5 Features That Make the 2023 Subaru Forester a Standout SUV

The 2023 Subaru Forester is here and carries over all the exciting features introduced for the refreshed 2022 model year. If you’ve been contemplating whether or not it is time to head to a Subaru Forester dealer, Richard Lucas Subaru has put together this short list of some of the features you need to keep in mind when shopping for your next Subaru. Specifically, our list highlights the features that make the 2023 Subaru Forester well worth the investment and a standout SUV in its segment.

With the recent updates, adventurous Wilderness trim, and exciting new technology, the Forester has entered a new phase on the market, excelling in ways that make it tough for the competition to keep up. If you are in the market for a Forester and are wondering if the 2023 model year has what you want, make no mistake that it does. Check out the features below and see if they get you excited about driving a 2023 Forester.

#1 – Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive

It might not seem like a big deal, but Subaru’s patented Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system isn’t just about making the vehicles handle well on the road, although it absolutely does do that in spades. The system is designed to ensure that the Forester makes the most of its low center of gravity for precision turning and stable handling, even at higher speeds. The system was designed to work in conjunction with Subaru’s iconic Boxer engine so that you get punchy performance and excellent all-around responsive handling. But wait, Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive does even more!

The system is designed to work cohesively with the Lineartronic continuously variable transmission. What does this mean? It means that the vehicle maintains mechanical harmony so that you’re not only getting the most efficient performance and precise handling out of the 2023 Subaru Forester but also great gas mileage. The entire ecosystem of the Forester’s mechanical design ensures that you can achieve up to 33 MPG on the highway. You have smooth handling, great performance, stable traction, and remarkable fuel economy to boot with the 2023 Forester. What’s not to love about that?

#2 – SI-Drive

Subaru Intelligent Drive (SI-Drive) is an engine management system that enhances performance. This cool feature enables Forester drivers to make use of multiple drive modes. However, these aren’t just basic modes you might find in other vehicles. The different drive modes open up new ways to experience life on or off the road in a Forester. There are three specific drive modes in total, but the 2023 Forester trims each have access to two different modes.

If you have a Forester Sport, you have access to Intelligent Mode and Sport Sharp Mode. If you have any other Forester trim, you have access to Intelligent Mode and Sport Mode. Intelligent Mode is a fuel-saving mode that allows you to get the most fuel efficiency out of your Forester, saving you up to 10% on gas mileage. Sport Mode is designed as the all-around travel mode with more snappy acceleration and improved overall performance. For those of you with a lead foot, Sport Sharp Mode is designed as a performance mode for the Forester Sport, providing a direct throttle response and maximizing the entire rev range of the Boxer engine. It makes driving the Forester a truly exhilarating experience.

#3 – Wilderness Trim

The Wilderness trim for the Subaru Forester originally made its debut for the 2022 model year, but it’s available for the 2023 model year, and it’s as cool as ever. If you wanted a more rugged and capable compact SUV, the Wilderness trim is the way to go and certainly something worth racing to a Subaru Forester dealer for. Why? Well, it sports a lot of really awesome features stuffed into an equally awesome design.

The Wilderness trim comes with a unique two-tone color scheme featuring blacked-out cladding, Anodized Copper details, and six standout paint options. The matte-black hood accent just adds to the rugged cool factor that the Wilderness trim embodies. But it has more than just looks; it’s also a very capable performer, with a max towing capacity of 3,000 lbs. This makes the Wilderness trim a great option for those who do a lot of traveling and outdoor adventuring, bringing survival gear, camping equipment, or other traveling tools along for the journey.

But wait, there’s even more! The Wilderness trim boosts the Subaru Forester’s off-road capabilities by a significant margin. Some of its exclusive features include lower gearing to make more robust use of its torque for better hill-climbing efficiency, 17-inch matte-black wheels paired with Yokohama Geolandar M/T tires, and 9.2 inches of ground clearance with enhanced approach and departure angles and skid plates for undercarriage protection. The added dual-function X-Mode has also been updated with different terrain settings allowing you to easily attack deep snow, dirt, mud, gravel, and slippery roads with improved traction and stability control.

#4 – Gesture Controls

One of the nifty features of the newer Subaru Forester models is the ability to make use of gesture controls. That’s right, you can control certain vehicle features without actually touching any buttons or attempting to fumble around with dials or widgets while you’re driving. This is a great way to make modifications to the in-cabin experience without taking your eyes off the road. How does it work? You can modify the in-cabin climate control without lifting a finger…well, technically, you have to raise a hand, but that’s it.

With the Subaru Forester gesture controls, holding an open hand in front of the climate control gauge will raise the temperature slightly. This is very useful if you want to adjust the climate without messing with dials, touchpads, or control mechanics. Just raise your hand, and the temperature goes up. What if you don’t want to raise the temperature? What if you want to lower the temperature? Well, there’s an easy fix for that: hold up a fist. That’s it, just hold a fist in front of the gauge and it will lower the temperature. It’s quick, easy, and takes barely a second to do; you don’t even have to take your eyes off the road to do it. How awesome is that?

#5 – EyeSight Driver Assist Technology

Driver-assist features really don’t get as much love as they deserve. The average car shopper probably isn’t going to visit a Subaru Forester dealer just to get their hands on the latest iteration of Subaru’s highly advanced EyeSight driver-assist suite, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do so. This highly advanced and very cool tech makes driving in a Forester safer and more enjoyable all the way around.

The basic premise of Subaru’s EyeSight is that it provides better road awareness for drivers, with Pre-Collision Braking, Pre-Collision Throttle Management, Lane Keep Assist, and Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control. But the EyeSight Driver Assist Technology extends beyond that. The 2023 Subaru Forester comes with the latest version of the suite, which features a wider field of view for improved traffic detection, better response timing, and advanced Automatic Emergency Steering that works in conjunction with the collision avoidance features.

Basically, the Subaru Forester is even better equipped to prevent you from ending up in an accident. The improved software and hardware mean there are fewer opportunities for a collision to occur, and the vehicle can utilize systems to minimize the damage from an accident. EyeSight is a great bit of collision mitigation and is especially useful when driving on slippery roads, in snowy areas, or in high-congestion traffic. At the end of the day, who wouldn’t want to be safer on the road with one of the top-rated compact SUVs on the market?