2 Subaru Wilderness Models You Should Buy Now, One You Should Wait For

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Which Subaru Wilderness model is the best right now? Check out the Subaru Outback Wilderness, Forester Wilderness, and Crosstrek Wilderness. There's a new model you should wait for.

Subaru of America and Subaru Canada currently offer three Wilderness models—the 2024 Subaru Outback Wilderness, 2024 Forester Wilderness, and 2024 Crosstrek Wilderness. If you want one, the Outback Wilderness and Crosstrek Wilderness are your best choices this year. 

Depending on how much cargo and passenger room you need and your price point, Outback, and Crosstrek are the best picks for 2024.  If you want a 2025 model year, there's a new Wilderness model you should wait for. The next-generation Forester Wilderness is coming and should get significant upgrades. Subaru of America has yet to make the announcement, and it may be a year away. 

A remodeled Forester Wilderness is coming.

I covered the 2025 Subaru Forester and Wilderness in a previous report, knowing that the rugged Forester Wilderness trim will continue to be offered on the Forester compact SUV but will not be available at the model's dealer launch this spring. 

William Stokes, planning manager for the Forester at Subaru of America, told Automotive News the Forester Wilderness is coming, but it's been delayed. 

What's slowing the Forester Wilderness launch?

The next-generation Forester Wilderness requires the Japanese automaker to develop a different suspension with more travel because of its added ride height. I don't know if Forester Wilderness will get a new engine, but it would significantly upgrade the current Wilderness 2.5-liter Boxer engine.

Will the Forester Wilderness finally get a 2.4-liter turbocharged engine upgrade?

Subaru has not confirmed this, but I speculate that the remodeled Forester Wilderness could get a new powertrain and possibly a 2.4-liter turbocharged engine upgrade over the standard trim levels. 

The sixth-generation Forester Wilderness will also get outdoor upgrades that set it apart from the standard model and the Sport trim introduced late last year. 

Should you wait for the 2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness?

The 2025 Subaru Outback will be redesigned, and I suspect Subaru will wait on the next-generation Outback Wilderness for another year (2026) before they launch the new rugged model. The 2025 Outback Wilderness will likely be a carry-over model and remain unchanged. However, this has yet to be confirmed by Subaru of America. So there's no advantage for customers to wait. 

Should you wait for the 2025 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness?

In its second year of production, the 2025 Crosstrek Wilderness will get few, if any, changes or upgrades. So there's no advantage for customers to wait.

The Forester Wilderness should get significant upgrades over the outgoing model. But It could be six months to a year away. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the Subaru Wilderness story. See you tomorrow for my latest Subaru Report.

For additional articles related to new Subaru models, here are a few of my top stories you may enjoy. 

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Watch the 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness: Epic 1,200-Mile Roadtrip

I am Denis Flierl, a 12-year Torque News senior writer with 20+ years of Subaru and automotive journalism experience. I enjoy bringing you, the Subaru fans and customers, the most up-to-date Subaru news, reviews, and new model information. You'll find the latest Subaru stories on the Subaru page. Follow me on my The Dirty Subaru website, Dirty Subaru blog, SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.

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photo credit: Subaru USA

Submitted by Sem (not verified) on March 6, 2024 - 11:28AM

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What are we looking at in terms of infotainment improvements in the 2025 Forester? Is there any hope we'll finally see some changes? Me personally that's the only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger on 2024 inventory.