2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness | The Most Rugged Forester Ever –
Subaru’s popular compact crossover receives a facelift for 2022, as well as a more robust off-road competent grade.
This is the forester wilderness of 2022.
The forester wilderness is built for the Subaru customer who wants to go a bit farther off the beaten road than a wrangler or bronco, but not nearly as far as a wrangler or bronco can go.
This is filling a gap in the market where there aren’t many excellent choices in the US right now.
You could theoretically consider this a direct rival to the Jeep Cherokee and perhaps a rav4 trd.
To put it another way, If you like to rock crawl on weekends, you’ll probably want a bronco or a wrangler, but if you want to rock climb, kayak, canoe, or do any of those outdoor activities and want to get a little further down the trailhead, a little closer to your destination, that’s exactly where this comes in.
Every forester gets a reworked front end for 2022, with the most off-road and rugged looking one being of course.
The rest of the protection panels will be optional.
In terms of size, the forester is in the middle of the compact crossover class at 182.7 inches long, which is nine inches shorter than the Subaru Outback and has a shorter wheelbase, so even though it doesn’t have quite the same level of ground clearance as the outback wilderness, it will probably go some places that the outback wilderness can’t.
You’ll notice that ground clearance isn’t quite as high as in the outback wilderness at 9.5 inches, which is likely due to some production constraints at Subaru’s factory.
However, because the forester is nine inches shorter and has a shorter wheelbase than the outback, you’ll likely find that there’s not much of a difference when it comes to off-road capability.
The outback wildness also offers some technical improvements under the hood, but we don’t get any additional power, so this is the same two and a half liter four-cylinder boxer engine that powers the normal forester, delivering the same 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque.
All-wheel drive is standard on all Forester models, as it is on almost every Subaru out there, as is a continuously variable automatic transmission, but for the wilderness treatment, we get a different cvt than the regular forester; this one has been borrowed from the outback wilderness and the Subaru Ascent, and it gives us a larger ratio spread and, more importantly, a lower starting gear ratio, giving us 25% more torque from a standstill for those stick shifters.
Subaru’s active driver assistance tech gets an update for 2022 as well.
They call it the isight 4 system since it is still based on a stereo camera setup with two cameras right here behind the windshield but they now have double the field of view that they had before which gives you adaptiv Autonomous emergency braking, pedestrian recognition, and lane-keeping assistance are just some of the features available.
The graph on the right-hand side of your screen represents the basic model.
We do get a couple extra active safety features included if you have the wilderness trim.
I’ve spent many hours in the outback wilderness and found the driver’s seat to be really comfortable.
It’s a multi-way power adjustable design.
We have a two-way adjustable lumbar support and a manual tilt telescopic steering column with a large range of motion in this trim, but you should know that the front passenger seat is a manual design in this trim combined leg room in this generation forester is very generous with the front seat adjusted for me at six feet tall, I have about six or seven inches of leg room left so if you’re looking for a more rugged vehicle that There is significantly more legroom in here than we find in the rav4 the rav4 is really quite tight in the back, and it doesn’t get any better if you get the more off-road capable versions I think in terms of real-world accommodations this is also a bit more generous than the jeep cherokee just due to the shape of the interior if you’re looking for a more reclined driving position or a more sedan-like driving position you want to take a Back here, I’m just going to pop the score that the forester got last time right on your screen, but if you’re looking for a little bit more room behind the second row seats, there are a few better options in the United States right now if you fold down the second row seats, however, things become pretty similar to the segment leaders going in for a closer look we have power buttons to easily release the second row seats from the back some cargo hooks on each side going in for a closer look we the emblem of the wilderness on the front seat headrests We have incorporated wilderness accents throughout the inside, as well as gold stitching to mirror the gold highlights on the outside.
The upholstery is one of Subaru’s imitation leather products that has been embossed with a dimpled design the hexagon theme sort of mirrors the fog lights up front and reminds me a little bit of golf ball texture you’ll find them on all four doors and on the two front seat backs the upholstery is one of Subaru’s imitation leather products that has been embossed with a dimpled design the hexagon theme sort of mirrors the fog lights up front and it reminds me a little bit of golf ball Let me know what you think in the comments section below; the seats have a subtle two-tone pattern, so your eyes aren’t tricking you; certain areas are a touch darker than others.
The front seat back cushion and seat bottom cushion have minimal bolstering; the seats are heated but not ventilated.
The door trim panels feature a dimple pattern that matches the upholstery on the seats, and there are plenty of soft touch materials in the front and rear doors.
The top portion is a soft touch material, and the bulk of the door panel has upholstery that is quite similar to the seat upholstery, complete with gold stitching details.
To increase longevity, the soft touch armrest is followed by stronger plastics at the bottom of the door.
A soft touch injection molded top part may be seen on the dashboard.
a dashboard with dimples that are extremely similar to the last one More gold stitching may be found.
Some metallic effect trim right there hard plastics right around the glove compartment it’s a nice big bin style glove compartment that I was able to fit a larger tablet computer inside in the middle of the dash we have one of Subaru’s familiar two screen setups where we have a larger infotainment screen right here that supports apple carplay and android auto The system is quick and simple to use below that, but I was shocked that Subaru didn’t install their bigger 11 inch system that we see in the outback, the legacy, and the new wrx instead we get essentially the same arrangement that we had before now above that we get a separate screen.
The smaller display, which we’ll see in a minute, is controlled by the info button on the steering wheel and displays the status of the active safety systems.
some additional gauges all-wheel-drive system Turn-by-turn instructions were taken from the navigation system.
Readouts from Apple CarPlay On the driver’s side, we have a two-dial analog instrument cluster with a color multi-function display in the middle and a Subaru wilderness logo right over there on the tachometer.
The steering wheel is basically the same as the rest of the forester lineup but we get a gold accent right down there on the middle spoke the info button tha Take a break from the phone and focus on the buttons.
The adaptive cruise control controls are over here, and we have this toggle right here that cycles between the information presented by that multi-function display between the speedometer and tachometer.
Subaru splits some of their active safety buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, where we find blind spot monitoring enable disable, traction and stability control auto start stop enable disable, and for some reason, the rear emergency button, lane departure warning button, and telematics buttons are right up here next to the moon roof controls.
Going back to the center console, we find the endocrine system enable disable.
We have a pretty traditional console shifter here there is basically a manual mode down here we put it to drive pull it over for the manual mode you can then use the paddles in the back of the steering wheel to shift gears this does not toggle the gears around we then have a dual x mode control here we put it to drive pull it over for the manual mode you can then use the paddles in the back of the steering wheel to shift gears this does not toggle the gears around we have a pretty traditional console If the vehicle is in reverse, the rear camera is on the infotainment system, and if I press the button, we get a front camera view on the other screen.
That screen is a little bit small and far away from the driver, so if I zoom out, you can see that that image does appear pretty small, but obviously you’re also looking out the front.
two big cup holders, a soft touch arm rest, and a medium-sized storage compartment in the middle Fortunately, I was able to spend a lot of time out on some of the Bureau of Land Management land out here in Oregon, and this is exactly the kind of place that the forester wilderness was designed for because a lot of the roads out here aren’t well maintained, and if you were in something like a regular rav4 or a crv or a mazda cx-5, you would definitely be scraping a lot on some of these roads, but with over nine inches of jeep’s The cherokee is logically a direct competitor to the forester, but this is more of a competitor to the mid-level versions of the cherokee in terms of off-road capability.
If you want to take things to the next level, Jeep does offer a two-speed transfer case and a locking rear differential in the cherokee, but keep in mind that those features will cost you more and will add weight to the vehicle, reducing on-road driving performance.
cvts like the ones found in the rest of the forester lineup are more tuned to on-road driving and highway fuel efficiency, which means that their final drive ratio and effective gear ratio from a stop is not as aggressive as the one found in this model, which will pay dividends not only for off-roading ability and tricky weather ability, but also for towing, which is why the tow rating goes up, and 0-60 acceleration.
If you’re looking for something a little bit more supple out on road surfaces like this, you might want to consider the outback; if you’re looking for something a little bit more dynamic once you’re on the road, you might want to consider the forester wilderness; but even with this suspension tune, the forester wilderness does a good job of smoothing out some of these bumps at higher speeds out on this washboard road.
Once I’m out on the road, it’s smooth and quiet.
Wind noise and cabin noise are well managed, although if you pick the model with these all-terrain tires, you could hear a little more tire noise.
Because I haven’t been driving this at home, I can’t speak to the fuel economy, but I suspect the EPA estimate of 26 miles per gallon will be easily achieved.
We do have auto start-stop, but no mild hybrid technology, as we see with the outback wilderness.
You should expect the forester wilderness to get a few mpg less than the regular forester, mainly due to the different cvt and final drive ratios, at least for the first year.
the altered all-wheel drive system, the changed cvt, the lower final drive ratio, and the more aggressive all-wheel drive system All-terrain tires not only make this more competent than a conventional Forester, but they also make it a very reasonable companion for your everyday commute since it feels excellent even on curving roads like these, and there will be a lot more on-road concessions if you push things to the next level.
If you look at a cherokee trailhawk, there’s definitely a compromise for the added weight, complexity, and fuel economy loss for all of those various components, and then if you go beyond the cherokee and look at something like a bronco or a jeep wrangler, there’ll be even more trade-offs when it comes to fuel economy on-road driving dynamics.
Cabin silence, practicality, and affordability are all factors to consider.
This will be a lot less costly than almost everything else on the market that is more off-road ready.
If you want to get your hands on a new forester, contact your local subaru dealer today because they will go on sale in the united states in december of 2021 and you should probably get your name on a waiting list right now if you want one soon thanks to the ongoing global chip shortage supplies are likely to be scarce at least for the first calendar year the base model is quite simply one of the best small crossover deals in the united states it’s gps capable it’s gps capable it The primary advantage of that basic model is that, like every other Subaru save the Brz, all-wheel drive comes standard, which saves you around $2,000 over the competition.
The fuel efficiency is likewise quite good.
Most of the competition will have fuel economy similar to the base model forester, but they’ll be two-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive, and by the time you add all-wheel drive, most of them will be a little less efficient than the Subaru.
So if you’re looking for a relatively inexpensive capable crossover with a low sticker price standard all-wheel drive and a ton of driver assistance tech, the base model forester is the way to go, but if you’re looking for a The outback wilderness is going to be a little bit more comfortable; it’ll be a little bit softer tuned out on the road; it’ll feel a little bit more grown up, and it’ll have a lot more power owing to the standard turbocharged engine in the wilderness grade.
Off-road capabilities will be comparable in most cases.
Because the outback has greater torque and power, it will be able to climb steeper climbs.
It may be a little easier to get out of tighter circumstances than this, but ground clearance is very comparable.
Because the wheelbase is longer in the outback, the whole car is longer, the additional three tenths of an inch will probably not make much of a difference for the typical person.
This will imply that off-roading capabilities will be relatively same, but it will be a little bit less costly.
Stay tuned because hopefully i’ll be able to get my hands on one of these for a full weekly video sometime soon so stay tuned for that in the meantime I think it’s impossible to go wrong by ordering a forester wilderness or just the regular version of the forester by the time you’ve worked your way up to the touring model I do believe that some of the features on the touring model aren’t available on the forester wilderness or regular version of the forester by the time you’ve worked your If you’re searching for all-wheel drive, let me know what you think in the comments area below.
Also, check out my video on the outback wilderness, which will be right next to this on the dealer lot, and I’ll see you all next week.