Subaru Forester hybrid 2025 review: Australian first drive

Electric cars are making headlines, but hybrids are all the rage. You only need to look at Toyota, Australia’s biggest new car seller, to see how popular petrol-electric is — its passenger car range has gone fully hybrid.

It’s a trick that Subaru has so far missed. Sure, the fifth-gen Forester and XV both had hybrid systems, but Chasing Cars testing found them to be barely more efficient than petrol-only models in the real world.

Enter the new, sixth-generation Forester. Revealed in North America in November 2023, it’s taken its sweet time to arrive in Australia and still isn’t officially on-sale. We’re told to expect deliveries to start mid-year, so July or August, with pricing also yet to be confirmed.

Chasing Cars was invited to a private test track to sample several pre-production Foresters on tarmac and dirt, including the new Toyota RAV4, Nissan X-Trail, Hyundai Tucson and Haval H6-rivalling hybrid versions.

First impressions are that this is very clearly a Subaru Forester. It may have bulked up with broader arches and body yet this is balanced by a similar boost in overall height. The wheelbase remains identical and length barely increases over the car it replaces, keeping the five-seat Forester a firm mid-size competitor.

The new Forester will be available in four trim levels, starting with the AWD, moving up to Premium, then Sport and finally Touring. We also anticipate the off-road focused Wilderness trim will make an appearance in 2026.

Underneath the Forester is an updated version of the Subaru Global Platform which promises a 10 percent increase in torsional rigidity as well as major suspension revisions.

Technology, including Subaru’s Eyesight safety suite, is improved in the new generation car with a focus on screens where there used to be buttons. If you’ve spent any time in an Outback or Crosstrek, the Forester’s 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen will be instantly familiar.

The touch tablet houses control for HVAC and safety systems as many seem to, but clear attention has been paid to usability with persistent shortcuts for fan speed, seat temperature controls (including ventilation for the first time on top-spec Touring), and safety systems such as lane-keep assist and autonomous emergency braking.

New for the Forester hybrid Sport and above is a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display with three view modes including a map. Subaru’s taken a leaf from VW here and it has paid off.

Materials are also pure Subaru, with coarse graining on plastics and some scratchy surfaces. Worth noting these cars were pre-production Japanese-market vehicles, so this may change before final sale. That said, don’t expect a Mazda-style premium glow-up in the new Forester.

Back seat accommodation remains one of the best in class. Space is ample for three adults while the combination of a generous sunroof, huge windows and stadium second-row seating makes the fishbowl-like Forester feel even bigger than it is.

The boot is big, flat and wide with a low load height. It’s a shame that the Forester hybrid doesn’t have a full-sized spare tyre, especially when the Japanese brand went to such lengths to fit one into its BRZ sports car.

Speaking of, it’s time to get the Forester out of its comfort zone on a twisting private test track. Petrol up first, which uses a 2.5L flat four-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine. Subaru’s staying quiet on outputs for now, but this engine previously made 136kW and 239Nm, so expect similar figures.

It’s no firecracker, but gets the job done with a classic thrashy soundtrack. Subaru says the new Forester’s chain-driven CVT has a wider range, with lower bottom ratio for better off-the-mark acceleration and taller top end for quieter, more efficient motorway cruising.

Most obvious is the Forester’s fresh steering system, borrowed straight from the WRX. Weighting is welcomely heavier than the old Forester, with more natural build-up. Without any big bumps it’s hard to interrogate the Forester’s ride quality but the petrol is definitely on the softer side — especially at the rear.

Time for the hybrid, which we’re told has a different suspension set-up. That much is obvious from the first corner: more heft to the steering and greater support from the front end make for a drive that’s both more athletic and confidence inspiring.

The sort of wide-open-throttle driving done on a track still sees the petrol engine working pretty hard in the 2.5-litre based hybrid system. Taking a slower lap, the Forester can roll in quietude with the engine off down hills, and maintain steady, sub-60km/h speeds without the flat-four jumping in.

The hybrid’s wheel-mounted paddles also select eight ratios, like an old tiptronic, though the effect is more pronounced with regenerative braking increasing in ‘lower’ ratios to feed the Forester’s 1.5kWh battery pack and provide sportier off-throttle deceleration.

The Forester hybrid takes a different approach to rivals like the Toyota RAV4, Nissan X-Trail and Haval H6. All of the Forester’s power sources come before the output shaft, with an 88kW electric motor built into the transmission to boost power — Subaru is staying quiet on peak outputs for now, but in other markets it’s quoted at 145kW.

The Forester’s transmission is a planetary gearset — rather than a chain CVT as in the petrol Forester — with a second electric motor-generator working as a power-splitting device to give the impression of CVT-like power delivery.

One of the main benefits is that outputs can be sent to the central transfer case, and dished out equally to front and rear axles, just like the petrol Forester’s symmetrical all-wheel-drive system.

There seem to be efficiency drawbacks, however. Subaru Australia is, again, staying quiet on fuel consumption figures but has claimed more that 1000km from a fill-up of the fuel tank. We’re expecting better than 6.0L/100km in NEDC figures.

To test the capability of the Forester hybrid, we were sent on a sandy, grassy track with steep inclines and a few rollovers. The sort of terrain you might encounter getting to an out-of-the-way camp site.

There are two distinct off-road settings in Subaru’s X-Mode system. Snow and Dirt is what we found to be most helpful; it softens the throttle response and increases traction control to limit wheelslip. Deep Snow and Mud does the opposite, promoting some spin to help tyres bite down into hard ground beneath slop.

The overwhelming impression in our brief off-road test was how effortless the Forester seemed. The electric motor fills low RPM torque to winch up steep grades and an easy-to-use hill descent control was much appreciated, with no need to faff around pressing buttons.

Finally, the low-speed ride quality over spiky tufts of grass and rocks in the sand was impressive, with little noise from the suspension while it was working away beneath.

We’re still a long way from a full rating for the sixth-gen Forester but initial impressions are very positive. The hybrid system is way better than the powertrain in the car that it replaces, even if it’s not shaping up to be quite as efficient as key rivals.

Don’t expect Forester to make big headlines on release. It’s still a quietly confident achiever with lots of family-friendly space and features. The proof will come in pricing, efficiency and real-world driving performance. If the Sport hybrid can sneak in under $50,000 and live up to the driving experience we had on track, it could be very enticing indeed.