Fast Facts | 2025 Subaru Forester Touring Hybrid
🚙 Vehicle Type: Compact hybrid SUV with standard full-time all-wheel drive
⚙️ Powertrain: 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder with two motor generators and a CVT
🚀 Output: 194 system horsepower
⛽ Fuel Economy: EPA-rated at 35 mpg city, 34 highway, and 35 combined
🌲 Ground Clearance: 8.7 inches
🧭 Capability: Includes Subaru Symmetrical AWD, X-Mode, and hill-descent control
🖥️ Tech: 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 11.6-inch central touchscreen
💰 Price: Touring test vehicle MSRP is $44,005, including destination and two-tone paint
Subaru has cultivated a legion of fans across the U.S., and it's easy to see why. This quirky Japanese automaker has a reputation for sturdy, capable, and incredibly safe cars and crossovers. Continuing this tradition, the Forester Hybrid offers all that plus more refinement than you might expect, along with impressive fuel economy that will save you plenty of money at the pump.
It’s What Makes a Subaru a Subaru
Subaru has never been known for its avant-garde design — quite the opposite, actually — but I really like the styling of the Forester Hybrid. This is a cheerful, approachable SUV, with a friendly grille and surprisingly tall, upright body. Squared-off fender trim and 19-inch wheels on this top-end Touring model add a bit of intensity, while the large greenhouse, thanks, in part, to that stepped-down beltline, makes this Subaru look open and unpretentious.
The Forester’s rear trim strip running across the hatch ties the taillights together and mirrors the grille and headlamps up front nicely. Overall, this SUV is attractive in an honest, no-frills way, which is pretty on-brand for Subaru.
The Forester Hybrid’s biggest trick is pairing useful MPG with real all-wheel-drive confidence, and this fuel-efficient AWD guide gives shoppers more options in that same lane ➜
Underneath that boxy body is a Subaru signature, the brand’s defining feature: its Symmetrical full-time all-wheel-drive system. It's a rugged, mechanical setup with a physical connection between the powertrain and all four wheels. Rival SUVs like the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid have a separate electric motor at the rear axle to power the back wheels in all-wheel drive variants, and while this may edge out the Subaru on fuel efficiency, it's not quite the same in terms of real-world capability. Subaru's provides more consistent performance.
Beyond that, the Forester Hybrid has 8.7 inches of ground clearance, a bit more than a RAV4 Hybrid or Honda CR-V Hybrid. There’s also Subaru's X-Mode for tackling different surface conditions and hill-descent control for even more confidence when you’re getting dirty off the beaten path.
Familiar Capability with Newfound Efficiency
Powering all this is an efficient and surprisingly refined drivetrain, one that can tackle tough trails or conquer an icy commute to the office without blowing your budget on fuel. Subaru uses a series-parallel hybrid setup pairing a 2.5-liter horizontally opposed boxer four-cylinder engine, two motor generators, and a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). A small lithium-ion battery pack beneath the cargo floor stores and releases energy as needed.
All told, the SUV's electrified drivetrain provides a respectable 194 system horsepower, which is comparable to, if slightly behind, the CR-V and RAV4 hybrids, but I have no complaints about the performance here. The Forester still delivers very good acceleration, pulling particularly well at higher speeds.
Subaru's boxer engines are known for making a bit of a throaty grumble. This one though? Whisper-quiet and incredibly smooth. The cabin stays remarkably hushed, even when you’re zipping down the interstate. The ride is smooth, with the suspension doing a nice job filtering out roadway harshness, but there can be noticeable body movement over some rough surfaces. Similarly, the steering is light, a bit slow, and slightly ropy. This complaint is by no means a deal-breaker — after all, this is not a sports car — but worth knowing if you're cross-shopping.
Subaru’s full-time AWD system gives the Forester Hybrid a different flavor than its biggest rivals, and this CR-V Hybrid vs. RAV4 Hybrid comparison helps frame the segment ➜
The Forester Hybrid is rated by the EPA at 35 mpg city, 34 highway, and 35 combined. That's slightly behind the Honda and Toyota, but almost certainly because of Subaru’s more capable full-time all-wheel-drive system. In mixed, real-world use, I’ve been getting around 33 mpg, impressively close to the estimated combined score.
Comfortable and Spacious
The interior matches the Forester's down-to-earth personality. The Touring model isn’t opulent, but there are still plenty of upscale soft materials, contrast-color stitching, and a sensible overall layout that puts commonly used features within easy reach.
The front seats are plenty comfortable, heated and ventilated in this trim level, plus the driver’s chair has two-position memory and power adjusts in 10 ways. The Forester’s seating is surprisingly elevated, which provides excellent outward visibility and miles of headroom. It’s practically like sitting in a Sprinter van.
There’s ample room in the Forester’s backseat, too, more than enough for 6-foot-tall adults. In the Touring model, rear passengers also get heated outboard seats to keep Jack Frost at bay, air vents, and even a pair of USB ports.
The Forester comes standard with a lovely 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster as well as an 11.6-inch central touchscreen. Wireless smartphone mirroring is included, and thank goodness, because the native infotainment system is not great. This setup looks like Windows XP and runs slower than a punch-card computer. Fortunately, CarPlay works as advertised, seemingly without noticeable stutters or delays.
Beyond that dashboard tech, the Touring model has plenty of other great features like a digital rearview mirror for much expanded rearward visibility and a crisp 360-degree camera setup that makes parking in tight areas much easier. The Forester Hybrid also comes standard with EyeSight, Subaru’s suite of advanced driver-assistance aids, which includes features like lane-departure warning, pre-collision braking, and adaptive cruise control with lane centering that works OK in my experience.
Plenty of Bang for Your Buck
The Forester Hybrid is available in four trim levels: Premium, Sport, Limited, and Touring. The entry-level model has an MSRP of right around $38,000, impressively affordable in 2026, where the average new vehicle transaction price is roughly 50 grand. This top-shelf Touring model is pricier than the base trim, but not by much. This example has an MSRP of $44,005, including $1,420 in destination fees and $890 for two-tone paint. That price is right in line with similar, top-level versions of the CR-V and RAV4.
Overall, the Forester Hybrid offers exactly what traditional Subaru customers expect: versatility, comfort, safety, and standard all-wheel drive, plus you get exemplary fuel economy. If you need an efficient and useful small SUV that looks nice and feels rock solid, go check out a Forester Hybrid, because it just might surprise you.
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