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Hybrid enhanced for new Forester
Richard Bosselman
February 8, 2025
Twin electric motor variant signed up for NZ - will we also see a Wilderness edition of gen six car?
ELECTRIFICATION inclusion continues with the new-generation of Subaru’s smallest off-road nugget, the Forester, but has taken a different design course, this time with more expert guidance.
Unveiling of the Forester Hybrid (in green) this week confirms Fuji is still keen to push on with a petrol-electric, but with a better effort than the first that came here three years ago and has done little.
One step up from the old, much-criticised 2.0-litre Subaru e-Boxer now is that, while the marriage still involves a four-cylinder boxer engine, it’s now a 2.5-litre rather than the previous 2.0-litre, and rather than one electric motor it has two.
The major electric elements this time have not been developed in-house but instead sourced from technology specialist Toyota, a Subaru shareholder.
However, there are tweaks for the Fuji model that differentiate it from Toyota’s RAV4, an obvious rival.
With the latter, the electric rear motor is intrinsic to the AWD. The Forester’s all-wheel drive system, on the other hand, is mechanically linked.
Forester Hybrid keeps the standard car’s X-Mode off-road traction system, hill descent control and active torque vectoring,
The alternate drivetrain to the more familiar purely petrol 2.5-litre variants also incoming is also set to show in the Crosstrek.
It is one of several big running changes to the latest gen model, which though yet to be seen in this part of the world is already familiar to North America.
Due to being the brand’s biggest market, Stateside (and Canada) as always gets to see new Subarus well ahead of anyone else; the hybrid unveiled overnight at the Chicago motor show builds on the sixth generation Forester, released Stateside last March.
Will all element of what is officially the ‘2025’ redesign’ of the car come to New Zealand?
If that’s the case, then we’re in for another highlight, in the form of a enhancement pack that further elevates the car’s ruggedness.
The Wilderness pack - seen on the white car here - that arrived on Outback in North America almost three years ago was much sought after by Subaru New Zealand; previous boss Wal Dumper saw it as the perfect uplift for a brand whose all-terrain pedigree is much appreciated by Kiwis who don’t want a full-out sports utility.
However, all efforts to take it officially were thwarted - though one enterprising Kiwi did manage to import the kit and fit it to his own car; an expensive exercise for a one-off but a sense national outcome nonetheless.
Whether Subaru New Zealand’s new management is as keen is on the Wilderness treatment is unclear, but Subaru Australia seems keen on its adoption by the Forester.
The Forester Wilderness stands out with a robust bodykit, takes gets larger tires – 235/60R17 Yokohama Geolandar A/Ts versus the old model’s 225/60R17 - and in having 236mm ground clearance has just 3mm more than the standard car.
The Wilderness has off-road bumpers and extra underbody protection and takes a retuned suspension that reportedly results in better on- and off-road comfort, coupled with improved stability.
In US trim the engine is actually very slightly detuned - with 143kW and 241Nm - but the CVT gearbox gets a new final drive ratio as well, moving up from 3.70 to 4.11, along with some tweaks to its all-wheel-drive system that are designed to reduce wheelspin while off-roading.
As for the hybrid? Subaru claims 6.7 litres per 100km consumption for the US spec car, using a US EPA evaluation that holds no status here and also delivers different outcomes to our own WLTP-3. It’s surmised that the car here might tout a mid to low five-point-something figure.
The US economy makes it slightly worse than the e-Boxer, which was claimed to achieve 6.5L/100km but never saw it in real-world testing (our test delivered an average of 7.6). The e-Boxer outcome was just 0.5L/100km superior to the manufacturer-cited economy for a standard 2.5-litre fully petrol car.
With Forester Hybrid the engine is tuned to run the Atkinson cycle, generating 120kW on its own or 144kW combined with the primary electric motor. That’s more than the new standard powertrain.
The e-Boxer was cited to deliver 110kW/196Nm.
With this new hybrid, a second electric motor acts as a starter, regulates the eCVT gearbox, and doubles as a generator to replenish the 0.7 kWh battery pack.
Other than its powertrain, the Hybrid differs from the regular model in a few other ways, as it features its own unique damper tuning to account for the added weight of the hybrid system, along with additional sound deadening material, but no spare tire to make room for the battery pack.
The cabin is much as per the standard car, with a 11.6-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone, but a new 12.3-inch digital driver’s display will be available on high-end hybrid variants.
In respect to NZ-market flavours? Subaru New Zealand says it wants to keep that detail under wraps until much closer to the launch, which it indicates will be mid-year.
Kym Mellow, who is general manager of Inchcape NZ, which holds distribution rights, expects the car to be popular, noting that “New Zealanders have trusted the Subaru Forester for decades.”
He reminds the current car has won awards in New Zealand, including the national car of the year; that accolade meted by the New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild was delivered in 2018.
“This next-generation model will proudly continue that award-winning legacy,” Mellow suggests.
