2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid: The fuel economy is better, but …
The midsize SUV from one of the biggest names in all-wheel drive is popular because it does many things well enough. Maybe that’s not enough anymore.
2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium Plus vs. 2025 Subaru Forester Touring Hybrid: Which one stands out for efficiency?
This week: Subaru Forester Hybrid
Price as tested: $43,610. $495 for two-tone paint.
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “punchier acceleration off the line, quieter inside, more standard features.” But not that it’s “slower at the top end, a bit less grip and stopping power, no plug-in model.”
Marketer’s pitch: “Love goes the extra mile.”
Reality: Actually the extra 6 miles (per gallon) over the regular Forester. But is that far enough?
What’s new: It’s the first time the Forester gets hybrid gasoline motivation with a battery assist.
Competition: In addition to last week’s Mazda CX-50 Hybrid, there are the Honda CR-V Hybrid, Kia Sportage Hybrid, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Toyota Crown Signia.
Up to speed: The Forester Hybrid gets to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds, according to Car and Driver, slightly slower than the regular Forester, and a full second slower than last week’s CX-50 Hybrid.
But you’ll feel a dramatic difference when the light turns green over the regular Forester, thanks to the combined 194 horsepower from the power train (a 2.5-liter Boxer four-cylinder plus electric motor). But when I really paid attention to the whole of the climb to 60, I was surprised to notice how much acceleration dropped off around 40 and 50, and then Car and Driver confirmed my intuition.
Some occasional minor hesitation and balkiness even beyond that would cause me to do some research if I were thinking of buying one.
Shiftless: The CVT does the acceleration no favors aesthetically, revving the engine high and keeping it there, and so it sounds like the vehicle is working really hard for every bit of power.
Control is via an old-fashioned gearshift lever. There’s a manual mode but it doesn’t do all that much.
On the road: The Forester keeps on growing in size. I so loved the looks and proportions of the 2015 model, and I still smile when I see an example on the road.
Despite the added bulk, the Forester Hybrid offers the kind of easy-to-predict drivability that has long made Subarus and especially Foresters among some of my favorite rides. It’s rare to get in a car and know every move it’s going to make after just a few drives. I could pull out of my driveway or onto a road and feel like there was no guesswork on where the nose would take me. It’s easy to feel one with the Forester Hybrid.
Winding road handling is not its strong suit, though, which my notes called “acceptable but not fun.” It’s CX-50 for the win in this category.
Driver’s Seat: The seat offers not luxury but definitely comfort. Subaru added some glam velour touches to some of the surfaces, and they go against the grain of the vehicles’ ease of care for people with active lifestyles. The rear carpeted floor mats in particular seem to soak up cat hair (no cats were harmed in the making of this review; we inadvertently brought along the wrong blanket at one point and lived to regret it).
Friends and stuff: Rear-seat accommodations are neither luxurious nor great comfort, but they are spacious, leg-wise. Headroom is just average and foot room is nonexistent under the front seats.
Cargo space is 27.5 cubic feet behind the second row and 69.1 when it’s folded. The Subaru definitely wins here.
In and out: Like the CX-50, the Forester Hybrid sits just right for easy entry and exit.
Play some tunes: The Forester Hybrid employs Subaru’s 11.6-inch vertical screen, and it mostly works well. Knobs control volume and tuning, and a clear home screen makes for easy choices. Advantage Forester.
Sound from the system is about an A-, so the CX-50’s A+ sound runs rings around it.
Keeping warm and cool: The HVAC controls are all inside the bottom of the touchscreen except for the temperature controls. These controls are rendered useless in a hot car when you first fire it up, and they’re also quite small for on-the-fly adjustments. Advantage Mazda.
Fuel economy: I found this the most disappointing part of the Forester Hybrid. The vehicle averaged right around 30 mpg, which is no great shakes for a hybrid. The CR-V was around 33; and the Toyota Venza and Kia Sportage Hybrid around 36, tied with the CX-50 Hybrid.
Where it’s built: Gunma, Japan, for 2025; Subaru says it will come to Lafayette, Ind., for 2026. Japan provides 85% of the parts, but that will also change for 2026, a spokesperson said.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Forester hybrid reliability to be a 5 out of 5. Foresters have shown a penchant for breaking expensively as they age, and this is the first year with a hybrid, so I might temper those expectations a bit.
In the end: The Forester Hybrid does a lot of things quite well, but it loses to the CX-50 on many counts, and especially at the pump.
The Mazda CX-50 hybrid does such a nice job with performance that it’s on my short list of choices.
Editor’s Note: This has been updated to correct where the vehicle was built.