs are available for volume, temperature control, rear defroster, and the heated steering wheel.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard equipment on all but the base trim (and the Wilderness, which is still based on the old 2024 model), but we found there to be some CarPlay pairing issues with two different iPhones after shutting off the car for a short period (about as long as going into a store for a quick errand). 

Glossy Piano Black Interior Bezels

There's still some gloss piano black in the 2025 Forester, but Subaru has toned it down somewhat. It’s most evident surrounding the shifter and infotainment screens, and it stays clean and shiny for about seven seconds after being wiped down. It attracts dust and fingerprints like nobody’s business, and continuous wiping will introduce fine scratches over time – even our test vehicle showed some fine scratches after only a few thousand kilometres on the odometer.

Modest Power Output; Engine Still Noisy

Even with the refinement improvements to the 2.5L four-cylinder boxer engine, overall power output is still lower than ideal. With only 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque (and a curb weight north of 1,600 kg), merging and passing takes plenty of mashing down on the throttle pedal. Fortunately, the upcoming Forester Hybrid bumps horsepower up to 194, which should help.

While the updated engine and transmission now stay closer to a less frantic 2,000 rpm in most driving, revving it out to 3,000 rpm or more still brings out the classic coarse soundtrack of the boxer engine. It's smoother and quieter than ever, but it's louder than four-cylinder engines from rivals like the Honda CR-V or Mazda CX-5.

Final Thoughts

The 2025 Subaru Forester is the latest iteration of the same tried-and-true formula dating back to the first-generation model in 1998. It’s a safe and comfortable compact crossover that strikes a great balance between size and practicality, and the standard full-time all-wheel drive is as good as it’s ever been. With prices landing between $36,170 for the base Convenience to $50,674 for the e-BOXER Hybrid Premier (including destination charge and regulatory fees), it's competitively priced against its peers. I rank it as one of my top choices in its class due to the cohesive way it blends together its usability, driving experience, value, and just plain old getting the job done.