2023 Subaru Forester Premium

The 2023 Subaru Forester is the sensible-shoes choice among compact SUVs. Yet it can also do adventure and luxury. Prices start at $26,395.

Fresh from a revamp last year, the 2023 Forester carries on doing what it does best — providing safe, sure, solid transportation along with strong value. That’s a winning formula.

We count the Forester among the best SUVs. It’s also been a multi-year recipient of the KBB 5-Year Cost to Own Award for its class.

It’s safe to assume that most Foresters are going to be family vehicles, in which case there’s more good news. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has made it a Top Safety Pick+ and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave it a maximum overall score of five stars.

There are other sides to the Forester, though. The Wilderness model is for the more intrepid among us, while the Touring version leans toward the indulgent. With six trims to choose from, the 2023 Forester merits close inspection.

2023 Subaru Forester Pricing

The 2023 Forester starts at $26,395, plus a destination charge, for the base model. The range-topping version is the Touring, priced from $36,495. There aren’t many options for the Touring to push that figure much higher.

Buyers in the market for a new compact SUV have a lot of choice, but will still find the 2023 Forester highly competitive. The new-for-2023 Honda CR-V begins at about $31K, the Toyota RAV4 at around $28K, and the Nissan Rogue comes in at $27,360. The Mazda CX-5 (with all-wheel drive as standard) starts at $26.7K, the Hyundai Tucson at approximately $26.5K, and the Kia Sportage at about $26K.

Before buying a new Forester compact SUV, check the KBB.com Fair Purchase Price to see what others in your area paid for theirs. The Forester enjoys some of the strongest resale values in its class.

Driving the 2023 Subaru Forester

We think the Forester drives just fine. It’s not as buttery smooth as the ultra-refined Honda CR-V, for instance, but that’s in keeping with the Forester’s more rugged character. Most owners may ask nothing more of their 2023 Forester SUV than reliability, half-decent fuel economy, and the reassurance of standard all-wheel drive. On these counts, the Forester will deliver.

With a full load of passengers and cargo going up a mountain road, though, it might be time to press play on that long audiobook. It could take a while. Because engine power is not what we’d call plentiful and the slow-acting automatic transmission (of the continuously variable kind) doesn’t help the driver extract the utmost performance.

Before we get to the other plus points, the lane-keeping assistance system can be too eager to activate. And the engine stop/restart function could be smoother. Fortunately, both can be turned off.

Right, more positives. A comfortable ride quality is one. Active torque vectoring is another. This standard feature makes the outside rear wheel turn quicker than its inside counterpart when tracking through a corner. It’s an efficient method for tackling turns.

Airy Interior

Large glass areas provide excellent outward vision, helping the 2023 Forester’s 5-passenger cabin to feel spacious and airy at the same time. Actually, it doesn’t just feel roomy, it really is.

Rear legroom is as generous as some midsize sedans, so four adults will fit in this compact SUV with ease. The only thing to be aware of is that the optional moonroof reduces headroom and cargo space a touch, if such considerations are important.

It’s easy to forgive the occasional bit of cheap plastic in the Forester’s cabin and concentrate instead on things like the comfortable seats and the storage areas. Cargo space goes from 28.9 cubic feet (rear seats up) to 74.2 cubic feet when the rear seats are folded down.

Forester Wilderness Differences

Adding a little more visual interest, the adventure-oriented Forester Wilderness has more ground clearance (9.2 inches, compared with the usual 8.7 inches), extra side cladding, a skid plate, and matte-black alloy wheels wearing Yokohama Geolander all-terrain tires. This model also has the strongest roof rails of the lineup, able to handle up to 800 pounds when parked — ideal for a rooftop tent.

Favorite Features

1. All-wheel drive
Reassuring in slippery conditions, optimizing traction in the dry, every new Forester SUV comes with all-wheel drive (AWD) as standard. Yet prices remain competitive against rivals with front-wheel drive.

2. Large liftgate opening
The practicality of a large aperture to access the cargo area shouldn’t be underestimated or under-appreciated. Measuring 51.2 inches at its widest point (49.5 inches at the lower area), it’s one of the best in its class.

3. Premium trim
For an extra $3,000 over the base 2023 Forester, this trim level adds several desirable features like heated front seats and a leather-wrapped steering wheel, plus eligibility for blind-spot monitoring and a powered liftgate.

4. A choice in the Wilderness
The Wilderness model adds extra bells and whistles to its all-wheel-drive system. There are driving modes to deal with snow and mud, plus a low-speed/low-ratio setting for descending steep slopes.

5. Gesture control
An exclusive feature in the top Touring trim, the driver can adjust the automatic climate control’s temperature with the wave of a hand.

6. Perforated leather seating surfaces
Available in black or saddle brown. Another Touring-only feature, but a nice touch of luxury.

Engine & Transmission

Two pairs of cylinders opposing each other horizontally, instead of the more common “all four upright and in a line” approach. That’s the flat-4 (or boxer) configuration, which is a Subaru hallmark.

Not that it has any specific advantage in terms of power. Devoid of any turbochargers or superchargers, the 2.5-liter unit in every Forester SUV takes regular gasoline and turns it into a relatively modest 182 horsepower and 176 lb-ft of torque.

For context, the Toyota RAV4, hardly the wildest thing in its class, makes more.

Engine output goes through a continuously variable automatic transmission to a standard all-wheel-drive system. The Wilderness version has its all-wheel-drive hardware set up with extra off-road abilities in mind, so it uses a little more fuel.

3-year/36,000-mile Warranty

Warranties for the 2023 Forester are a basic 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever occurs first) along with 5 years or 60,000 miles for the powertrain.

Maximum towing capacity for most of the 2023 Forester range is 1,500 pounds. The Wilderness model, however, can handle up to 3,000 pounds.

2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine
182 horsepower @ 5,800 rpm
176 lb-ft of torque @ 4,400 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 26/33 mpg, 25/28 mpg (Wilderness)

KBB Vehicle Review and Rating Methodology

Our Expert Ratings come from hours of both driving and number crunching to make sure that you choose the best car for you. We comprehensively experience and analyze every new SUV, car, truck, or minivan for sale in the U.S. and compare it to its competitors. When all that dust settles, we have our ratings.

We require new ratings every time an all-new vehicle or a new generation of an existing vehicle comes out. Additionally, we reassess those ratings when a new-generation vehicle receives a mid-cycle refresh — basically, sprucing up a car in the middle of its product cycle (typically, around the 2-3 years mark) with a minor facelift, often with updates to features and technology.

Rather than pulling random numbers out of the air or off some meaningless checklist, KBB’s editors rank a vehicle to where it belongs in its class. Before any car earns its KBB rating, it must prove itself to be better (or worse) than the other cars it’s competing against as it tries to get you to spend your money buying or leasing.

Our editors drive and live with a given vehicle. We ask all the right questions about the interior, the exterior, the engine and powertrain, the ride and handling, the features, the comfort, and of course, about the price. Does it serve the purpose for which it was built? (Whether that purpose is commuting efficiently to and from work in the city, keeping your family safe, making you feel like you’ve made it to the top — or that you’re on your way — or making you feel like you’ve finally found just the right partner for your lifestyle.)

We take each vehicle we test through the mundane — parking, lane-changing, backing up, cargo space and loading — as well as the essential — acceleration, braking, handling, interior quiet and comfort, build quality, materials quality, reliability.

More About How We Rate Vehicles

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