2025 Subaru Forester Sport From Every Muddy Angle

I just drove the all-new sixth-generation Subaru Forester, more specifically the Forester Sport, through some of the wilderness of western Montana. When I was first handed the keys to this Sapphire Pearl Blue crossover, it was spotless. That quickly changed as I went up and down mountains, through flooded roads and across snow and ice.

I think the Forester is a fairly good-looking car right from the jump. However, I cannot deny that it looks even better with some dirt and mud coating the exterior. I don't know. The whole thing just looks more natural and purposeful when its covered in a thin brownish haze.

That's why, when taking pictures of the Forester for my story on it, I opted to shoot my car as is. There was no clean up at all (other than the front driver's side door that once had a "Cool S" drawn on it). It's just more Subaru that way to me.

Anyway, why don't ya start clicking through a very muddy Subaru on top of a very large mountain in a very large state covered in mud?

Subaru left the dimensions of the new Forester pretty much the same as the outgoing car, but designers pulled a few tricks to make it appear bigger, like stretching out the grille and headlights. That gives the Forester a much more imposing stance on the road.

The new Forester gets an all-new interior, but it's certainly sharing a whole lot of parts with other Subaru models. It's functional, but it certainly isn't flashing or groundbreaking.

The Forester really belongs out here, man. It just looks right.

Few cars can wear dirt as well as this Subaru can, and despite all of the grossness, the driver safety suite still worked flawlessly.

Digital gauge clusters may be all the rage, but Subaru said no thanks for the new Forester. Like the rest of the interior, it's super functional but not exactly flashy.

That logo and these badges covered in a thin film of dirt just look wonderful, don't they?

The Forester looks made for Montana.

If you aren't into big touchscreens, then the Forester probably isn't for you. At least you get some hard buttons for core functions like volume, tuning, defrosters and temperature. If you aren't into this 11.6-inch screen, you can grab the Base model with dual 7-inch screens, but what's the fun of that?

Subaru's all-wheel-drive system, when paired with X-Mode, is nearly unstoppable. I did things in this car it should not have been able to do, and I'm positive nothing else in this segment would be able to match it off-road.

This 2.5-liter flat four powers every single Forester, and while I suppose it's fine, it isn't exactly powerful. Subaru says it pumps out 180 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque. That's enough-ish for most but is seriously lacking for little freaks like me.

Subaru's safety suite does a really good job of keeping you on the road and out of trouble, and its driver-assist EyeSight systems are some of the best in the biz.

No matter how dirty the rest of the car got, the rear wiper made sure to keep that thang clean. If you aren't into using your rear wiper, however, you can opt for the top-trim Touring. It comes with a rearview camera mirror.

Think of all the off-road kayaks, surfing hang gliders and and polar bungee jumping cords you can fit back here.

These seats are really good at holding you in no matter how bumpy the road gets. Subaru talked a lot about how the seats are shaped in order to keep your lower back in place. I guess it worked.

Opting for the Sport model means you get a whole bunch on bronze accents inside and out. Unfortunately, because the outside was so dirty, you cannot really see the accents. That's ok, they look nice in here too.

The all-new Forester is a really solid compact crossover. In a world dominated by CR-Vs and RAV4s, this is a really nice change of pace that brings enough standard tech and a great all-wheel drive system to really set it apart from the pack.