The Subaru Forester is one of the greats. It might not be the most exciting Subaru model ever made, but objectively, it is a nearly flawless car. This past winter, I had the 2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness Editon, and I loved it. It was good on gas, easy to drive, had enough power, and a killer AWD system. With the Wilderness, the Forester was finally not totally boring. But the interior just kind of splashed cold water on the Forester’s crackling campfire, if you will. 

Did the 2022 Subaru Forester get a new interior? 

Subaru is hitting its stride these days. The Forester, Crosstrek, and Outback keep winning awards and getting high praise from auto journos. Sure, these models are slow, even the Crosstrek Sport with the 2.5-liter boxer. But speed isn’t the name of the game for Subies. 

The only real problem is the interior. The 2022 Subaru Forester interior can be dressed in leather if you want, but only on the higher-trim models. Even still, while fairly straightforward and comfortable, the interior isn’t very exciting. In fact, every other aspect of the car is so good that the drab interior almost feels worse becuase of the greatness of everything else. 

Are the Subaru Wilderness Edition interiors better? 

The main draw of the Wilderness trim is the upgraded suspension, higher ground clearance, and added body armor. However, one of the best parts about the Forester Wilderness is that it finally made the Forester almost cool. 

The interior has a few very subtle details that managed to elevate the style of the whole car. The Wilderness Edition has multiple orange/gold anodized accents throughout the cabin. The steering wheel, gear selector, stitching, floor mats, and more carry this color scheme across the car, even some exterior accents. 

If such little interior style accents can turn a boring cool almost cool, then what would a whole new interior do for the surprising off-roader. This is what makes the Subaru interiors irritating. The cars have this strange potential to be cool, almost like a “Hawaiian” shirt; Sometimes, you see one in the wild, and the dad wearing it somehow manages to have a nonchalant coolness. But then you see other tropical short-sleeve button-ups, and there isn’t coolness within miles. 

Something almost cool is kind of worse than something that is clearly lame. Cars might be the truest example of this. 

Are Subarus cool? 

I’m pretty sure Subarus are cool. They aren’t black-motorcycle-jacket cool; they are more like an old-family-recipe cool. You probably won’t flex your 2022 Subaru Forester on Instagram, but you might take your family on an incredible adventure to go mountain biking and kayaking one weekend. And, that’s pretty cool.

Subarus are profoundly safe, deeply reliable, and surprisingly capable off-road. Let all the other folks buy the 4Runners or Mustangs. If we can only wait for Subaru to design some new interiors, then maybe we’ll get some love by posting Grandma’s Chicken and dumplings recipe. Until then, Subarus will remain irritatingly close to being cool.