2026 SUBARU FORESTER WILDERNESS – PIECE ON EARTH

2026 SUBARU FORESTER WILDERNESS

PIECE ON EARTH

Santa Clarita, CA – It is, at this point, a genuine ‘thing’. Imbuing what have traditionally been regarded as ‘soft-roaders’ with some semblance of off-road capability is spreading like….well, a California wildfire. From Honda to Hyundai, the OEMs are taking their car-based grocery-getters and lifting the suspensions, providing – in some instances – chassis protection, and exchanging the all-season rubber for all-terrain knobbies. Given that the all-wheel drive platforms of Subaru provide a natural base for these upgrades, you’d assume Subaru’s product team is on it – and you’d have assumed correctly. The latest variant of this new construct: Subaru’s Forester Wilderness.

The Forester is Subaru’s entry in the CR-V and RAV4 space, offering buyers a little more room than the smaller Crosstrek, while remaining more compact than the now-iconic (and recently redesigned) Outback. For families hoping to combine utility with accessibility, it’s a sweet spot. And with a starting point in the low $30s, it’s accessible, with real room for four, occasional room for five (we tried it!), and enough cargo space for a week of touring in your very own Outback. 

But first, let’s get to the obvious: The executives supervising Subaru’s design team must be on medications not yet approved by the FDA. The Forester in base form has sheetmetal that is at best suspect if parked anywhere close to Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. Raise the Forester’s ride height and add what is believed to be the necessary cladding (from RubberMaid?), heighten the visual impact of the cladding by offering the Wilderness in Crystal White Pearl, and you don’t have a Wilderness – you have a Weiderness! In its exterior design Subaru has done better, can do better – and forgawdsake – should do better.

I will give the exterior design appropriate credit for good outward visibility; from behind the wheel of the Forester you can actually see the trees. And despite its raised ride height, getting in and out is easy for both your youngsters and their grannies. Once inside, the water-resistant Star Tex upholstery and rubber floor mats allow the kids to eat in the car, assuming – of course – that this writer is in another car.

Behind the wheel you’ll enjoy a legible gauge package, vertically mounted infotainment and a traditional shift lever controlling the now-traditional CVT transmission. And ahead of the shifter is a flat charging pad – easy to find, and easy to see if using your phone’s navigation! The cockpit’s ergonomics work, and if your Forester is shared with other family members that familial transition should be easy. 

With just 180 horsepower available under the hood, and driving all four wheels through the aforementioned CVT, you won’t find any excitement in this particular Subaru menu. The thing gets going, but under acceleration it borders on the wheezy, something our recent week in a Crosstrek hybrid avoided. The good news: Once up to speed the ride is quiet and relaxed, reminding me of an airliner on descent, powered down and headed for a smooth landing.

And that elevated suspension is smooth, while filtering out any semblance of fun. Subaru’s Crosstrek is also smaller, and that smaller footprint imfuses it with a more playful personality. In the Forester, you’ll have to rely on the obligatory mountain bike or snowboard to enable your fun. 

Perhaps the best news about the Wilderness mods is the upgrading of the Forester’s transmission cooler. With that mod the Forester’s towing capacity goes from 1,500 lbs. to 3,500 lbs. Instead of a trailer with a couple of dirt bikes, you can now tow a trailer with a kitchen and bathroom. (Let your buddy bring the dirtbikes…) That’s a real bump in capability, and bodes well for the platform’s long-term durability. 

Beyond the enhanced towing is improved approach, breakover and departure angles; revised all-wheel drive with quicker center diff lockup; a shorter final-drive ratio and those wider all-terrain tires mounted on 17-inch rims. 

If it were my money (and since 2011 we’ve bought both a Forester and Crosstrek), I’d opt for a Forester or Crosstrek Hybrid; both offer a semblance of real efficiency, in contrast to the Wilderness and its low-to-mid-20s mile-per-gallon burn rate. Or, when pondering a $40K price point buy yourself Subaru’s WRX. And when you need an offroad-oriented 4X4, rent it.