Price
Winner: 2018 Subaru Forester
At a base price of $22,795, the Forester has a strong advantage over the Outback, which starts at $25,895. The Forester is one of the least expensive vehicles in its class, although not by much. The Outback is more expensive than some other wagons but holds its own against luxury rivals that cost much more.
Reliability
Winner: 2018 Subaru Outback
Neither of these vehicles has received a reliability rating from J.D. Power and Associates for 2018, but since the 2017 models are mechanically similar, we can use that data.
The Outback receives 3.5 out of a possible five points on the J.D. Power scale, indicating above-average reliability. The Forester is below average, scoring 2.5 out of five.
Subaru backs both vehicles with a three-year/36,000-mile basic warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Seat Comfort
Winner: Tie
The Subaru Forester and Outback both accommodate five passengers, and cloth upholstery comes standard. Options in both vehicles include leather upholstery, heated front seats, and a power-adjustable driver’s seat.
According to professional automotive critics, seat comfort is very good in both of these Subarus. They say the seats are supportive and provide plenty of visibility for the driver, and that there’s enough space to accommodate adults in the rear row.
Cargo Space
Winner: Tie
If the Forester was your frontrunner because you assumed a crossover had more cargo space than a wagon, you are in for a surprise. The Outback’s cargo hold can swallow 35.5 cubic feet of gear, just edging out the Forester’s 34.4-cubic-foot capacity. Both ratings are very good for their classes. Fold down both vehicles’ rear seats, and the Forester gains a slight advantage, with a total capacity of 74.7 cubic feet to the Outback’s 73.3. Subaru offers a power liftgate as an option on both vehicles.
Interior Quality
Winner: 2018 Subaru Outback
Though the Forester and Outback are on par in terms of seating comfort, those who choose the Outback will be surrounded by nicer materials and will probably find the environment more serene. The Forester has a simple and functional design, which critics liked, but they noted that the interior materials are a mix of high- and low-end, particularly when it comes to plastics. Professional testers found that the Outback uses fewer hard plastics throughout the cabin, and the build quality is better overall. That might seem subjective to some buyers, but the results are tangible. For example, the Outback’s higher build quality means that you’ll experience less wind and road noise in the cabin than you would in the Forester.
Interior Features
Winner: 2018 Subaru Outback
Subaru equips the Outback with a better array of standard equipment than you’ll find in the Forester. Both vehicles come with Bluetooth, a rearview camera, a USB port, and a touch-screen infotainment system. The Forester’s screen measures 6.2 inches, while the Outback’s measures 6.5 inches. The Outback also includes HD Radio, satellite radio, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto.
Both Subarus offer a Harman Kardon audio system, an upgraded infotainment system, a moonroof (Outback) or panoramic moonroof (Forester), dual-zone automatic climate control, and navigation. The Subaru EyeSight system is also available and includes active safety features such as lane keep assist, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert, and pre-collision emergency braking.
Acceleration
Winner: 2018 Subaru Forester
The Forester and Outback are similarly equipped in base form. Both vehicles are fitted with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. It makes 170 horsepower in the Forester and 175 horsepower in the Outback.
According to reviewers, the lighter Forester has better acceleration in most driving situations, while the Outback is more likely to feel sluggish. A six-speed manual transmission comes standard in the Forester; it can be upgraded to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). A CVT comes standard in the Outback.
The Forester is available with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 250 horsepower, and the Outback can be fitted with a 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine making 256 horsepower. Both engines provide a substantial improvement in acceleration over the base models.
Fuel Economy
Winner: 2018 Subaru Forester
Whether you are comparing the base models or the the higher-performance engine options, the Subaru Forester is more efficient than the Outback. Since these vehicles’ base models have nearly the same engine, the difference here is minimal. The Forester is rated for 26 mpg in the city, compared to the Outback’s 25 mpg. Both are rated 32 mpg on the highway and 28 mpg combined, which is good for their classes.
When you compare the turbocharged four-cylinder Forester to the six-cylinder Outback, the advantage is more significant. The upgraded Forester is rated for 23 mpg in the city, 27 mpg on the highway, and 25 mpg combined, which will save you quite a bit on fuel over the Outback’s ratings of 20 mpg in the city, 27 mpg on the highway, and 22 mpg combined.
Ride and Handling
Winner: Tie
According to professional test drivers, the Subaru Forester and Outback both provide a comfortable, car-like ride and responsive handling. Both vehicles come standard with all-wheel drive, which keeps them planted in corners and offers mild off-road ability. In terms of ride and handling, neither of these Subarus has a discernible advantage over the other.
Safety
Winner: 2018 Subaru Outback
These vehicles, like most Subarus, fare quite well in crash tests. The 2018 Forester and Outback both receive top honors from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), earning the Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards, respectively. The 2018 Forester also receives an overall rating of five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The 2018 Outback hasn’t yet completed all NHTSA testing. So far, the Outback has earned a five out five for side crash testing and a four out of five for rollover testing.
Both vehicles come standard with a rearview camera and are offered with a variety of active safety features from the Subaru EyeSight suite. Options include adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, rear automatic braking, rear cross traffic alert, and automatic emergency braking. The Outback is also offered with steering-responsive headlights and automatic high beams.
The Winner Is …
2018 Subaru Outback
There are plenty of reasons to like the Subaru Forester. It is a well-rounded compact SUV that offers a lot of value. However, if you can spend just a few thousand dollars more, you’ll be better off with the Subaru Outback, which is the winner in most categories that are important to shoppers.
To be fair, these vehicles are very close in most of these categories. Some of these victories were decided by slim margins, like 1 mile per gallon or 1 cubic foot. In addition to the Outback’s superior reliability, its real advantage is in its cabin, which features nicer materials, better insulation, and higher-end tech features, all of which enable the Outback to compete with wagons from luxury brands. These are the qualities that make a vehicle more pleasant to drive every day, and the Outback has them.
More Shopping Tools From U.S. News & World Report
Still looking for more information about the Subaru Forester and Outback? Your next step is to check out our reviews to learn more about the model you prefer. If you would like to find out more about the competition, you’ll see more of your options in our rankings.
When you are ready to buy, use our U.S. News Best Price Program to find the dealership with the best prices close to you. Shoppers who use the program save an average of $3,279 off their new car purchase.
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It’s All About Packaging in This Sibling Rivalry
If you tend to think of station wagons as a precursor to the crossover, you might find yourself wondering why they still exist. After all, only a handful of manufacturers still make them, and all of those manufacturers also happen to make pretty good SUVs.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Subaru, whose Outback wagon and Forester compact SUV are, in many ways, direct competitors. They aren’t in the same class, but it would be easy to get overwhelmed by comparing these two vehicles on the showroom floor.
The Outback, which has been refreshed this year, is one of the top-ranking wagons on the market, sharing the honor with the likes of Volvo and Audi. It was the winner of two of our 2017 awards; it received a Best Car for Families and Best New Car for Teens award.
The Forester lands in the top half of our compact SUV rankings, which is a tough uphill climb in a packed category with diverse competition.
Despite the disparity in rankings within their respective classes, these vehicles have more in common than it may seem. Using U.S. News scoring data, we compared these Subarus in the categories that are most important to crossover and wagon buyers to find out which is the better option for you.
Keep in mind that our scores change as new expert reviews and data become available. Therefore, the scores mentioned in this slideshow might not match the scores in our new car rankings.