The Forester Sport is only minimally edgy, but Subaru’s mid-size SUV still impresses with its practicality, roominess and all-round ability
- How much does the Subaru Forester Sport cost?
- What equipment comes with the Subaru Forester Sport?
- How safe is the Subaru Forester Sport?
- What technology does the Subaru Forester Sport feature?
- What powers the Subaru Forester Sport?
- How fuel efficient is the Subaru Forester Sport?
- What is the Subaru Forester Sport like to drive?
- What is the Subaru Forester Sport like inside?
- Should I buy a Subaru Forester Sport?
The Subaru Forester can trace its lineage back to the 1975 AWD Leone station wagon, which was touted as the originator of the SUV genre – well before the Toyota RAV4 first appeared in 1994. The Leone was essentially an all-wheel drive station wagon, so the jury’s out on who has ultimate ‘SUV’ bragging rights, but unarguably Subaru was very early to AWD and it remains a key selling point for the brand today. The Forester is its most popular model, now five years into its fifth generation and embodying a spirit of adventure and practical nature with the mid-series Sport on test here.
How much does the Subaru Forester Sport cost?
The 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport is priced from $44,840 plus on-road costs, occupying a mid-point position in the Japanese brand’s medium SUV range that opens with the 2.5i at $37,890 and tops out at $49,340 for the top-shelf mild-hybrid Hybrid S (both plus ORCs).
Whereas its major rivals include a broad mix of powertrain options – such as diesel, series/parallel hybrid, plug-in hybrid and turbocharged petrol – the Forester relies on two petrol-based engines.
These are a 2.5-litre normally-aspirated four-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine and a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid.
All have a ‘symmetrical’ all-wheel drive system – meaning there’s a neat, straight driveline running directly between the front and rear differentials – and all drive through a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).
What equipment comes with the Subaru Forester Sport?
The 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport verges on premium, equipped with some features only seen at the pointy end of the range.
Since the major MY22 update, these features have included an upgraded dash with inbuilt sat-nav, powered sunroof and tailgate, twin power-controlled seats up front – with memory settings for the driver – a new-look rear bumper to go with a universally-restyled front-end (comprising a bolder grille with horizontal-comma headlights), hand-gesture modulation of climate control and audio volume and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror.
The Forester Sport is identified externally and internally by orange trim highlights and, for some reason which few will complain about, also gets special water-repellent cloth seat trim.
Three new shades – Brilliant Bronze, Cascade Green and Autumn Green – are added to the Forester Sport’s colour palette.
Although the service intervals are slightly truncated by a 12-month/12,500km requirement where 12 months/15,000km tends to be the norm, the Subaru Forester is right on target with its five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and a choice of three- or five-year fixed-price servicing plans priced at $1311 and $2477 respectively.
Three years of complimentary roadside assist is also included.
How safe is the Subaru Forester Sport?
With a comprehensive arsenal of safety technology including the EyeSight monitoring system, the Subaru Forester – and therefore the 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport – gained a full five-star tick from safety authority ANCAP in 2019.
The safety tech factors in all the expected systems such as high- and low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning and lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, driver attention detection and tyre pressure monitoring.
There’s also a brace of cameras to provide a bird’s-eye view of the immediate surroundings, which helps combat challenges in tight parking spots
Some increasingly common technology is lacking, though. The Forester Sport doesn’t offer active assist for the blind spot monitoring and, though it has cross traffic alert at the rear, it doesn’t at the front.
The Forester also misses in-bumper parking sensors at either end, although this can be partly explained away by the clear and accurate information provided by the parking camera system.
Improvements introduced in the MY22 update include the lane keep system which has evolved enough to earn a semi-autonomous rating, as well as revisions to the self-dipping, see-around-the-corner adaptive LED headlights.
The Forester comes with a total of seven airbags but doesn’t include a front centre bag to help prevent lateral head-strike between the driver and front passenger during a collision.
What technology does the Subaru Forester Sport feature?
The 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport, along with the 2.5i-S and 2.5i Premium – but not lesser variants – gets a new-look instrument panel which concentrates most of its changes around the GPS-inclusive central display and incorporates the gesture-activated two-zone climate control and audio mentioned earlier.
This joins familiar in-cabin tech including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity, DAB+ digital audio, six-speaker stereo system and two USB-A ports in the centre console.
What powers the Subaru Forester Sport?
In terms of powerplant, the 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport doesn’t differentiate between anything else in the range apart from the 2.0-litre mild-hybrid variant.
The Forester’s direct-injection, over-square 2.5-litre boxer four-cylinder produces its maximum 136kW at 5700rpm, along with 239Nm of torque at 4400rpm.
These outputs sit the Forester Sport squarely in the middle of its major competitors, although the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid amasses a solid 163kW of combined petrol-electric power.
All Forester models use Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT transmission (with paddle shifters) and employ selectable X-Mode full-time AWD to regulate power distribution between front and back wheels.
The Sport (and 2.5i-S and Hybrid versions) gain extra settings to cater for varying surface conditions such as loose gravel and deep snow.
X-Mode also incorporates hill descent control and was improved with the most recent update to enable automatic re-engagement if the speed drops below 35km/h.
The Forester Sport is rated to tow a braked trailer/caravan weighing up to 1.8 tonnes, which equals the Mazda CX-5 and is slightly better than its closest competitors, which are rated as low as 1.5 tonnes for the RAV4 GX Hybrid which achieves its AWD status via an electrically-driven rear-end.
How fuel efficient is the Subaru Forester Sport?
The combined-cycle fuel consumption claim of 7.4L/100km for the 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport pretty much equates with its major (non-hybrid) competitors.
An automatic engine idle-stop system helps here, while Forester’s humble 91RON regular unleaded fuel requirement is something of a relief with elevated pump prices.
Topping it off nicely, the 63-litre tank promises a useful driving range; we’ve approached 1000km per tankful in long-term testing.
What is the Subaru Forester Sport like to drive?
With the same power output and 18-inch (225/55R18) wheel-and-tyre combination as other high-series models in the range, the 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport is far from being a tight, sharp SUV sportster.
Sitting taller than most rivals, and with a high-stepping 220mm of ground clearance, the Forester Sport is actually pretty capable for a light-duty SUV and finds most of its usefulness traversing, with more aplomb than many, bumpy off-road tracks.
Four-wheel ventilated disc brakes do a solid job of hauling the Forester down from speed, too.
The ride is also pretty good, while substantial, well-padded seating and a big glass area – enhanced by the Sport’s standard sunroof – combine to provide welcome feelings of comfort and openness.
The 2.5-litre boxer’s maximum torque of 239Nm comes in pretty high in the rpm range (4400rpm), but the curve is relatively flat so it delivers useful urge at lower revs.
The combination of the Forester’s comparatively light weight (1553kg tare) and the engine’s competitive 136kW power output means it’s at the upper end of the class in terms of its power/weight ratio (again, the RAV4 Hybrid creams it).
With its CVT transmission, the Forester’s engine is slightly intrusive and not audibly inspiring, but it’s refined enough and, in the end, far from rowdy.
Both the handling and engine smoothness were upgraded with the most recent overhaul via front suspension tweaks and a new aluminium engine mount. For most, the improvements would only be detected driving back-to-back with a pre-update model.
The yearned-for Forester turbo engine – you’d think the ‘Sport’ model would be a worthy recipient – continues to be a question mark, but might turn up with the Forester Wilderness that’s received the green light for Australia.
What is the Subaru Forester Sport like inside?
The 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport is adequately spiced-up with its water-repellent cloth trim and tastefully applied orange piping throughout.
With the power-adjust front seats, no shortage of soft-touch surfaces, lots of room to move in both front and back and a well-shaped 498-litre boot, complete with a full-size alloy spare wheel and accessible via a power-operated tailgate, the Forester is a good prospect as a family SUV.
All its positives are helped along by a handy total load space, when the 60/40-split folding rear seats are laid flat, that measures more than 1740 litres.
The cabin tech is mostly well attended to with the inbuilt sat-nav, auto-dimming interior mirrors, the gesture-controlled functions, two-zone climate control and a workmanlike six-speaker sound system.
Should I buy a Subaru Forester Sport?
The 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport might not be a WRX in SUV guise, but it’s nevertheless loaded with appeal and has plenty of the good gear, including many of the cabin luxuries seen in flagship versions.
As the most upright, vertical member of today’s relatively slinky Subaru fleet, the Forester has a visual identity that, while it can either repel or attract, helps rate it among the best SUVs in its class for passenger space and luggage-toting practicality.
With a loyal band of followers clearly rating the Forester’s slightly left-of-centre nature to be appealing and individualistic, there’s little wonder that it remains a respected and highly visible presence in the popular mid-size SUV segment.
It might only be minimally edgy, but this ‘Sport’ interpretation of the Forester theme is still worth a closer look.
2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport at a glance:
Price: $44,840 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 136kW/239Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 7.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 168g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)
Keyword: Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport 2023 Review