Subaru Forester Wilderness revealed

UPDATED 03/09/2021, 11:30am: The adventure-seeking Subaru Forester Wilderness has been officially revealed in the USA, confirming an uptick in ground clearance from 221mm to 233mm.

According to Subaru USA, "Longer coil springs and shock absorbers" deliver the extra ride height, while special suspension tuning maintains the SUV's ride and handling qualities.

The Forester Wilderness comes equipped with Yokohama Geolandar all-terrain tyres on 17-inch alloy wheels, with a full-size spare wheel. The reinforced ladder-type roof racks can carry more too -- up to 100kg while moving or just over 360kg while stationary, the latter allowing for bigger roof tents.

Subaru has also added some body armour in the form of plastic cladding around the vehicle, along with a modest front bash plate, an anti-glare decal on the bonnet and new hexagonal LED front fog lights.

The adventurous Forester also gets new water-resistant StarTex seat upholstery.

Original article published 02/09/2021: After teasing a second intrepid new ‘Wilderness’ model last month, Subaru has now confirmed the Forester will indeed follow the Outback in receiving a tough off-road upgrade.

Not unlike Jeep with its offroad-ready Trailhawk flagships, Subaru is keen to tap growing demand for more capable SUVs and it will employ its new Wilderness sub-brand to expand its product portfolio.

But confirmation that the Forester Wilderness will follow the Outback Wilderness has come sooner than Subaru had planned.

Images and details of the rugged Forester Wilderness were inadvertently published on – then promptly removed from – the Subaru Canada website, showing a chunkier looking Forester with enhanced off-road capability.

Like its bigger sibling, the Subaru Forester Wilderness gets tweaked suspension with extra ride height (expected to be around 20mm) to improve ground clearance, enabling it to go further off-road.

This is combined with 17-inch black alloy wheels shod with Yokohama Geolandar all-terrain tyres, mild underbody protection and a shorter final drive ratio to improve low-end response and low-speed off-road performance.

Subaru’s Wilderness models will be pitched at SUV buyers who explore roads less travelled, or at least desire the ability to do so.

To that end the Forester Wilderness also adds extra plastic cladding around the lower edges of its body, including the front-end, wheel-arches and doors, letting the world know this is not your average medium SUV.

Interior updates include various Wilderness logos scattered around the cabin, as well as hose-out rubber floor mats, more robust rubber cup-holders and minor changes to the instrument panel.

At this stage it appears the Forester Wilderness will only be offered with Subaru’s non-turbo 2.5-litre four-cylinder boxer petrol engine (136kW/239Nm).

Details of the Subaru Forester Wilderness’s fuel consumption were broadcast by the US EPA recently, confirming that its lower gearing will reduce efficiency, from 8.1L/100km to 9.0L/100km.

Foresters with the same engine and automatic transmission (CVT) consume 7.4L/100km, according to the ADR/NEDC combined standard.

Subaru Australia has repeatedly said the Japanese brand’s new Wilderness models are aimed only at the North American market for the time being, but has not ruled them out for future release Down Under.

“We’re always talking to the factory about future options. There’s nothing on the horizon but we’re following the progress of those Wilderness editions very closely,” said a Subaru Australia spokesperson.