Which Subaru SUV is the best of them all? We review each capable model to determine which should sit in your driveway.
Subaru has proven itself to be one of the more successful Japanese automakers in the United States, posting 10 years of consistently strong growth between 2009 and 2019, which is higher than the sales growth of any other mainstream brand.
In early 2021, Subaru of America announced its best-ever March sales and a 102% increase compared to the previous year, when the coronavirus pandemic impacted the global economy. March 2021 also marked the second-best month in the company’s history.
All Subaru models reportedly saw gains. Crosstrek and Forester sales were notably strong. The Subaru Forester achieved its best month ever with over 21,000 vehicle sales, a 123% increase.
Crosstrek sales rose 176%, while Outback saw a 99% increase. Subaru of America was also awarded a 2021 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Award for Best Overall Brand, Most Trusted Brand, and Best Performance Brand.
SUVs like the Subaru Forester have continually been among the automaker’s strongest sellers thanks to standard features like Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, which boosts versatility and all-weather performance.
In 2019, Subaru announced the two-millionth sale of its iconic Forester SUV in the U.S. The company’s consistent annual sales growth helped Forester achieve the milestone in under a third of the time that it took to reach the one-millionth sale set in 2013.
With so many enticing, capable, and reliable SUVs, you might be wondering which is the best. It’s a difficult question to answer given the company has decades of experience building award-winning vehicles. Below, we’ve rounded up everything we know about each Subaru SUV to give you the answer.
Subaru History
Japanese carmaker Subaru initially began as an aircraft manufacturer during WWII. After the war, Subaru transitioned into producing vehicles and debuted its first car, the Subaru P1, in 1954.
It would not be until over a decade later that U.S. car buyers would welcome Subaru’s vehicles. In 1968, Subaru of America was founded by American businessmen Malcolm Bricklin and Harvey Lamm. The first Subaru car to come off of the assembly line was dubbed the “360” and was available to the U.S. by May of that year.
Defined by its bug-eyed headlights and forward-opening doors, the 360 was powered by a 356 cc, 25 hp, two-stroke engine and reached 50 mph in 37.5 seconds. It had a top speed of 69 mph.
What the 360 lacked in performance, it made up for in affordability with a price of $1,297 and a fuel economy of 66 miles per gallon. Early ads proclaimed that Subaru vehicles were “Inexpensive and Built to Stay that Way.”
In 1975, the company introduced its first station wagon with all-wheel drive, the DL/GL, which was the first mass-produced 4WD passenger car. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Subaru introduced the XT (1986), the Legacy (1989), and the SVX (1992).
In 1995, in response to the growing trend for SUVs, Subaru of America launched the Outback. The Outback is Subaru’s flagship model and started out as a trim level for the Legacy wagon.
The vehicle was equipped with a 2.5-liter boxer engine and symmetrical all-wheel drive.
The first-generation Outback is immediately recognizable by its two-tone paint, high ground clearance, and a raised roof. The Outback won Motor Trend’s SUV of the Year for 2010.
With the introduction of Subaru WRX in America in 2001, the car company created Subaru Rally Team USA to compete in U.S. rally racing. From 2013, Subaru of America also developed the record-setting Isle of Man TT cars, which set world speed records.
The Subaru Baja was introduced in 2003 as a new type of crossover that blended the versatility of a compact four-door pickup truck with the driving dynamics of a passenger car.
The Baja was equipped with Subaru’s 2.5-liter boxer engine and symmetrical all-wheel drive. Based on the Legacy-Outback platform, the Baja was the first model designed in-house by Subaru of America. It was sold through 2006.
In 2021, Subaru introduced a more powerful Subaru Crosstrek as well as the most rugged and capable Outback in the auto manufacturer’s history: the 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness, featuring a standard 2.4-liter turbocharged Subaru Boxer engine, 9.5-inch ground clearance, standard front skid plate, all-terrain tires, upgraded suspension, and Subaru’s Symmetrical all-wheel drive.
Subaru Forester
The Forester is Subaru’s most popular SUV, and its best seller, with 176,996 units sold last year. Now in its fifth generation, it has grown from a small, boxy wagon — based on the Impreza’s underpinnings — to a larger offering on its own version of the Subaru Global Platform.
Starting with the 1998 SF model, the Forester has been powered exclusively by Subaru’s flat-four boxer engine. This started with the older EJ series before slowly switching to the newer FA and FB engines from the third-gen SH facelift model.
After a major mid-cycle revision for the 2011 model year that included an all-new engine and numerous other upgrades, the 2012 Subaru Forester got a new optional navigation system featuring enhanced music and connectivity features.
In addition, all Forester models for 2012 now featured a standard height-adjustable front passenger seat.
The compact crossover SUV gained new audio features for 2013, and reconfigured content and options that enhanced value for the popular 2.5X Premium models. The model line continued with normally aspirated and turbocharged models.
Subaru of America introduced a comprehensively updated Forester for 2017, giving its award-winning compact SUV revised styling, new driver assist technology, and better fuel economy. All 2017 Forester models came standard with Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive.
‘This is my third Subaru, second Forester. I’ve never experienced any problems with performance & reliability. Subaru Forester is a car that I would not hesitate to recommend.’
— Sharon S., Vehicle History review
The 2020 Subaru Forester now came equipped with the award- winning Subaru EyeSight Driver Assist Technology and new Lane Centering function as standard.
The fifth-generation SUV offered the most space, capability, and features in its 23-year history. Also new for 2020, all Foresters included Rear Seat Reminder, which was designed to help prevent child and/or pet entrapment by alerting the driver to check the rear seat before exiting.
The 2021 Forester (base) is priced at $24,795 and continues the model’s notoriety for affordability with a long list of standard features, including power windows, door locks, and side mirrors; dual USB ports in the front center console; multi-function display; remote keyless entry; and combination meter with color LCD.
Recalls & Reliability Issues
In terms of reliability, Car Complaints reports that some 2014 and 2015 SJ models are among the most complained-about Subaru vehicles, mainly due to engine issues such as excessive oil consumption.
However, earlier 2.0-liter SF and SG examples have been praised by owners for their indestructibility. What’s more, in 2009 and 2014, Motor Trend named the SJ its overall SUV of the Year.
Subaru Outback
The Outback is Subaru’s oldest SUV and is based on the underpinnings of the second-generation Legacy sedan. It was effectively a version of the Legacy wagon, but with a lifted suspension and plastic lower body cladding to give it a bulkier “off-road” appearance. With each generational update to the Legacy since, a new Outback has sat alongside it.
Both Subaru’s flat-four (EJ originally; FA and FB in later years) and flat-six (EZ) engines have been featured in the Outback, with the latter six-cylinder being introduced with the second-generation model, and only just dropped with the phasing out of the fifth-gen. model.
Since its 2020 U.S. introduction, the sixth generation remains one of the company’s strongest-selling models, second only to the smaller Forester overall for the previous year.
The 2018 Outback featured revised front and rear styling and significant upgrades to comfort features, safety, and multimedia capability. Many new engineering and design details throughout the 2018 Outback enhanced the driving experience and the vehicle’s versatility.
Subaru of America introduced the all-new 2020 Outback with the most advanced features, design, and capability in its history. The sixth-generation SUV came standard with Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and Subaru’s EyeSight Driver Assist Technology.
The Outback color options included Base, Premium, Limited, Touring, Onyx Edition XT, Limited XT, and Touring XT models.
For the first time since 2009, the Outback lineup offered a turbocharged engine. Standard on XT models, the 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer engine delivers 260 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 277 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm.
And the standard naturally aspirated 2.5-liter boxer, with direct injection and nearly 90% of its parts new, delivers 182 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 176 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,400 rpm.
Recalls & Reliability Issues
However, despite its continued popularity, the Outback also holds the title of being the least dependable Subaru SUV model, with 965 complaints on Car Complaints. Most concern engine and electrical issues on the 2013 and 2015 models.
J.D. Power shows the Forester has a consumer rating of 76 percent, a score heavily weighed down by quality and reliability issues.
Subaru Tribeca
The Tribeca — introduced in 2005 for the 2006 model year as the B9 Tribeca — was Subaru’s first attempt at building a larger seven-seat SUV (although five-seat versions were also offered.)
Built at the company’s plant in Lafayette, Indiana, the model was targeted at the North American market, although it was also offered in parts of Europe, Africa, and the Asia Pacific.
At launch, the Tribeca adopted the more triangular grille design of the “hawk-eye” Impreza of the time – a move which proved to be controversial from the moment it debuted at the Detroit auto show.
As a result, the model was quickly refreshed for the 2008 model year, and in addition to being given more conventional styling, was fitted with a new engine. 2006-2007 models featured the older 3.0-liter, while this update gained the 3.6-liter version with 256 hp. This remained the only engine offered until the model’s 2014 demise.
Sales of the Tribeca slowed to a trickle in its later years, to the degree of it being one of the worst-selling vehicles in the US by the time of its discontinuation. Just 77,051 units in total were sold across its niine years on sale.
Recalls & Reliability Issues
Although its exterior styling may have proved controversial, the Tribeca’s interior has been noted as one of its real strong points, with Wards naming it the best premium CUV interior in 2006.
Owners have also praised the interior styling and materials, as found by J.D. Power, although cabin noise and difficulty loading the cargo area are noted as drawbacks. Its stability in sub-optimal conditions has also been praised, but issues with the car’s climate control system have slightly marred its reliable reputation.
Subaru Crosstrek
Subaru introduced the smaller, Impreza-based XV Crosstrek in 2013, and the model was instrumental in boosting the car brand’s sales. For 2014, the popular crossover added Aha smartphone integration to the optional navigation system, and additional sound-reduction measures resulted in a quieter cabin.
Subaru of America amped up the value and style of the Crosstrek for 2017. A new Premium Special Edition offered exclusive exterior style and interior appointments along with additional safety technology and amenities. The Crosstrek had risen rapidly to become the brand’s third best-selling model behind Forester and Outback.
The Crosstrek features black plastic lower body cladding, rather than body-colored, to give it a “rugged flavor,” along with a more substantial suspension lift. Speaking to the popularity of SUVs, it has outsold the Impreza it’s based on two-to-one in the U.S. since 2019.
The 2021 Crosstrek compact SUV has a new Sport trim and a 182-horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder Subaru Boxer engine offering a substantial performance boost over the 2.0-liter engine in the Base and Premium trims.
The Limited trim also adds the 2.5-liter engine for 2021. The Crosstrek features a redesigned front bumper with new-design fog light insert covers (Base trim) or fog light covers (all other trims), plus new-design front grille, with details specific to each trim.
Recalls & Reliability Issues
U.S. News describes the performance of the Crosstreks 2.0-liter engine as being “woefully underpowered.” However, they praise its car-like handling.
In 2021, a larger 2.5-liter engine was offered in certain trim to address these complaints. A plug-in hybrid version was also introduced in states that adhere to California emissions standards.
Early examples of the first-gen model are known to have excessive oil consumption issues, with a class action lawsuit leading to all 2013 models.
Additionally, all 2014-15 models equipped with a manual transmission were recalled, with Subaru replacing the entire short block assembly at no charge to the owner.
However, as found by Edmunds, consumers have praised the second-generation model for its reliability and build quality.
Subaru Ascent
Introduced for the 2019 model year, the Ascent is Subarus’s newest vehicle, filling the void left by the Tribeca, where it now sits as the brand’s flagship mid-size SUV.
It was built in Indiana like its predecessor, made exclusively for the North American market, and available in both seven and eight-seat configurations. Stylistically, its exterior design is similar to that of the current fifth-gen Forester.
Just one engine option has been available in the Ascent since it was first announced in 2018: the new “FA24” 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four with 260 horsepower. The model also standardized the fitment of the EyeSight active safety system and introduced new features not seen in other Subaru models such as mobile Wi-Fi capability.
The full-size, three-row 2021 Subaru Ascent SUV was named a 2020 Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Asserting its position as a smart family SUV choice, it was again awarded a IIHS Top Safety Pick rating in 2021, much in part to its “superior” front crash protection scores and the addition of steering-responsive LED headlights with high beam assist as standard.
In their launch review, Consumer Reports praised the Ascent for its family-friendly convenience and practicality, calling it “the right vehicle for many suburban families.”
Recalls & Reliability Issues
Although some very early examples of the Subaru Ascent were affected by a 2019 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration buy-back recall for missing spot welds in the B-pillar, very few of the affected cars had actually been delivered to customers.
Several subsequent recalls have concerned faulty driveshafts, PCV valves, transmission fluid sensors, and fuel pumps. Nonetheless, owners have claimed to be impressed with its reliability as reported on Cars, and the vast majority would recommend the car to others.
Which Subaru SUV is Best?
With nearly 30 years of SUV-building experience that shows in every detail, picking the best Subaru out of the automaker’s famous lineup isn’t easy. Especially when you consider the positive responses from buyers and critics alike that most of Subaru’s models have received.
However, when all is taken into consideration, the Forester manages to stand out above the rest as the best Subaru SUV you can buy.
“This is my third Subaru, second Forester,” wrote Sharon S. in her 2021 Vehicle History review of her 2019 Subaru Forester Sport. “The newer model is more spacious and more technologically advanced than the previous model. My commute is long, so the eyesight feature really comes in handy. Adaptive cruise control is helpful on the long drive. I have never experienced any problems with the performance and reliability of Subaru. The 2019 sport is compatible with the Android Auto app. Subaru Forester is a car that I would not hesitate to recommend.”
In general, the Subaru Forester seems to be a reliable pre-owned car too, based on many Vehicle History reviews that specifically mention the SUV’s reliability still going strong many years after purchasing the vehicle new.
“Basically zero problems so far,” wrote 2015 Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium owner Michelle M. in her Oct. 2020 Vehicle History review.
“Very reliable car. Ride has progressively gotten a little less smooth for passengers but still drives very nicely. Plenty of room in the backseat. Would definitely buy another without question. Even after putting on three times more miles than average each year, the car has held up and does not feel like it is a six-year old car.”
With earlier 2.0-liter SF and SG models being praised for their indestructibility, and the current SK models for their dependability, owning a Forester is sure to be a positive experience.
“The Subaru forester is a great mountain car,” said Jane W. in 2020 about her 2018 Subaru Forester Limited. “Only 1 1/2 years old, but no problems with it so far,” “We are in S.W. Colorado and it has been great for our snowy winters and dirt roads. Handles well in all situations.”
“I think the handling is better than the 2012 Ford Escape I had, especially on winding roads,” wrote Bo P. in his 2021 Vehicle History review of his 2020 Subaru Forester Sport. “It has a lot of safer features, like lane change detection and EyeSight…[which] allows the car to break if it detects you are not braking hard enough.”
In the 2020 Vehicle History review of her 2018 Subaru Forester, Jessica R. credited the SUV as a “reliable and safe choice.” She added: “I feel very safe in this vehicle. Quick turning radius and always reliable. The safety features and the way it handles in snow and ice cannot be surpassed in my opinion.”
If a Subaru SUV is on your shopping list, the Forester is your best bet. No matter what vehicle you’re considering, make sure you run a free VIN check first to ensure all recall work has been completed and that there’s no undisclosed accident history.
Photos: Subaru
