2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid Road Test and Review

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

All new for the 2025 model year, the current-generation Subaru Forester is the second-smallest of seven SUVs and crossovers available from the Japanese automaker, spanning 183.3 inches nose to tail, nearly 7 inches longer than the Subaru Crosstrek but more than 8 inches shorter than the Subaru Outback. It is also one of just two Subaru models available with a hybrid gas-electric powertrain, a configuration that has become increasingly popular with buyers dealing with elevated prices at the gas pump. The Forester carries over with no significant changes for 2026.

As Subaru’s second-best-selling SUV in the U.S. in 2025, the five-passenger Forester goes up against some of the best sellers in the compact SUV class. Competition for the hybrid version of the Forester includes the Honda CR-V Hybrid, Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, Kia Sportage Hybrid, Mazda CX-50 Hybrid, and Toyota RAV4.

Forester Hybrid Trim Walk

For 2026, the Forester Hybrid is available in Premium, Sport, Limited, and Touring trims. There is no base trim as all versions come with a generous amount of standard equipment. As with other Subaru SUVs, all Forester models include standard symmetrical all-wheel drive. Including the $1,450 destination charge, 2026 Forester Hybrid prices are as follows: Premium, $36,180; Sport, $39,380; Limited, $40,445; and Touring, $42,995.

Standard equipment on the Forester Premium Hybrid includes cloth seat coverings, 18-inch machined-face alloy wheels with gray inserts, raised roof rails, a power driver’s seat, heated front seats, a six-speaker stereo, EyeSight advanced driver assists, a digital driver’s display, an 11.6-inch infotainment screen with navigation, a hands-free power lift gate, and a panoramic sunroof.

The Forester Sport Hybrid (shown here) upgrades to StarTex synthetic seat coverings and a wrapped steering wheel, wider tires and 19-inch alloy wheels with a love-it-or-hate-it bronze finish, an 11-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, switches to low-rise roof rails, and adds bronze exterior and interior accents.

The Forester Limited Hybrid switches back to 18-inch machined-face alloy wheels and raised roof rails while upgrading to a power-operated front passenger seat and rain-sensing wipers.

The range-topping Forester Touring Hybrid comes with larger 19-inch machine-faced alloy wheels with gray inserts, adds ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, and outboard rear seat cushions, upgrades the backup camera to a 360-degree surround-view one, includes perforated leather and faux-suede seat coverings, adds a smart rearview mirror and DriverFocus driver-monitoring system, and switches to low-rise roof rails.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Hybridizing the Forester

The Forester Hybrid shares the same powertrain system as the smaller, lighter Crosstrek Hybrid. The system includes a 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer engine retuned to the more-efficient Atkinson cycle with 162 horsepower and 154 pound-feet of torque. It is paired with an electric traction motor inside the continuously variable transmission case with 118 horsepower and 199 lb-ft of torque and the whole shebang delivers a total system output of 194 horsepower. A second electric motor starts the engine, charges the battery, and manages the blending of gas and electric power sources. A lithium-ion hybrid system battery is underfloor.

Although the Forester Hybrid’s powertrain delivers 14 more horsepower than the non-hybrid Forester’s 180 hp, the Forester Hybrid is carrying about 300 pounds more heft around, so both hybrid and non-hybrid Foresters can reach 60 mph from rest in the mid 8-second range. That compares to 0-60 times in the low 7-second neighborhood for the non-plug-in Toyota RAV4 AWD with 236 hp system output or the Honda CR-V Hybrid AWD and its 204 hp.

Where the Forester Hybrid makes sense is for Subaru customers looking for better fuel economy and range. The Forester Hybrid’s combined city/highway EPA rating is 35 mpg, a 7 mpg bump over the non-hybrid Forester Sport model. Same story for driving range; the Hybrid can go up to 581 miles between gas stops while the conventional non-hybrid Sport model is limited to 465 miles with the 16.6-gallon fuel tank. I saw an indicated 32.6 average mpg over 160 miles during a week of driving on a mix of local residential and city roads and freeways in desert temps in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Comfortable and Functional Cabin

Featuring a simple and straightforward dash layout with easy-to-use switchgear, the Forester offers good outward visibility to the front, rear, and sides. Sport models get an attractive two-tone interior theme with gray-colored seats and dash highlighted with brown accent stitching and splashes of bronze on the faux-leather wrapped steering wheel, lower dash and door trim panels. Standard in the Forester Hybrid is a 12.3-inch digital driver-configurable display which is capable of displaying the navigation map, but I find the T-shape of the map in the cluster to be odd and hard to read. Moving to the dash center is an 11.6-inch infotainment touchscreen with navigation and below that, a wireless cellphone charger for Qi-enabled phones, as well as handy USB-A and USB-C charge ports above the center console.

Overhead, all Forester Hybrid trims come with a panoramic power sunroof. This is great for stargazing but limits rear seat headroom a bit.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

User-Friendly Connectivity

I like the Forester’s old-school infotainment screen. Its vertical layout may look a bit dated and it does limit the size of the maps for the standard TomTom imbedded navigation system, but otherwise, the system is user-friendly with excellent, natural-language voice search and large screen icons that are easy to see and successfully tap on the road. The dirt-simple analog rotary volume and tuning knobs are a snap to locate and adjust in a moving vehicle, too. And who hasn’t searched high and low for the current time or outside temperature; both are prominently displayed in large font type at the top of the Forester’s infotainment screen. The lower part of the screen encapsulates some of the controls for the seat-heater and dual-zone automatic climate control system, but here again Subaru added physical up/down temperature buttons flanking the screen that actually click when tapped.

Of course, the Forester Hybrid is wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible for drivers who prefer their phone’s maps, apps, and voice-control search features and have a plan with plenty of data to burn. An upgrade over the “base” Forester Premium Hybrid’s six-speaker AM/FM/SiriusXM 360L stereo, the Forester Sport Hybrid test vehicle included a rich-sounding 11-speaker, 576-watt Harmon Kardon premium audio system. An AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot is available as well.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Take Your Seat

No bells and whistles here, just sound value. Despite the generous ground clearance, the Forester has low step-in height. The front buckets are heated and nicely supportive for thighs and torsos on curvy roads and longer trips but don’t impede ingress and egress. The Sport trim gets upgraded from the base Premium model’s cloth to two-tone gray StarTex faux-leather seat coverings with brown stitching. The Sport trim comes with a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat with lumbar adjustment but just manual adjustment for the front passenger, so if you want a power-adjustable front passenger seat, you’ll need to upgrade to the Limited or top-level Touring trim. Touring also brings ventilated front seats, driver seat memory, and real perforated leather seat coverings with soft-to-the-touch faux-suede Dinamica inserts. For those cross-shoppers out there, the Forester’s front seats have more legroom and headroom than that offered in the Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V Hybrid.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Ample Back Seat Space

The Forester Hybrid offers a reasonable amount of rear seat space for adults with 1.6 inches more rear legroom than the Toyota RAV4 and 1.5 inches less than the Honda CR-V Hybrid. Headroom is another story with both the RAV4 and CR-V edging out the Forester for more rear passenger space. There’s a fold-down center armrest in the Forester with dual cup holders, and the 60/40 split rear seatbacks can be reclined individually. Climate-control vents and illuminated USB-A and USB-C charge ports at the edge of the Forester’s front center console add convenience and comfort for rear-seaters. Touring trim brings heated bottom cushions for the outboard rear seat passengers.

The test vehicle was equipped with available genuine Subaru all-weather rubber floor mats which are a wonderful addition. They stay in place and have upturned high-wall edges to catch more mud, snow, and all manner of debris and slop.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Cargo Versatility

The boxy overall shape of this Subaru is a plus when it comes to cargo space, which is about par for the segment: 27.5 cubic feet behind the raised rear seat and 69.1 with both sections of the 60/40 split rear seat folded flat. There’s nearly 6 feet of load floor length with the rear seatbacks lowered, plenty of space to tote a step ladder or mountain bike with the lift gate closed. It’s accessible through a wide lift gate opening. All Forester Hybrid models come with a standard hands-free lift gate that works with a foot wave under the rear bumper. A standard window shade-type retractable cargo cover keeps valuables out of sight. The cargo bay is well-populated with grocery bag and tie-down hooks.

The test vehicle was equipped with a Subaru custom-fit rubberized accessory cargo floor mat with raised edges to contain slop and debris, which I highly recommend. It also helps keep things from sliding around and can be easily removed and hosed off when needed. The cargo mat is just one of more than a dozen factory-fit Forester accessories for camping equipment, pet care, bike racks, rooftop storage pods, and more.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

EyeSight for All

The Forester may be one of Subaru’s least expensive SUVs, but it’s loaded with safety and driver-assistive technologies. Standard advanced EyeSight driver assist tech includes features like forward collision warning with emergency braking assist, adaptive cruise control with lane centering, and lane-keeping with lane-departure warning. Also standard is Rear Vehicle Detection (Subaru’s name for blind-spot detection and rear cross-traffic assist) plus other safety features such as a rear-seat reminder, steering-responsive and height-adaptive LED headlamps with automatic high-beam control, and seven airbags. The Sport adds reverse automatic braking, the Limited brings automatic emergency steering assist, and the Touring adds a driver monitoring system and upgrades the basic backup camera to one with a 360-degree surround-view.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

All-Wheel-Drive Confidence

Except for slightly larger wheels (19 x 7.5-inch bronze-painted versus 18 x 7-inch machine-faced alloys) and slightly wider rubber (235/50R19 all-season versus 225/55R18 rubber), the Sport version of the Forester Hybrid has the same chassis pieces and running gear as the “base” Forester Premium Hybrid. As with all Subaru SUVs, the Forester Hybrid comes with the brand’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and generous ground clearance, measuring 8.7 inches that tops that of the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V hybrids.

Being a Subaru, the full-time active AWD system X-Mode with driver-selectable snow/dirt and deep snow/mud settings and hill descent control add extra confidence for off-pavement exploration and inclement-weather driving.

On road, the takeaway is how much quieter the Forester Hybrid is than the conventionally powered version. Launches from rest are smoother and more torque-rich with the Hybrid, thanks to the low-end boost of the electric traction motor. The Forester Hybrid stayed planted, confidently handling whatever the road presented even in the wet. Body roll was minimal despite the generous ground clearance. The Forester Hybrid’s dual-pinion electric steering was precise and accurate. And the brake pedal delivered crisp top-of-pedal response with linear effort that blended the regenerative action of the hybrid system and the mechanical action of the four-wheel disc binders smoothly.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Good Value

The 2026 Forester Hybrid delivers on the brand’s traditionally strong price/value attributes such as standard full-time all-wheel drive confidence, generous ground clearance, a comfortable cabin, and user-friendly controls while bringing enhanced fuel economy, smoother driveability, quieter interior noise levels, and an extended 500-mile-plus driving range. The Forester Hybrid is assembled in Lafayette, Indiana.

2026 Subaru Forester Sport Hybrid ・ Photo by Ron Sessions