The 2026 Forester Wilderness is well-suited for two or four people to hit the road for a weekend adventure, for commuting or in-town driving, for chauffeuring the kids, or bread-and-butter runs.
2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness First Drive Review: Into the Woods
2026 | off-road | oregon | subaru | subaru forester | subaru forester wilderness
The new 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness grants the wishes of loyal owners wanting a more off-road capable and rugged Forester. 95octane was among the first automotive journalists to drive the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness at a media event in Portland, Oregon. A drive route of freeway, country, and mountain roads gave a taste of what the Forester Wilderness can handle.
So what did we learn? The appeal of the Forester will only grow with the Wilderness option that still delivers very composed and comfortable road driving, but also impressive off-roading for everything just under rock crawling. This is a great combination to have in a single vehicle.
Power
The 2.5-liter Subaru Boxer engine, which runs on 87 octane fuel, puts out 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft. of torque, driving all four wheels through a continuously variable transmission (CVT) which includes three drive modes and a 6-speed “manual shift” option. Fuel economy is rated at 24 city/28 highway and 26 mpg combined.
The standard symmetrical all-wheel drive includes the latest generation of X-MODE, which increases grip and traction in icy, slippery, and off-road conditions, and includes hill ascent and descent control.
On-Road Driving Experience
Our drive was about 175 miles on smooth paved surfaces and 25 miles on gravel, washboard, rutted, and otherwise rough roads and trails. The on-road portion included a combination of mountain roads with high-speed sweepers, tight twisties, and open highways. The Forester’s continuously variable transmission was smooth. Still, the computer had the CVT defaulting to favoring fuel economy, which at times was underwhelming for pulling a grade or getting up to speed quickly. For a bit more performance, we used the manual transmission setting and the paddle shifters to keep the revs high. There are no true ‘gears’ on a CVT, so using the paddles holds the CVT in a rev ratio. Note: There isn’t a tachometer, so we estimated we were in the 4,000 rpm range when finding the right ratio to give us some extra oomph.
Some might question why paddle shifters are in a non-sporty car. In the case of the Forester Wilderness, they offered a functional use in the conditions we needed them and will be even more important when loaded with four adults and all their gear, headed out for a weekend adventure, or pulling a trailer up to 3,500 pounds.
The suspension is nicely tuned as cornering of all types was under control, with body lean easily and quickly managed. We tested it in ways you never will by pushing it on corners. The idea was not to break the law but to get a feel for how the Forester Wilderness would respond in an emergency situation with your family on board. With its stable ride, quick steering response, and 4-wheel independent suspension that electronically transfers torque to the wheels with the most grip, the Forester Wilderness handled everything we threw at it.
Off-Road – Time To Get Dirty
Subaru’s strong reputation of building off-road capable SUVs begins with (almost) every vehicle they offer coming standard with the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. The Forester Wilderness is also equipped with X-MODE, which adds even more grip and traction for sand, mud, and snow. The Wilderness trim has additional off-road capability over the base Forester with a beefed-up suspension, tires, underbody protection, upgraded rear differential, and greater approach and departure angles.
A big factor in how well a vehicle handles off-road driving is the tires. Our Forester Wilderness was shod with Yokohama Geolander 235/60 all-terrain tires on 17-inch rims. This tire performed very well off-road and felt great on-road, with a smooth ride.
The trails and forest roads provided the opportunity to test the readiness of being able to attack steep ascents and descents on varying surfaces. The Forester Wilderness is up to the task, giving owners the option to find forest service roads or even take on off-road park trails. We had a blast traversing steep sections of loose sand, shale, small and medium-sized rocks, and even a bit of mud.
The Forester’s 9.3 inches of ground clearance came in handy several times, and also when using the Hill Descent Control, where the computer keeps the downhill speed in the single digits. For comparison, the Forester Wilderness ground clearance bests its key competitors of the Toyota RAV4 Woodland at 8.1 inches; the Honda CR-V TrailSport at 8.2 inches; the Hyundai Tucson XRT at 8.3 inches; the Nissan Rogue Rock Creek at 8.2 inches, and the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands at 8.8 inches.
Simple Interior
There is one standard Forster Wilderness trim and one technology-type package option. The Wilderness is equipped with fully animal-free interior surfaces and water-resistant StarTex (a synthetic upholstery material) in gray with copper stitching and the Wilderness logo embroidered on the front seat headrests. It comes with thick rubber all-weather mats and a rubber cargo tray. We put these to good use as driving off-road gets messy, and the mats and tray captured all of the gunk we left behind.
The driver gets 10-way power adjustments with lumbar, while the passenger gets manual adjustments. The seats are heated, as are the exterior mirrors and windshield wiper de-icer.
The thin A pillars, high seating position, and the tall windows provide excellent forward and side visibility. The optional configurable 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster works as an information display for vehicle functions. The tablet-style 11.6-inch touchscreen houses navigation and, as with the Wilderness we were driving, the 7-speaker, 576-watt with subwoofer Harman Kardon sound system. This sound system comes in an optional package ($2,200). There’s support for AM/FM HD and SiriusXM radio, plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. USB ports and wireless phone charging are standard.
The rear seat’s head, shoulder, and leg room were ample for two adults, three in a pinch, with a fold-down armrest with cup holders and charge ports. Your gear will be eaten up as the cargo area is urging to be packed for a weekend road trip. With the 60:40 split rear seat, upright storage space is 27.5 inches, when folded it grows to 69.1 inches, the widest point between the wheels is 43.3 inches, and the height is 32.4 inches measured to the panoramic moonroof.
Familiar But Rugged Exterior
The Wilderness’ design playing off the standard Forester was on purpose, as Bill Stokes, product planning manager, told us, “We didn’t want to go too far from what customers know.”
The exterior design has Wilderness-only cues of anodized copper accents on the body and roof rail tie-down points, new grille, redesigned side rocker panel protection and cladding, bespoke front and rear bumpers, and dual front and rear tow points.
With 9.3 inches of ground clearance, the Forester Wilderness features fender brush guard cladding for protection when going off-road or encountering a wayward shopping cart. Cladding is also found to a more normal degree across the front and rear fascias and along the rocker panels. The front, side, and rear overhangs are short, and the 17-inch matte black-finish wheels look sharp against the River Rock Pearl ($395 additional cost) exterior paint. There are six exterior color choices of Autumn Green Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Geyser Blue, Magnetite Gray Metallic, River Rock Pearl, and Crystal White Pearl.
The rear hatch (power optional) has LED taillights, a small lip spoiler, and a wiper, with the roof having rack rails and a shark fin antenna. The roof rack can handle 800 pounds of weight when the Wilderness is parked, which makes it perfect for a tent.
Safety and Convenience
The Forester Wilderness comes with active and passive advanced driver assist systems, or ADAS, that is all part of Subaru’s EyeSight system. Safety technology includes multiple airbags, advanced adaptive cruise control, automatic pre-collision braking and throttle management, emergency stop assist, and lane departure warning. In the case of an accident or other emergency, the Starlink Connected Services feature will place a call to emergency services.
Safety features also include blind spot monitoring with lane change assist, a 360-degree camera, and Safety Exit Alert that notifies occupants, before exiting the vehicle, of obstacles and pedestrians with an audible and visual warning. There is also a rear seat reminder to see one more time before exiting if kids or dogs have been left behind.
Additional convenience features include dual-zone automatic climate control, rear vision camera, push button start/stop, remote keyless entry, electric power steering, steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth control switches, tire pressure monitoring system, an all-terrain spare tire, and 4-wheel disc anti-lock brakes.
Pricing and Availability
The 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness rolls into dealers beginning in late Fall 2025, with the standard trim starting at $40,585 and the one with the Sound Package at $42,035. These prices include the $1,420 destination and delivery fee. There are several options that can be ordered through Subaru.com.
Observations: 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness
The 2026 Forester Wilderness should be popular with loyal Subaru owners, plus anyone waiting for Subaru to add a more ruggedly performing and looking SUV to their lineup.
The Forester Wilderness was first introduced in 2022 and built off the existing Forester platform. The 2025 Forester was designed knowing there would be a Wilderness version, giving it more capability, including an updated inner frame with three times more structural adhesives, additional sound deadening, revised suspension tuning, a new dual-pinion steering rack, and improved performance through a faster center differential for better torque distribution.
So what does all this mean? The Forester Wilderness owner is likely to participate in outdoor activities and hobbies such as camping, hiking, fishing, and backpacking. They are into kayaking, biking, cross-country and/or mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing, and snowboarding. Does this sound like you?
The 2026 Forester Wilderness will fill the needs for those wanting a thoroughly capable weekend adventure SUV that can also handle a commute and family in-town errands. All 2026 Foresters are assembled in Lafayette, Indiana, which is important as it relates to tariffs.
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About the Author
John Faulkner is the Road Test Editor and Senior writer at Clean Fleet Report, where they give readers the information needed to move to cars, SUVs, and trucks with the best fuel economy and efficiency. This includes those propelled by electricity, plug-in hybrids, hybrids, hydrogen-electric fuel cells, and advanced diesel and gasoline engines.
John has more than 30 years of experience in branding, launching, and marketing automobiles. He has worked with General Motors (all Divisions), Chrysler (Dodge, Jeep, Eagle), Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota on consumer events and sales training programs. He is a journalist member of the Motor Press Guild and Western Automotive Journalists.