The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport ushers in the rugged crossover’s very first mid-cycle refresh since its debut in 2021, bringing about the typical styling and tech updates, coupled with the new Sasquatch Package, most notably, which adds even more off-road capability to the mix. These types of off-road-capable packages have become more and more popular among shoppers these days, even if they’re attracted more to the aesthetics than functionality, which is what has made the Bronco Sport Badlands a popular target to date. Now, that same rugged crossover has a new rival to do battle with – the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness.
Arriving a few years after the 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Edition, the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness is part of a more extensive lineup revamp for that particular model, which includes the addition of its first true hybrid. As for the Forester Wilderness, it wasn’t part of that model’s greater revamp for 2025, interestingly enough, but the 2026 model has indeed now followed and is underpinned by the same platform as the rest of the lineup. It also gets larger tires – 235/60R17 Yokohama Geolandar A/Ts versus the old model’s 225/60R17, which adds a mere 0.1 inches of ground clearance, improving it to 9.3 inches.
The 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness also gets a retuned suspension that reportedly results in better on- and off-road comfort, coupled with improved stability, but its 2.5L Boxer engine actually loses two horsepower yet gains two pound-feet of torque compared to its predecessor, with new totals of 180 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque. The model’s 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.
Along with standard roof rails, the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness gets an 11.6-inch infotainment screen and an optional 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster inside the cabin, notably. Pricing and fuel economy info hasn”t been released yet, but the revamped crossover is currently slated to launch this coming fall.
Comments
I see Subaru is still married to that hideous black cladding.
Rival, no way. That thing is a as much fun as a beige box apple computer from the 90s…
I’d like to see where that torque hits and it’s powerband, probably rides like an astrovan
Not really liking all the plastic on the bumper makes it more like a base model than a off-road model