2026 Subaru Forester Review | Still the King of Sensible AWD?

Today on Buckle Up, Jasper drives the 2026 Subaru Forester, which returns with a clear focus on the qualities that have always defined it: practicality, safety and dependable all-wheel-drive capability. In a market crowded with SUVs chasing sporty looks and oversized screens, the Forester continues to prioritise real-world usability and confidence-inspiring engineering. In this review, Jasper drives the Subaru Forester on a mix of British roads to assess how it performs in everyday conditions. He looks at ride comfort, handling, refinement, interior quality, technology and space, as well as how well it suits family life and longer journeys. Subaru’s emphasis on visibility and stability remains a key talking point, particularly for drivers who value ease of use over flashy design. We also examine where the Subaru Forester sits in today’s competitive SUV market, considering pricing, running costs and its position against rivals such as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5, Skoda Kodiaq, Volvo XC60 and Nissan X-Trail. Each offers a different take on the family SUV formula, but few approach it in quite the same way. If you’re considering a sensible, capable family SUV with genuine all-wheel drive and a reputation built on reliability rather than hype, this review explores whether the Subaru Forester still makes sense in 2026. 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Recognition by Thom Franck, Curtis Clacey, Jamie Elder, https://t.lickd.co/l/7ELw87ODM1n 00:00 Intro 00:46 Front 01:58 Side and Trims 04:19 Back 05:10 Boot 06:41 Back Seats 09:39 Front Seats 13:50 Driving - Performance 16:00 Driving - AWD and Gearbox 17:22 Driving - Roadholding 17:50 Driving - Refinement 18:12 Driving - ADAS 18:52 Driving - Fuel Economy 19:30 Driving - Pricing, Value, and Why to Buy 20:06 Driving - Wrap Up and Is It Annoying? 21:17 Conclusion ----------------------------------- BUY OUR MERCH: https://shop.spreadshirt.co.uk/buckle-up-merch/all ----------------------------------- Join Channel Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQnCvi6zRZolQsxlIf6ePtQ/join ----------------------------------- Follow us on Social Media! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Buckle.Up.Official.Productions/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@buckleup_show X: https://x.com/BuckleUp_Show Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/buckleupshow.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buckleup_show/ Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/buckleup_show TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRy9erBk/ --------------------------------- Visit Our Website: https://buckleup-show.com/ --------------------------------- Follow the lads on Instagram Rob - https://www.instagram.com/the_rob_wilson_/ Harry - https://www.instagram.com/mccrazyfish/ Jasper - https://www.instagram.com/jbrucewright/ --------------------------------- #BuckleUp #subaru #automotive --------------------------------- Buckle Up is a channel that is only interested in one thing – cars! We upload a myriad of different content including car review videos, car challenge videos, car news videos and much, much more! Our videos are made in a similar style to that of Top Gear, Fifth Gear, Car Throttle, Doug DeMuro, carwow, Carfection, The Grand Tour, MotorTrend and many more. We would all thoroughly recommend their channels, so why not go and check them out.