2020 Subaru Forester

The 2020 Subaru Forester is incredibly spacious inside, offering up lots of room for people, pets, and gear. Every model is outfitted with a user-friendly infotainment system and a comprehensive set of advanced safety features. The interior is soundly constructed with quality materials.

• "The quality of materials is more than acceptable." -- Kelley Blue Book
• "Settle into an easy highway cruise, and everything's right. It's quiet, comfortable, and loaded with tech, especially at the higher-end of the range." -- Automobile Magazine (2019)
• "Interior materials get a little bit nicer for 2019, with higher-quality plastics on the dash and doors, and softer leather on higher-end Limited and Touring variants." -- CNET (2019)

Seating

The Forester is a two-row SUV with five seats. Its cabin is very roomy for the class, and it’s even capable of accommodating four 6-footers. The driver has an unobstructed view of the road, and the Forester has wide-opening rear doors for easy entry and exit.

Standard features include cloth upholstery and manually adjustable front seats. Upgrades include perforated leather-trimmed seats, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, an eight-way power-adjustable front-passenger seat, heated front and rear seats, reclining rear seats, a one-touch folding rear seatback, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and a heated steering wheel.

For installing child safety seats, there are two full sets of LATCH connectors for the outboard seats. The middle seat has a tether anchor and one lower anchor, with the ability to borrow a lower anchor from the adjacent seat to make a complete set.

• "Some rivals are wider, but the 2020 Forester still manages to incorporate plenty of front-seat shoulder room. Legroom is also generous; a 6-foot-tall passenger can sit comfortably behind a 6-foot driver." -- Kelley Blue Book
• "The interior of the Forester continues to be a roomy, comfortable space with upgraded front seats and more legroom in back thanks to a longer wheelbase. The back doors open wider for easier access." -- Boston Globe (2019)
• "Wider and equipped with lots of extra rear seat space, the 2019 Forester easily accommodates a family of four. You could also make this work for a family of five … Getting into and out of a Forester is easy. All seats offer tall hip points, which means you slide laterally into and out of this SUV. Plus, the door openings are massive, especially in back where the rear doors swing out to a near 90-degree angle. If you suffer from joint or back pain, or you simply have squirmy kids or big pets to load and unload, these are small but meaningful considerations." -- New York Daily News (2019)

Interior Features

The Forester's Starlink infotainment system is straightforward and responsive. The base unit has a 6.5-inch touch screen, two USB ports, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite radio, HD Radio, Bluetooth, and four speakers. Automatic climate control is also standard in the 2020 Forester.

Infotainment upgrades include an 8-inch touch screen, voice controls, Bluetooth hands-free text messaging, a six-speaker or nine-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, a navigation system, a Wi-Fi hot spot, and two rear-seat USB ports. The Forester is also available with a panoramic moonroof, proximity keyless entry, push-button start, and dual-zone automatic climate control.

A rear seat reminder and a rearview camera come standard in the Forester, but those aren't the only safety features you get with this Subaru. The standard EyeSight Driver Assist Technology is an advanced safety suite that contains adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking, pre-collision throttle management, lane departure and sway warning, lead vehicle start alert, and lane departure prevention.

Optional safety features include blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert, automatic high-beam headlights, and reverse automatic braking. The Touring trim's standard DriverFocus system monitors the driver for signs of distraction or fatigue.

See 2020 Subaru Forester specs »

• "Still, the standard and optional infotainment systems do their job well, and are easy to use. Apple CarPlay boots quickly and operates bug free." -- Autoweek (2019)
• "Starlink works well enough, with a menu structure that's relatively easy to navigate and large, colorful icons for its various functions. Hard buttons on the center console provide shortcuts to the home screen and other menus. Overall, the system doesn't try to dazzle you in any way, and I appreciate its simple, straightforward nature." -- CNET (2019)
• Controls are laid out in a familiar manner, the 2019 Forester receiving new switchgear and the latest in Starlink infotainment systems. Large knobs and big well-marked buttons are the rule for the center control panel, but secondary functions remain a bit confusing. The steering wheel, for example, is a mess of buttons, including two different sets for the car's two different information displays. Want to shut off the irritating beeps from the lane departure warning system? That button is inexplicably located on the roof." -- New York Daily News (2019)

Cargo

The Forester has a large, conveniently designed cargo area. It offers 35.4 cubic feet behind the rear seats and up to 76.1 cubic feet overall. Both of these dimensions are among the top in the compact SUV class. It comes standard with a 60/40 split-folding rear seat. A one-touch rear-seat folding feature and a power liftgate are optional.

• "At 51.3 inches wide, the Forester's rear aperture is huge, a full six inches better than the nearest competitor. Golf bags don't need to be tilted to fit." -- Kelley Blue Book
• ”If you're frequently carrying cargo (or dogs -- it's a Subaru, after all), know that you'll fit more of your possessions in a Forester than you will in a Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Rogue or Volkswagen Tiguan." -- CNET (2019)
• "The Forester's trunk is generous. … And, as mentioned before, the Forester's cargo opening is absolutely massive -- it's wide enough to load a golf bag sideways." -- Left Lane News (2019)