Should You Buy? 5 Pros & Cons of Subaru Forester 2022

The Subaru Forester is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by the Japanese company Subaru. The Forester was introduced in 1997 and is currently in its fifth generation since 2018.

The 2022 Forester is a facelifted version of the fifth-generation model. It is available in 6 trim levels: Base, Premium, Sport, Wilderness, Limited, and Touring.

What’s New?

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  • New Wilderness trim joins the lineup.
  • Restyled exterior with refurbished LED headlights, grille, and bumpers.
  • Upgraded roof rails that can handle more weight.
  • New gloss black window moldings on the Touring trim. 
  • Updated eyesight driver-assist system as standard.

Standard features found on the all-new 2022 Forester Wilderness include an 8.0-inch touchscreen, a water-repellent upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, forward-facing off-road camera, reverse automatic emergency braking, and all-terrain tires. But the most notable addition is the Wilderness’s double towing capacity compared to the other trims. Other available features include a nine-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, navigation, and a power liftgate.

Here we will take a look at the 5 pros and 5 cons of the 2022 Subaru Forester to have insights into what are the tradeoffs when one considers buying this car. Please follow through.

5 Pros

Standard All-wheel Drive

Subaru’s are known for their all-wheel-drive systems, and Forester’s are the biggest utilizers. The 2022 Forester comes with all-wheel drive as standard, a feat that separates it from the rest of the class, as AWD comes as a pricey addition in most rivals. Another essential addition available on all Foresters except the base model is hill descent control and X-Mode, a system that improves the car’s grip on slippery surfaces.

Additional Driver-assist Features Are Standard

The Subaru Forester has been offered with several driver-assist technologies as standard. The list of these features on the 2022 Forester has grown and they include: Adaptive cruise control, Lane keep assist, Lane centering assist, Lane departure warning, Forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and a Rearview camera. Additionally, some trims offer extra driver assistance features that include: Rear cross traffic alert, Blind spot monitoring, Driver drowsiness monitoring, Reverse automatic emergency braking, and Lane change assist.

Strengthened Off-road Capability Boosted By Its Superior Ground Clearance

The Forester has always faired pretty well as an off-road vehicle, challenging even bigger and larger SUVs on their own turf. The 2022 Forester is even better, it beats almost every class rival in offroading abilities. Most 2022 Foresters come with 8.7 inches of ground clearance that enables them to traverse muddy, snowy, and light trails untroubled. The Wilderness trim is even better, it has 9.2 inches of ground clearance that boosts its capabilities even further.

Bountiful Cargo Area

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Only a few class rivals can boast of having as much cargo space as the 2022 Forester. The base Forester offers 818 liters of cargo space behind the second-row seats and 2101 liters with the second-row seats folded flat. The other trims have their figures dropping to 761 liters and 1956 liters, respectively. The cargo area is also boosted by the car’s high roof and clever cargo layout which improves the practicality of the space even for large items.

Spacious Seats

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The 2022 Subaru Forester is a five-seat car. The driving position is great enabling drivers to have good visibility of the road ahead. Occupants in the Forester will appreciate its quiet and spacious cabin. Both front and rear seats are supportive and comfortable, with plenty of head- and legroom. In fact, five 6-footers can fit in quite comfortably across the five seats without feeling squeezed in. The wide opening doors make ingressing and egressing easy in either row.

5 Cons

Engine Is Underpowered

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The Forester comes fitted with a base naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder petrol engine with 182 hp paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). This engine takes you from point A to point B, but it’s not a formidable power plant. Acceleration is merely so average, and notably its weakest point. Although this is a significant drawback, it’s certainly not adequate to play down the car’s standout areas.

Limited Tow Rating Limits Practicality

Crossover SUVs do come with a limited cargo hold, to subsidize that, most owners opt for trailers. But before latching a trailer, you must consider the car’s towing capacity. All trims of the 2022 Forester have a maximum towing capacity of just 680 kilograms, while the Wilderness rating is twice that at 1360 kilograms. This is below average compared to other cars in its class.

Engine Noise In The Cabin

The 2022 Subaru Forester is not very well insulated against external noise, as some noise does penetrate into the cabin causing some nuisance. The most notable sound heard in the cabin is the vehicle’s engine roaring.

Outdated Infotainment System

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The 2022 Forester comes fitted with an intuitive 6.5-inch Starlink infotainment system that is pretty simple and easy to use. Its touchscreen responds well to inputs, but the graphics could be better. There’s also a secondary display atop the dashboard that displays some other information not displayed on the touch screen. Standard features of this infotainment system include a four-speaker stereo, a 6.5-inch touch screen, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, USB ports, HD Radio, and satellite radio. Available options include an 8.0-inch touchscreen, a nine-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, a six-speaker stereo, Wi-Fi hot spot, extra USB ports, and navigation.

Comparing this system to the systems fitted in other cars in this segment, this system feels outdated and needs to be upgraded. 

Awkward Stop-start System

The 2022 Subaru Forester comes with an auto stop-start system that has received mixed feedback from its owners.

The auto start-stop system is a system that automatically stops the engine a few seconds after a complete stop and starts once the brake is released and the accelerator pressed. It’s a system designed to save fuel by shutting down the engine every time the car stops. But the 2022 Forester owners don’t feel like the system reduces fuel consumption, and further find the system annoying as the frequent start-stop sequences of the engine are tiresome especially due to the engine vibration on restart. And this is worsened by the fact that the system can’t be permanently disabled.

Final Verdict

It’s very hard to find fault in the 2022 Subaru Forester. Apart from lackluster acceleration, engine noise, and outdated infotainment system, there’s a lot to like about the 2022 Forester. It has a comfortable cabin and plenty of features that will please owners, but along with that, it delivers the feel and rugged attitude worth its price.

We at BE FORWARD have stocked 500+ old and new used Subaru Forester models. Please check out our stock to find your next Forester

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Written by: Samuel H. Mponezya

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