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Boxer engines and Subaru have been inseparable for most of this Japanese brand's life. In recent years though, some have begun to question whether this flat four format really has a place in the industry's largely electrified future. In 2019, Subaru wanted to assure us that it did, hence the full-hybrid e-Boxer petrol unit fitted to this fifth generation Forester. This 'SK'-series model also got a much stiffer platform, a considerably classier cabin and even more capable off road ability via its Symmetrical 4WD system and X-Mode drive settings. But you'll still need to be very much a Subaru loyalist to really like it.
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Detailed ratings
Large-Sized Family Hatch-Based SUVs
History
Wouldn't it be nice to find a properly capable mid-sized family SUV? A car that could walk the walk as well as talking the talk? A car like this one, Subaru's fifth generation Forester, which in 2019 was enhanced with an e-Boxer mild hybrid petrol powertrain.
Everything about this design seems to be nicely balanced, from the shape and positioning of its freshly electrified Boxer engine to the shape and positioning of its intended clientele. People who want something fashionable, but don't need to make a fashion statement. People who want something tough and rugged, but don't need to tackle the Rubicon Trail. Subaru hoped that the smarter styling inside and out would go down as well as the Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive system and the symmetrical off road technology.
In this MK5 form, this Forester is very much a mid-sized SUV, but in its first two generations of life, this model was simply an AWD estate, albeit a very capable one. The first generation 'SF'-series car of 1997 and its successor, the 'SG'-series model of 2002, satisfied the kind of market Subaru has long also catered to with its Outback station wagon. Perhaps wary of continued duplication alongside that car, the Japanese maker gave the Forester more of a raised Crossover vibe in its third generation 'SH' form of 2008, a theme further developed with the fourth generation 'SJ'-series version of 2012, which was usefully updated three years later.
This MK5 'SK'-series model though, launched in late 2019, offered the most fundamental change in Forester design we'd seen yet. The key thing Subaru wanted to talk about at launch was the fact that this car, like their smaller XV Crossover, had installed a proper full-Hybrid version of the brand's classic flat four Boxer petrol powerplant, this engine designated the 'e-Boxer'. Just as significant was the news that this fifth generation Forester was the third of the company's modern-era models to sit on its 'Subaru Global Platform' - a chassis we had first seen back in 2016 underpinning the MK5 version of its Impreza family hatch, then subsequently also in the second generation version of its XV small SUV.
That chassis made this car stronger and more sophisticated, most notably in the way the floorplan could now accommodate the company's advanced 'Eyesight' driver assist technology. What didn't change though, was the way that customers bought a Forester for what could do, not for what it might say about them. Talk to almost any former owner and they'll tell you of times when they cruised past other similar vehicles that came unstuck when the going got tough. They'll tell you that nothing ever fell off. That nothing ever went wrong. And that nothing would persuade them to buy anything else. All of which would be great for Subaru's UK importers if there were a lot of these kinds of people. But there aren't, so this 'SK'-series model needed to satisfy the brand loyalists while also reaching a wider audience - people who perhaps might never have owned a Subaru before. There was a light facelift in 2022, then this car sold in this form until early 2025, when it was replaced by an all-new MK6 model.
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What you get
Subaru wanted this car to sell alongside sleek, premium-badged upper-mid-sized SUVs and with that aim in mind re-styled this fifth generation 'SK'-series Forester model to look a little less chunky and utilitarian. Yet it's still clearly a car that'd be as at home on the lower slopes of Ben Nevis as it would be in Belgravia. Loyal owners wouldn't want anything less.
The cabin's certainly a great deal smarter than anything we'd seen previously in this model line, though it still doesn't quite bring to mind premium brand standards of quality. The key changes made here over the previous generation model lie on the centre stack, where the vents were re-positioned either side of an infotainment screen that grew in size to 8-inches. This monitor gained a far classier user interface and incorporated smartphone mirroring for 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'. Other manufacturers would also build the various vehicle informational functions you'll need into such a monitor, but Subaru continued to prefer to separate these into a separate smaller colour screen at the top of the centre stack. Anything that both these main monitors can't tell you will probably be covered off by the further screen that sits between the two clear instrument dials that you view through a tactile three-spoke multi-function steering wheel. The front seats aren't particularly high-set, but there's not much wrong with the design ergonomics and with this MK5 design, there was a bit more elbow space up-front, thanks to an extra 20mm of width between the seats. A clever touch is a facial recognition system that can automatically set seat position, door mirror angle, display screen content and air conditioning settings to your preferences as you get in.
In the rear seat, this feels like a slightly larger SUV in MK5 form, mainly because this MK5 model's longer wheelbase separated front and rear passengers by a further 30mm, so there's a little more space for legs and knees, helped by scalloped front seat backs and front chairs you can comfortably slide your feet beneath. This 'SK'-series model's extra body width also made it a little easier to fit three adults across the rear bench, something aided by the relatively low height of this central transmission tunnel.
Let's finish by considering luggage capacity, accessed via a rear hatch that on the top 'Premium' variant is power-operated. Boot space compared to the MK4 model rose by just 15-litres to a 520-litre total, this figure no doubt compromised a little by the need to site the e-Boxer Hybrid system's lithium-ion battery beneath this cargo area floor.
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What to look for
Very little goes wrong with the Subaru Forester. It's commonly named as one of the most reliable SUVs you could buy. Look for signs of over-zealous off-road action which usually means hedge scrapes in the paintwork, chewed alloy wheels, dented exhaust boxes and possibly misaligned suspension. The interiors have proven hardwearing, although the dashboard mouldings can creak and rattle.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a 2020 Forester eBoxer - autodoc - ex-VAT) Parts are pitched a good deal above what you'd expect to fork out for Vauxhall or Ford spares but Subaru counters that you'll need to buy them less often. A replacement headlamp unit will cost in the region of £256-£479. An oil filter's in the £4-£13 bracket. An air filter can be anything from £10-£60. An alternator is £421; a starter motor £402-£496.
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On the road
Here's a car that aims to break a few stereotypes. Proper SUVs aren't usually full-Hybrids, as this Subaru now is. That's because full-Hybrid engines don't normally have the torque to tow properly. But this car can lug along up to 1,870kgs. And full-Hybrid models are usually low-set for eco-efficient aerodynamics. But this Forester sits an elevated 220mm from terra firma. The electrified e-Boxer petrol engine you have to have in this fifth generation Forester is basically much the same 2.0-litre direct injection 150PS unit that was fitted to the previous model, but here enhanced with a lithium-ion battery positioned beneath the boot floor. This is a hybrid of the 'self charging' sort (in other words, there's more electrification than you'd get in a 'mild hybrid' car in this class, but you can't plug it in for a properly decent EV range, as you'd be able to with a pricier PHEV model SUV of this kind of size). With this e-Boxer unit, all-electric driving at speeds of up to 25mph is possible, but only for around a mile and only if you've selected the most eco-conscious of the three available driving settings - 'EV Driving' mode. More normally, you'll be using the 'Motor Assist Driving' setting that seamlessly shunts between electric and petrol power as you drive. The third mode, 'Engine Driving', sees the car powered solely by its almost unique flat four Boxer engine. If you're tempted to engage that and push things along a little, you won't do so for long; this isn't that kind of SUV, despite the slightly tauter feel you now get from this fifth generation model's much stiffer 'Subaru Global Platform'. That more sophisticated chassis contributes to this 'SK'-series model's pleasingly absorbent ride quality, which deals very effectively with tarmac tears, speed humps and faster highway undulations.
As usual with Subarus, you have to have a Lineartronic CVT auto gearbox. And the 4WD system on offer here is the brand's capable Symmetrical 4WD set-up, which delivers a simple, balanced permanent distribution of power to all wheels at the same time - rivals use part-time 4WD systems which only react after grip has already been lost with the road surface. Permanent 4WD stops traction being lost in the first place, particularly when the car is on steep or tilting terrain. And with this MK5 model, the set-up was made even more effective by the addition of the company's 'X-Mode' system, which brings together all the Forester's different engineering elements to work more harmoniously together for more confident navigation across slippery surfaces - or deep water: this car can wade up to 500mm of it. X-Mode has two drive settings: 'DEEP SNOW/MUD', for off road surfaces where the tyres can become buried: and 'SNOW/DIRT' for use on slippery road surfaces like snow or gravel. For tarmac use, there are two further so-called 'SI-DRIVE' modes - efficiency-orientated 'Intelligent' and dynamically-focused 'Sport'.
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Overall
Nothing comes for nothing. And it still doesn't if you add electrification into the mix. If you'd hoped - rather unrealistically - that the switch to a hybrid engine would give you a Subaru Forester's off road capability with the running costs of a soft roading fashionista rival, then you'll be disappointed here because it doesn't. The bottom line is that an SUV properly engineered to get you through the worst driving conditions is never going to be quite as efficient to run as one that isn't. Or as light and agile to drive.
Most hybrid SUVs are in some way compromised when it comes to things like towing and off roading; this one isn't. True, it doesn't have the kind of electric capability you'd get from a plug-in rival. But you may not need that - and if you don't, then this MK5 Forester's mix of old-school toughness and new generation technology might just be right up your street. The company's earliest models were sold alongside farm machinery and beneath the plush polish you get this fifth generation Forester, a bit of that same rugged appeal still remains.
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