Subaru Forester (2025) Review

The Forester is designed around the driver seeing out, and that alone puts it ahead of most modern cars. The glass is tall, the pillars are thin, the bonnet drops away and parking it is trivial, which matters far more day to day than a tenth of a second to sixty. The boxy body means a genuinely useful load bay and a rear seat that adults fit into without negotiation. Standard symmetrical all wheel drive and eight and a half inches of clearance make it quietly capable on a rough track or in deep snow.

Safety scores are at the top of the class. The engine is where you pay. The 2.5 litre flat four makes 180 horsepower, sounds strained under load and the continuously variable transmission drones through every hill climb, so overtaking requires planning. Interior materials are ordinary and the design is functional rather than pleasant. Against that, reliability records are strong, servicing is inexpensive, and used demand keeps residual values among the best in the segment. Nobody buys a Forester for the drive. Almost everybody who buys one buys another.