As applied to the Forester, the Wilderness formula is very familiar. Compared to its siblings, it sits a half-inch higher atop its four-wheel independent suspension thanks to longer dampers and taller springs, and that amounts to a healthy 9.2 inches of minimum ground clearance and an improved breakover angle of 21 degrees. Since the Forester isn't nearly as long as an Outback, the jacked-up stance conspires with stubbier front and rear overhangs to produce more favorable approach and departure angles of 23.5 and 25.4 degrees, respectively. It's also some 2.4 inches narrower, so it's more compatible with brush-lined trails even before Subaru slathers on the Wilderness-spec layer of protective body cladding. Conversely, the Forester Wilderness is 2.0 inches taller than its Outback counterpart, but we'll take that because it comes with a more upright driving position that makes it easier to see over the hood and pick your way along a trail. Blind crests are no problem because there's a front camera, but the button to activate it is nowhere near the display itself.
A drive along forest roads near Bend, Oregon, proved that the Forester execution works equally well on both smooth gravel roads suitable for stage rallies and lonely meandering two-track forest trails that haven't seen the blade of a road grader in years. Subaru's Wilderness-specific shock and spring tuning readily soaked up washboard surfaces on high-speed tracks, but they also went about the quiet business of damping out head toss through rocky sections, snaking around fallen limbs, or easing down eroded ledges. None of this was black-diamond rock crawling, but vehicles built for that use case would have punished us with the heavy unsprung mass of solid axle overkill thumping up from below. Independent-suspended crossovers have their place out here if they can muster sufficient clearance and traction, and the Forester Wilderness proved to have enough of each.
A good deal of the necessary extra traction comes from a set of Yokohama Geolandar A/T tires, with outline white-letter sidewalls adding spice to an otherwise black background of alloy wheels and cladding. There's even a matching, full-use spare with its own TPMS sensor in the underfloor well.
That's small beer compared to the lackluster engine performance, but this won't surprise any current-generation Forester owners because the Wilderness has the same 2.5-liter flat-four with a middling 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque. Why not the 2.4-liter turbo as in the Outback Wilderness? Outback product planners had two homologated engines to pick from, but the fifth-generation Forester has only one, since the turbo 2.0-liter was dropped with the previous model in 2018. For what it's worth, we didn't notice a serious lack of beans driving in the forest, and the car felt reasonable enough around town.
Our experience also makes us think the aerodynamic penalty of a rooftop tent will be easier to bear, which is relevant because the Forester Wilderness is specifically courting those buyers. It has beefier wide-set roof rails that can accommodate 220 pounds of mass while in motion and 800 pounds when parked—enough for a three-person tent with occupants. The penalty for the shorter gearing is lower fuel economy, particularly on the highway. A regular Forester is EPA rated at 29 mpg combined (26 city/33 highway), but the Wilderness manages just 26 mpg combined (25 city/28 highway). Nevertheless, this still bests the Outback Wilderness and its estimates of 24 mpg combined, 22 city, and 26 highway.
The 2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness will arrive in December at a price of $33,945. That amounts to $4625 more than the Forester Premium we generally recommend, but it's also a full $4175 less than the larger and more powerful Outback Wilderness. From where we just sat, the Forester Wilderness is a more right-sized interpretation of the Wilderness concept that does a proper job off the pavement but still comes across as a pleasant daily driver if you're merely going for the off-road look. Either way, you can now gratuitously toss around the word "overlanding" in conversation. Come to think of it, please don't.
(https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a38047651/2022-subaru-forester-wilderness-drive/)