Posted Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 10:32pm
We’ve bemoaned the refreshed 2025 Subaru Forester for its lack of vitality, but that was before we had a chance to drive something that’s never before existed: the Subaru Forester Hybrid. This changes more than you’d think. Yes, there’s a bump in fuel economy: from 28 mpg combined (with 19-inch wheels) or 29 mpg (with 17- or 18-inchers) for the regular Forester to 35 mpg combined for the hybrid. And for some people that’d be enough.
Subaru’s New Hybrid System
Power still doesn’t crack the 200-hp threshold, but it’s now closer at 194 horsepower. Compare that to the 180-hp effort of the regular Forester, and you’ve got yourself a 14-hp advantage. Okay, golf clap. Still, the way this hybrid compact crossover goes about its business is what makes the difference. It starts with a 2.5-liter boxer engine as in the standard car, but this one is tuned to run the Atkinson cycle. It makes 162 horsepower and 154 pound-feet of torque, which doesn’t sound that great until you realize that the hybrid system blends in another 118 horsepower and 199 pound-feet from the primary traction motor concealed within the transmission case.
