These days, car launches are events shrouded in embargoes and secrecy. Thanks to a focus on closed-site testing, it’s getting harder to see pre-production models out in the wild. However, every so often, the public glimpses a look at a new model before they’re supposed to, and it’s happened again. Low-resolution photos of the 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness have leaked across the internet, and it looks like it’ll follow a formula familiar to the Subaru faithful.
According to a Reddit post, this screengrab was pulled from a now edited and re-uploaded video on the Crosstrek Hybrid, which makes a ton of sense. If Subaru’s getting members of the media up-close and personal with the Crosstrek Hybrid, having a static model of the next thing in the lineup is a great way to build hype while being conscious of costs.
Unfortunately, when automakers do this, the vehicle still under wraps is normally out of shot of the vehicle people can actually talk about, and that doesn’t seem to have happened here.
First at next-gen Forester Wilderness
byu/PNF2187 inSubaruForester
So what can we tell from all 0.8 pixels present in this photo? Well, the next Forester Wilderness will feature additional cladding over a standard Forester, including unpainted bumper corners. It also keeps the signature Wilderness badges on the doors and mustard yellow accents, this time extended to the roof rack. In addition, the tires seem to offer decent sidewall, approach angle seems to be significantly better than on a standard model, and there may be a ride height increase in the cards.
Beyond that, details are murky, although it’s likely a reveal sometime this year is in the cards, seeing how Honda’s going to be unveiling a CR-V Trailsport in the next few months. Fresh competition is a great excuse to roll out a new model, and the market for flannel-wearing compact crossovers is red hot right now.
Less likely but still not off the table is the presence of a hybrid powertrain. Subaru has already shown off a 194-horsepower hybrid system in the Crosstrek, and the brand’s announced that a Forester Hybrid is coming to America. If the Forester Wilderness gets chunkier all-terrain tires with a larger rolling diameter than those on the standard Forester, some extra power over the existing 180-horsepower 2.5-liter flat-four would be welcome.
In any case, it looks like a new Subaru Forester Wilderness is on its way soon. Sure, it might not be an off-roader for Moab, but for fire trails, fields, and other places you’re allowed to be in an all-wheel-drive vehicle rather than a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a dedicated crawl ratio, it ought to do alright.
(Photo credits: Subaru)
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I find the whole Wilderness line to be sort of cringey. Any time I see one, it’s driven by the same mid- level corporate husk in a puffer vest who wanted to assert himself amongst the other school dads as a rough and tumble kind of guy, but he’s also a social liberal whose friends and wife would be really pissed if he bought an actual SUV. Also the only offroad driving he ever does is on the grassy/gravelly drive to his kids’ soccer fields on weekends. Or the auxiliary parking lot at the pumpkin patch. Also they’re always the slowest to take off from an intersection and they block the passing lane on highways.
This is my feeling on most Subarus, actually. The Wilderness is just king swinging dick Subaru.
While most Wildernesses look considerably worse than the models they’re based on (looking at you, Crosstrek), this actually seems to make the fascia of the Forester more readable and identifiable and less Ford Explorer-like (instead it looks like a Transit Courier). I’m curious about how people point out that ‘Outback’ was originally an off-road trim for the Legacy wagon—will ‘Wilderness’ soon become the default option in a decade or so?
I have approaching zero interest in this vehicle, but I wanted to compliment the top shot. Such a simple concept, but it works on multiple levels.
Needs more
claddingcowbell.Man everybody is letting loose on this thing, sure it’s nothing ground breaking but it doesn’t need to be. Personally, if you took the badges off and showed me that blurry photo with no context I would have guessed it was a RAV4.
Where’s everyone’s optimism about Subaru trolling us by disguising the new BRAT as a Forester?
“Optimism” noun
hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.
“the talks had been amicable and there were grounds for optimism”
. . . I had to google that.
This whole “more cladding” and “Off Road trim” thing that manufacturers are doing reminds me of the fast casual restaurants of the 90’s that just melted cheese on top of every dish and touted it as as brand new culinary creation when in fact the world was forced into choosing grilled chicken breast with melted cheese or a steak with cheese on top.
Mmmm.. cheese…..
Mmmm.. fried….
Mmm. fried cheese…
Fun anecdote: supposedly the whole “Wilderness” trim levels came from Primitive Racing and other small Subaru shops near me in Oregon. Primitive started as a light rally-prep shop for Subarus offering sturdy metal skidplates and mild lift kits. Pretty soon, local dealers were buying up parts and installing the kits on brand new Outbacks and Crosstreks, and they were selling like hotcakes.
Word got back to Subaru in Japan, they flew their engineers out to Portland to study the kits, and a year later the Wilderness trims started rolling out, though the stock Wilderness skid plates have never been as beefy as the original local ones.
I can’t fact-check that story, but it’s what both the small shops and my local Subaru dealer have separately told me.
Gee, another subaru wilderness. I guess I’ll have to get used to seeing more of these plastic beasts on the streets in Denver.
Blocking traffic.
I could have seen this thing 5 times today IRL and wouldn’t have noticed, to be honest.
The ugly gold/mustard trim on the outbacks tends to catch my eye and also make me sad.
Definitely one of the vehicles of all time. That said, if wilderness + hybrid + garish color is available, I’ll bite, because I am exactly the type of NPC this is designed for.
The same – but with more cladding.
Yawn.
One of the questions I would never pose is “Is the earth flat”. Another is “What will the next Subaru Forester look like”.
This is a boring car, don’t care.
I just wanted to complain that there is no SWG around here anymore. Where is Junkyard Jesus?
SWG?
Star Wars Galaxies is the only correct answer with apologies to ASWG (Autopian Stephen Walter Gossin).
Sedan Wheelin’ Gargoyle
I think they said he’s going to be involved with this NYC Cab project?
I dont see any spoilers
Wow!
….
Moving on.
Dare I say, holy cow!
Anyway…
In 2025 Big Foot takes pictures of you!
Coming soon to Whole Foods and REI parking lots near you!
LOL, our sole Whole Foods and sole REI are about 2 miles from each other, in a very inconvenient location, but squarely in Rich People Land. They did their homework. And in turn, the parking lots are more BMW than Subaru.
Makes sense. I buy a couple things a year from REI.com, but haven’t set foot in a store in about 15 years. Whole Foods, about once every 3 years. Just too much good competition for both, but if you just need that $300 Patagonia fleece RIGHT NOW, you know where to find it. And you can even pick up a grass-fed organic chateaubriand on the way home. Or tofu if that’s your jam. Or even some tofu jam.
“if you just need that $300 Patagonia fleece RIGHT NOW, you know where to find it”
in Patagonia?
So we will have to look closely at Subarus as they drive by to see if they are outback SUVs (not wagons anymore) or Forester SUVs?
So they changed the wheels?
I am whelmed!
Also, Subaru, I’mma let you finish, but a CR-V Trailsport is one of the greatest ideas of all time.
Not even sarcastic, if they beef up the drivetrain a little, add some skidplates and a slight lift, and keep it as a hybrid option, I’m going to hand over some monies.
Just a couple days before they announced a CR-V Trailsport I was thinking to myself how I was surprised they didn’t already have one, after the marketing push the last few years. With a new RAV4 around the corner, Toyota is surely going to push the outdoorsy trims even more, so the time is nigh for Honda.
Throw in the orange or the Ash Green paint choices as seen on the Passport…
The current CRV is a great car. It’s like the Michael Jordan of appliance cars. The amount of engineering they put into it to make it the best piece of transportation possible almost makes it cool. For the vast majority of people it’s pretty much perfect.
I mean, I’m an enthusiast but I’m also practical and realize that it’s helpful to have a vehicle that can do almost everything well. The current CR-V is just that, and it converted me into a hybrid fan. If we add some “soft-roading” skills to the mix? Good enough for Hardibro, good enough for me. I just wish they’d add ventilated seats, it’s not even an option.
CR-V Hybrid has no spare tire because of poor packaging. All the hybrid bits are under the flor in back so no room for a spare, or a place to put your air pump, jumper cables, whatever else you like to keep in your car. I cross shopped a Forester against the CRV and bought the Forester. Took it on a 2000 mile trip a month later and it was very comfortable, quiet, unmatched visibility. I found the CVR a little cramped and claustrophobic by comparison – and I’ve had a CRV for 22 years with 300k and it’s been the best vehicle I’ve ever owned. But the Forster is a better car.
I cannot think of a form of espionage with lower stakes.
Wow, what a stunning, groundbreaking design from Subaru. This new Forester completely changes the game for compact CUVs and surely sets an exciting new trend for the remainder of the decade. Other automakers will be falling all over themselves copycatting this bold, innovative new Forester.
This should be met with RAV reviews.
I see they introduced a faux-floating roof with that little horizontal slit on the D-pillar, which might be my least favorite design cue ever.
If I have to say something nice, at least the wheel cladding looks to be understated compared to what they’ve done with Outback and WRX, with that extended asymmetry.
The only time the floating roof motif was ever done well was the Honda Odyssey. It’s a continuous sheet of glass, no stupid black plastic.
I have to say I’m not a fan, but it’s definitely well done. I guess I should say that about the same effect on the Lexus RX, but unfortunately that design is hampered by Everything Else on the Lexus RX.