2025 Subaru Forester Wilderness gets down and dirty

The 2025 Subaru Forester Wilderness has been unveiled in the US, potentially paving the way for a more capable take on the Japanese SUV Down Under.

Said to come with 236mm of ground clearance – 16mm more than the standard sixth-generation Subaru Forester – the new Wilderness version comes with extensive mechanical changes designed to boost its off-road capability.

The big news is the Forester Wilderness comes with uprated suspension that includes longer springs and new dampers said to improve stability and comfort both on- and off-road.

Meanwhile, engineers have added extra spot welds and more structural adhesive that, overall, is said to boost torsional rigidity by 10 per cent.

Powering the more rugged Forester is the standard SUV’s revised 2.5-litre naturally aspirated boxer engine, which produces maximum claimed outputs of 136kW and 239Nm.

Differing from the regular version, the Wilderness’ CVT transmission features a shorter final drive for improved response and enhanced low-speed traction when off-road.

Helping pre-arm the Subaru's permanent all-wheel drive is a revised version of the firm’s X-Mode driving modes, which now feature Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud driving modes said to sharpen up the centre differential's reactions to reduce wheelspin.

As standard, the Forester Wilderness rides on all-terrain tyres on a set of off-road-ready 17-inch wheels.

An uprated transmission with better cooling has helped boost the model’s braked towing capacity to 1588kg.

A rear differential temperature sensor is also said to help boost confidence on the trails in tough conditions.

Other useful changes include new front and rear bumpers that have increased the approach angle to 23.5 degrees (up from 19 degrees) and departure angle to 25.5 degrees (up from 24.6 degrees). The rampover angle has also improved at 21 degrees (up from 19.6 degrees).

Featuring a new set of roof rails that can carry 363kg, up from 80kg, the Wilderness gets LED hexagonal headlights, extra underbody armour and new front and rear bumper tow hooks.

Within, the mud-loving Forester comes with anodised copper-finished interior accents and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that gains Wilderness-exclusive graphics.

Until now, Subaru’s Wilderness sub-brand – which offers a more rugged take on its vehicles – has been off-limits for the Australian market, but back in 2023 Subaru Australia said it wanted to import Wilderness versions of the Forester as well as its Outback and Crosstrek models.

One big issue to overcome, however, is that currently the Wilderness versions of the Forester, Outback and smaller Crosstrek are all built in the US as opposed to Japan, meaning there aren’t currently any right-hook versions.

Subaru Australia has also previously spoken of its ambitions of securing a Wilderness version of its first EV, the Subaru Solterra.

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