It’s feels odd writing this, but the all-new Subaru Forester has finally made its debut in, of all places, its home market of Japan. We say that because it first premiered in the US, followed by Europe. Making things even weirder is the fact that all sixth-generation Forester models are made in Japan, at least for now.
That aside, the Japanese-market model does come with neat features and options, chief among which are the powertrain options. Obviously, there’s a hybrid which is practically the norm in Japan these days. However, there’s also a turbocharged version also available.
But before you get too excited, this isn’t the comeback of the much loved XT that could chase down junior sports cars. It’s, well, a little milder in this case.
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The turbocharged mill powering the Japan-market Subaru Forester is a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder boxer unit. It’s good for 174hp and 300Nm, which is fair for downsized turbo power plant. Still, it’s also a lot better than the 2.0-liter boxer engine that has motivated base Foresters for literal decades. For comparison, the 1.8-liter turbo makes 26hp and 104Nm over the 2.0-liter.
With that, we sure hope that becomes available once the new generation model eventually arrives in the Philippines. We’re expecting gains, not just in performance, but also in economy, the latter being a relative sore point of Foresters for quite some time already. Claimed fuel efficiency figures are promising, ranging from 10km/L to 15.5km/L in mixed cycles.
By now, you’re likely familiar with the hybrid version of the all-new Forester. For Japan, the specs are unchanged, meaning a 2.5-liter Atkinson Cycle engine paired to two electric motors. The combined output is rated at 194hp and 270Nm while fuel efficiency ranges from 15.3km/L to 20.5km/L. With a fuel tank capacity of 63 liters, we should see over 1,000km between fill-ups.
These being Subarus, Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive is standard, although the 1.8-liter uses a CVT while the 2.5-liter hybrid utilizes an e-CVT.
Aside from the compact turbo engine, the Japan-spec Forester comes with another novelty. That would be the exterior airbag for cyclists and pedestrians. It’s not a totally new concept, as Volvo was first to bring it to production over a decade ago.
However, that doesn’t discount the fact that Subaru is making an even greater effort to keep other road users safe when accidents happen. That’s on top of other safety features such as the latest generation of the EyeSight advanced driver assist that even includes autonomous emergency lane changing.
In Japan, prices for the all-new Subaru Forester start at ¥4,048,000 for the Sport Turbo and go up tot ¥4,598,000 for the range-topping Premium S:HEV EX. Converted to local prices (sans taxes), that’s from around P1,631,000 to P1,853,000.
More photos of the 2025 Subaru Forester (Japan market):
