Subaru Forester review

From £37,995

Subaru's Forester enters its sixth generation with this revised model that'll go on UK sale in spring 2025.

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The Subaru Forester enters its sixth generation next spring with this revised model, mostly picking up where the old one will leave off once current stocks run dry. As we write in October 2024, you can still get into a current Forester, but they won't last forever.

Buyers, and there are lots of them who buy Forester upon Forester, like the “safety, durability and capability” of the current car and its predecessors, Subaru says. Those are “rather unsexy” characteristics and owners are “not exactly young”, it admits, but the cars are nothing if not dependable. Of the 1.6 million Subaru has sold in America in the past 10 years, Subaru says 1.5 million are still on the road.

This new model, then, aims to deliver the same, but better: a relatively rugged crossover that rivals the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, while being one of the most dependable and durable cars on sale.

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DESIGN & STYLING

Subaru Forester 2024 review frt tracking 8

The new Forester is built on the Subaru Global Platform, which owing to details like using 27 metres of structural adhesive instead of 8m, is lighter than its predecessor and 10% more torsionally rigid.

It’s a little bigger, too, though at 4.67m long (+30mm) and 1.83m wide (+15mm), it's still in a comfortable realm, even for those who drive on narrow British lanes. It’s the same 1.73m tall and retains the current model’s 220mm ground clearance, considered essential given 84% of Forester buyers live rurally.

Other consistent Forester staples remain too, like compact A-pillars and a big glass area, which has front and rear quarterlights, and whose shoulder line drops significantly between them, too, to make it feel airy inside, and to make it easier for the driver to judge when they're about to hit a gatepost or dry stone wall.

Call me unsexy – you wouldn’t be the first – but I like that kind of sensibility.

INTERIOR

The new Forester has really good visibility, owing to a large glass area, narrow pillars and a soft-roadery seat height and relatively upright driving position that the Forester was one of the first to adopt.

Being relatively upright leaves plenty of rear seat room and a decent boot, too.

Material quality is fine - nothing poor, nothing outstanding. Perhaps the most notable difference between previous Foresters and this one is a big upright touchscreen, which brings the car more into line with its competitors, and the industry in general, in featuring a more digital interface.

But temperature buttons are still separate, as are most other key driving features, and the on-screen icons are big. It's all of that straightforward unexciting stuff again, which to our minds is no bad thing. 

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

The Forester's powertrain is a trusted unit familiar to Subaru owners, being an ‘e-boxer’ setup as per the previous model. It features a 2.0-litre flat-four cylinder petrol engine with a mild-hybrid boost from a 16bhp electric motor, a seven-speed automatic gearbox, and full-time four-wheel drive.

Legislation-driven tweaks have actually reduced power from the previous Forester, from 148bhp to 134bhp, leaving the car with a 12.2sec 0-62mph time.

But with 134lb ft from the petrol engine and 47lb ft (though not necessarily at the same time) from the motor chipping in, the towing limit remains at 1870kg.

It's a relatively refined setup, quiet and as smooth as a boxer engine ever is - there isn't the famous warble you'd find in sporty Subarus of old.

The gearshift is slick too, but it's also worth noting that our drive was limited to a few laps of a test track's handling circuit and an off-road loop, so not as revealing as a full road drive will be. But on this evidence it's easy to rub along with.

RIDE & HANDLING

From our limited first drive I can tell you that the Forester's steering is very linear, smooth and slick, the ride seems pliant, noise is calm and there’s a pleasing degree of roll to lean against in corners.

There used to be a sporty Forester that was great fun to drive then and which would probably be more so if launched now.

This new cooking model isn’t trying to be remotely sporty, but it does have a chilled but capable blend of characteristics.

Off-road it’s genuinely good too: it wouldn’t challenge the hardest Jeeps or pickups, but stick a decent set of tyres on it and it’ll manage a rural British winter. 

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

subaru forester 2024 review frt corner 2

At the time of writing prices are still to be announced, but we'd expect the Forester to go on sale from approximately £40,000.

With very little electrification, the fuel economy of the Forester is of the not-brilliant 34.9mpg territory, which means a Forester is more likely a private than company car, because the benefit-in-kind costs would be startling.

But that's probably fine for most prospective owners. It sells in rural areas to private owners who typically keep their cars a bit longer than is the industry normal, and reliability and quality and dependability are the aspects that a lot of those owners look out for.

VERDICT

The Forester has always been a likeable, honest car with a good blend of on-road dynamics and some genuine off-road potential. And it remains just that.

It talks to the kind of people that frequently use those capabilities, too. The car's not like, dare I say it, a Volkswagen Tiguan, as likely to be bought for its design and found on an urban housing estate, as for its tallness.

Subaru buyers live in the wilds and use cars out there, where it's staid looks come secondary to the visibility, permanent four-wheel drive, and durability.

It’s no surprise they’re popular in the sticks of north America and Australia or Scotland where conditions favour a tall 4wd estate that’ll get one out of trouble.

There's more to come on the Forester, but from our early drive, it's still a likeable car.

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes. 

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