The Subaru Forester is a compact crossover SUV that’s been around since 1997 and is still rather popular today. It was one of the top 25 best-selling vehicles in the country in 2023 and has a good chance of climbing the ranks in 2024, thanks to a 2025 model that’s kicking off a new generation with a host of new styling, tech features, and performance upgrades.
Whether you’re looking to find a Subaru Forester for sale or just like to keep track of the auto industry as it evolves from year to year, join us as we dig into those changes and understand what they mean for future Forester drivers. Without further ado, let’s find out what’s new for 2025…
Trims
As the Forester enters its sixth generation, it has retained essentially the same trim lineup, minus one. The Base, Premium, Sport, Limited, and Touring trims shall all benefit from the updates being made for the 2025 model year. The more rugged Wilderness trim doesn’t appear to be carrying over from the 2024 model year, however, so that’s a bit disappointing for our outdoorsy friends—for now, at least, as I imagine Subaru will supplement the loss of the Wilderness down the line. The starting price for every trim has gone up somewhat, too, by roughly $2,000 for each one.
Style
On the outside, the new Forester looks strikingly different from the outgoing model. While it still screams “rugged,” it has a sleeker shape and a more modern look. On the inside, there are newly sculpted seats that have thick bolsters for extra support, and the contoured dashboard looks soft and inviting. Several accents keep real-life messiness in mind and have textures and colors that easily hide scuffs and scratches from camping gear, pets, and everyday wear and tear.
Power
The 2024 Forester was already known for delivering a sturdy ride, so the 2025 model leans into this and makes it even stronger with a few well-placed tweaks. The SUV’s chassis has been altered so that it’s 10% stiffer than what you’ll find on the outgoing model, which makes the new Forester more responsive for better handling both on- and off-road. One of the trade-offs for improved ride quality was a decrease in capability, so the Forester has gone from a 3,000-lb towing capacity in 2024 to a 1,500-lb towing capacity today.
The engine has also been re-tuned, though it’s pretty similar to what it used to be. It’s still a 4-cylinder engine that was built more for fuel economy than for thrills; the power output lessened from 182 hp to an even 180 hp, but it makes up for that by raising the torque from 176 lb-ft to 178 lb-ft. You’ll also reach peak torque at lower speeds on the new model, which will come in handy when you’re navigating cramped paths, especially dirt or gravel roads.
Cabin
The upgraded smooth ride is complemented by changes made to the inside of the cabin. While the outgoing model could get a bit noisy at high speeds, the new one has both visible and hidden changes that work together to reduce noise by 39%. Consumer Reports calls the 2025 Forester’s cabin “considerably more substantial and refined.” While the changes to the welding and addition of more structural adhesives will go unnoticed by passengers, the additional sound-absorbing materials in the cabin mean more soft-touch surfaces that look and feel great, in addition to blocking out unwanted sounds.
Cargo
Loading cargo into the back of an SUV can be tricky. Many drivers have been in a situation where grabbing the handle and opening the liftgate is awkward or difficult because their hands are full. While a hands-free power liftgate is by no means a revolutionary feature in the year 2024, it’s still an addition worth celebrating.
The Forester’s hands-free power rear gate lets you access the cargo area with a kick of your foot and can be programmed to stop at a particular height so it doesn’t end up out of reach. This feature is optional on the Premium and Sport trims and standard on the Limited and Touring trims. Power gate or not, the cargo area is improved across the lineup thanks to the Forester’s new dimensions. The 2025 model is slightly longer and slightly wider than the 2024 model, which affords it an extra 0.7 cu.ft. of cargo volume, making it that much easier to fit everything inside the vehicle.
Tech
Would it be a new generation of a modern vehicle without some upgrades to the onboard tech? We hardly think so. The Forester is keeping in line with the wider trend of ever-larger touchscreens, which makes sense since larger screens make controls easier to operate and camera views easy to take in at a glance.
The 2024 model has a standard 6.5-inch display and a larger 8.0-inch version that’s optional on the Sport and standard on the Limited and Touring. The 2025 model makes the screen on the Base only slightly bigger (now a full seven inches) but brings the upgrade option all the way up to 11.6 inches and makes it standard on every trim except for the Base. Trims with the larger screen also get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto—a new feature for the Forester—while drivers of the Base will still have the wired versions of these tools.
Safety
Advanced driver assistance technology won’t be advanced for long if it’s not periodically updated, so automakers who are dedicated to safety are always working to improve these features. For the 2025 Forester, the latest generation of Subaru’s EyeSight driver assistance suite comes standard across all trims. This system now has a wider field of view, so it can detect more dangers and detect them sooner; it also has a new electric brake booster to improve automatic emergency braking.
There’s also a brand-new feature called Emergency Stop Assist that’s part of the Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control feature (also standard across all trims). Since adaptive cruise control is not self-driving on the Forester (or on any model by any automaker), it can be dangerous if you have a medical emergency behind the wheel while adaptive cruise control is active; to mitigate the danger, Emergency Stop Assist will bring the 2025 Forester to a stop, activate the hazard lights to warn vehicles behind you, and unlock the doors so first responders can reach you.
The New Forester Plays to Well-Established Strengths
Since the 2024 Forester was already a popular model, Subaru didn’t want to “move fast and break things” with this new generation. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Subaru decided to focus on the things that already made this model stand out from the crowd, making its strengths even stronger. Changes to the powertrain and cabin improve the Forester’s comfortable ride, the updated EyeSight suite bolsters its reputation for safety, and its outdoorsy look and feel are heightened with its new styling.
Since the Forester already has plenty of fans, it makes sense to give those customers more of what they want—to incentivize them to stick with Subaru when it comes time to shop for their next vehicle. The 2025 Forester shines in all the areas a compact SUV ought to.
