Video: 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid Review: The Same, but Different

And well, I mean what really is there to explain? It's a Forester Hybrid. You get the concept, it's a little bit more powerful, it's a little bit more efficient. Alright, let's get into it. Let's talk about it. Let's get out there and drive. Now for the most part, everything you see well out here is gonna be the same as you're gonna find on the all gas, non-hybrid, non-wilderness standard Sixth Generation Subaru Forester with of course the exception of this requisite hybrid badging scattered around the exterior and on the floor mats. And there's a few additional colored exterior trim pieces that are unique to The Hybrid, but for the most part, that means I am focusing on what's under here. And there it is. The all new for Subaru Hybrid drivetrain. Now at the core of this is a naturally aspirated 2.5 liter flat fork, good for by itself for 162 horsepower and 154 pounds feet of torque. Add the two electric motors into the mix and that power figure rises to a mostly respectable 194 horsepower, which at its core, at the very least is good for getting out of its own way. But those electric motors alongside the 1.1 kilowatt hour battery pack are not there necessarily for performance but for boost in fuel efficiency. And in that regard, oh not bad. 35 miles per gallon city and 34 miles per gallon highway makes for 35 miles per gallon combined a significant improvement over the standard all gas Forester with its 26 miles per gallon city, 33 miles per gallon highway and 29 miles per gallon combined. Yeah, that's a big boost. And this all adds up to a cruising range, just shy of around 600 miles per tank. Talk about long legs. Solid figures, but unfortunately not quite enough to dethrone the eternal Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. That Eco Beast is rated to 41 miles per gallon city and 38 miles per gallon highway, all while upping power to a combined 219 horsepower. However, the secret or well the dirty secret, as to why the Forester Hybrid's combined MPG is, well it's just pretty good and not amazing is that it retains the use of Subaru's signature and mechanical symmetrical all-wheel drive system as compared to, well like some of the competitors like Toyota that relies on an e-all-wheel drive system that incorporates an electric motor in the rear that only steps in when it detects slippage. Now the benefit of having the mechanical system is that with all these gears, and I mean the clutches and differentials, it can send power every which way that it wants in any kind of nasty situation that you might get into. And because of this, in my experience and what I've seen, I do believe that these symmetrical all-wheel drive Subarus are just that much more capable out of the box for off-road applications. I do not believe, honestly, even the wilderness off-road, the off-road oriented wilderness Subarus, I do not believe these are in any way, shape, or form comparable or even competition for something like a Jeep or a Land Cruiser. But if you go on snow, you go on some of these fire roads like you've been seeing us go on, these are quite capable. They have impressive ground clearance in addition to all-wheel drive systems. Unlike most hybrids, the floor has not been raised, I mean lowered, still has 8.7 inches of ground clearance, which is more than, in some configurations of a base Ford F-150. That's pretty great. It's got relatively impressive approach, departure, and breakover angles and all that in concert with the standard Dual Mode X-MODE makes this kind of a pretty capable vehicle as you're gonna notice as we're driving around out here. Subaru Forester Hybrid, a vehicle that a lot of people have been waiting for for quite a long time. Now we've had a Crosstrek Hybrid previously, and we're getting a new Crosstrek Hybrid for the next model year. But for now for 2025, the Forester Hybrid is going to be the volume hybrid model for Subaru. Immediately this drives, feels, sounds, smells like a Subaru in that the powertrain is not immediately recognizable as a hybrid drivetrain for better or for worse. I, for one like that, it feels quite conventional in that you don't always immediately notice the electric motor even at low speeds. Now the benefits of that is there's not a whole lot of noticeable handoff between the drivetrain components. And what I mean by that is sometimes some parallel hybrid systems can be a bit clunky. Now obviously the benefits of the hybrid are still baked in. You've got improved fuel economy and efficiency over the standard gas Forester. Now there are definitely moments where the gas engine kicks off, and you're just propelled by the electric motor, but for the most part sights and sounds like a regular Forester, especially cruising at highway speeds. You're really not gonna notice too much of a difference. But that's great. I already like the way that most modern Subarus drive and I know a lot of customers do as well. And with that added fuel efficiency, you can also get a little bit extra power. So 194 horsepower, we don't know the combined torque 'cause there's no standardized way to combine to come up with a combined torque figure. But 194 horsepower is what we know, and it's pretty good, you know, short of the WRX and the turbocharged engines available in the Ascent and the Outback, these naturally aspirated, even when hybridized Flat Four Subaru engines are not necessarily the biggest powerhouses and performance is not always top of the segment. But that has never ever been a priority for Subaru. And that's all right folks who buy these cars, whether hybrid or not, they know what they're getting. Nobody's surprised. And for the most part, power and acceleration and passing is above acceptable. You know, unlike the plugin hybrids in this segment, which reminder this is not, this is a standard non plugin parallel hybrid, in those plugins, you can usually really feel the instant electric torque kick in when you're accelerating. Going back not the case with this, the hybrid aspect of this motor is, or this powertrain isn't really at the forefront of the driving experience. Subaru folks definitely seek out familiarity. They don't necessarily seek out conventional experiences. Now one of the big things with Subaru's Flat Four, especially the natural aspirated motors and their continuously variable transmissions is they can be a bit thrashy and harsh when you really set in for some sustained acceleration. You get some of the thrash here, some of the drone when you're really getting on it. But for the most part when driving around normal day to day, totally fine. Not too loud. Again, honestly, it's really not hybrid quiet, but at highway speeds, I don't know a lot of hybrids in this segment that are hybrid quiet, like you would get in a low speed environment. See right here, obviously flooring it. (car vrooming) Highway speed's alrighty, that wasn't that good, but it was fine. (car vrooming) No problem merging whatsoever. So acceleration, fine, efficiency, pretty good, noise levels, not too bad. Other driver inputs, okay, well I hate to keep saying it, but if you have had any experience in a modern Subaru and especially the current generation forester, most part everything feels very similar. So, well I hate to keep saying it, but other than the extra heft from the hybrid powertrain dynamically, this feels very, very similar to a standard all gas Forester. So you have the same light steering, you have the same above average handling I would say. This is by no stretch of imagination, a fun vehicle. It's not designed to be, but it certainly doesn't fall on its face when you point it down some country roads, as we were on earlier. Ride quality I would say as is usually the case with Subaru, above average. Usually I'm pretty impressed with the ride quality. You really can feel the extra weight with the hybrid I will say, especially when over with some body motions over some craggy sections, but still impressed. Now the biggest hybrid tell you're gonna get when you get into the Forester Hybrid is the extra bit of regenerative braking built into the brake pedal, meaning there's that little extra dead space, I would say, when applying the brake pedal that is pure regen for the electric motor. Now because this is not a plugin hybrid, there is not a whole lot really or any noticeable electric regen when driving in regular scenarios. You can of course use these paddles for simulated CVT shifting to use engine braking that also does charge the battery, but it's nominal. These days, the brake balance between regen braking and the actual physical brakes, it's getting pretty impressive. And I do like the tuning on this brake pedal. It's if you're not used to driving brakes with added regen function on them, there's not too much herky-jerkiness. You'll be able to figure out smooth application of the brakes in no time. Basically there's a low learning curve with becoming smooth with this brake pedal. Now we have talked quite a bit about the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid with in a review about a Subaru Forester Hybrid with no Toyota RAV4 to be seen. So let's keep on that thread and talk about pricing. The 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid at its baseline will cost you no less than $36,415 and that puts it at roughly $2,000 more than a base RAV4 Hybrid, which is also all wheel drive. And I do think that customers looking at both cars, if they're not already existing Subaru customers or fans and they're just looking at the pure data, looking at the pricing, I think that $2,000, roughly $2,000 difference, plus the RAV4's noticeably improved efficiency over the Forester, there might be decent amount of push towards the RAV4. However, Subarus are so rarely a numbers game. And once a Subaru fan, always a Subaru fan, you've got a huge fiercely loyal baked in fan base to this car back here. And I do believe, as I've demonstrated that there are a number of things that the Forester Hybrid does better than the competition. But of course for my full thoughts and reviews, you gotta go to cars.com/news.