2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness Potentially Leaked, It's Black Plastic Cladding Overload

4 days, 7 hours ago - 26 January 2025, autoevolution
2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness Potentially Leaked, It's Black Plastic Cladding Overload
Subaru redesigned the Forester compact utility vehicle in late 2023 for the 2025 model year. Be that as it may, the old-gen Forester soldiers on for 2025 in Wilderness flavor exclusively. That's likely going to change in the near future, as indicated by a purportedly leaked pic of the redesigned 2026 model.

The low-res picture comes from Instagram user Kindel Auto, a spy photographer that goes by the very same moniker on YouTube. As you can tell from said picture, Subaru went overboard with the black plastic cladding. That should not surprise us in the least because off-roady crossover always used a lot of body cladding to bring the point home.

Quite a bit more plasticky than other grades of the 2025 Subaru Forester, the Wilderness appears to be rolling on grade-specific wheels mounted with all-terrain rubber. The outgoing 2025 model is rocking 17-inch alloys in matte black and Yokohama Geolandar tires in 225/60 by 17 inches on all four corners.

Further gifted with lifted suspension and unique bumpers, the newcomer is expected to mirror the ground clearance of its predecessor. The 2025 Subaru Forester boasts 8.7 inches or 221 millimeters, therefore mirroring the ground clearance of the 2024 model. As for the Wilderness, that would be 9.2 inches or 234 millimeters.

The Forester introduced the rugged Wilderness trim level back for the 2022 model year. Dealers received the first units in October 2021. Beyond the in-your-face styling of the Wilderness, the most capable trim of the bunch uses longer coil springs and shock absorbers. The Japanese manufacturer also made a few revisions to the drivetrain for improved off-the-beaten-path capability.

Similar to the sixth-generation Forester, the outgoing Wilderness is powered by a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated four-pot boxer. The direct-injection engine makes either 182 or 180 horsepower, with peak torque rated at 176 or 178 pound-feet (239 or 241 Newton-meters). In both cases, the Lineartronic chain-type CVT joins the Symmetrical AWD system.

Subaru uses the Active Torque Split AWD system for this application, whose multi-plate transfer clutch defaults to a torque split of 60 percent for the front axle and 40 percent for the rear axle. With the upcoming 2026 Subaru Forester Wilderness, we don't expect any change for the Active Torque Split AWD.

On the other hand, we may be in for a surprise. That surprise is a series-parallel hybrid system that Subaru of America has already confirmed on its consumer website for 2025. Previewed by the 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid for North America, said fuel-sipping powertrain offers a combined 194 horsepower. Developed specifically for this application, the 2.5-liter engine makes 158 horsepower on its own.

As a series-parallel hybrid, the forthcoming model is powered by the combustion engine, traction motor, or both. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if the frugal setup will be available in Wilderness specification. So far, only the Premium, Sport, and Limited trims are believed to become hybrid for 2026. 

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