Subaru Forester vs Renault Koleos

What's the difference?

Don’t let the 7.5/10 make you think the Forester is not a good car. For the person who needs a practical, off-road-capable mid-size family SUV without too many complications, it’s extremely hard to look past this thing.

Is the STI Sport the best choice in the range? Not for most, given its higher price and relative lack of extra ability to go with it. A standard suspension tune and even a slightly less plush interior are probably a better call for most family needs, which means saving a fair bit at the purchase.

It’s also worth noting that the next generation Forester is coming soon, and with that could come a price hike. If a Forester is on the shopping list but the cost of living is starting to bite, now might be the time.

If the slightly sharper handling and red interior leather is of interest to you, the STI Sport might be worth a look, but just know the Forester’s best attributes can be had for less money in a much cheaper variant.

To be fair to Renault, when the second-generation Koleos launched in 2016, it was a competitive offering. The problem is, a bunch of medium SUV rivals have been replaced in that time and some of them - Toyota RAV4, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5 and Hyundai Tucson, to name a few - are high-quality offerings with an engaging drive and the latest tech and in-car features.

Unfortunately, that leaves the Koleos towards the rear of the medium SUV pack.

It offers solid value-for-money, handles reasonably well and is still one the best-looking SUVs on the road. But beyond that, the Koleos can’t keep pace with those top-notch rivals.

The Forester is a pretty good-looking thing in this writer’s eyes, but its design hasn’t changed dramatically in the last few years.

The mid-size SUV looks equally at home on inner-city residential streets and in the middle of nowhere, even with the slightly ‘sported-up’ black trim of the STI version. And I do mean ‘slightly’.

Aside from the fact it looks a lot like the Forester 2.5i Sport of a few years ago (without the red bits), the STI Sport is perhaps ironically unadventurous. Even its alloy wheels don’t scream ‘sports’.

For all the SUVs with their respective brands’ performance badging (and not engineering) attached to them that bear more bark than bite, maybe it’s not such a bad thing Subaru has refrained from putting the Forester in full Tecnica uniform.

Inside, however, the black and red leather seems determined to distract from the fact that not much else has changed cabin-wise. It feels visually busier than it needs to, but still falls on the correct side of the restrained/garish line.

But there’s probably a reason the interior feels a little bit ‘classic Subie’ - if it works, it might pay to avoid making big changes.

An area that Renault has excelled at in the past decade has been exterior design. Under the stewardship of design chief Laurens van den Acker, Renault has transformed from somewhat quirky to modern and sleek.

The Koleos is getting on in years, having arrived in 2016, but it’s still a handsome SUV. A 2020 facelift sharpened its looks further and we reckon it’s one of the best-looking models in the medium-SUV segment.

Piano black inserts around the gear shifter are a nice touch, but the fake carbon-fibre inserts look and feel cheap. It’s all a bit generic.

But the appealing contrast yellow stitching on the seats, gear shifter housing, doors, centre armrest and more breaks up the grey with a little pop of colour.

I've heard the Forester called a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ kind of car, and I reckon that’s unfair. Aside from having Subaru’s venerable all-wheel drive at its disposal, the Forester is a supremely practical SUV - exactly what it needs to be given the reasons most people buy SUVs.

Okay, so the interface and tech is pretty old. If you’ve been in a Forester built in the last few years, there’s not a lot new to find.

There are some deliberately large buttons, the climate controls are still very classic and tactile, even the steering wheel buttons are pretty chunky.

If you’re not used to the amount of technology in new cars, Subaru has tried to make this as easy as possible to navigate.

I hate to sound like one of those ‘back in my day’ people, but in a lot of cases I’m finding myself preferring interior layouts and controls of a few years ago rather than post-2020 screens and ‘iPad’ style controls.

Newer Subarus have a rather large portrait centre screen, and even though it works fine, this one with the buttons below it is easier.

The instrument cluster being a pair of physical dials is also welcome, even if it means the digital display looks many years older than the car really is.

It’s also a spacious cabin, if not just physically then in feeling also. The huge sunroof and high-visibility glasshouse means plenty of light comes in and makes it feel roomy while also of course being easy to see out of (and therefore, manoeuvre).

Ergonomically, the Subie is sound. The seating position, aforementioned driver visibility, controls placement and space around each passenger is practical and well thought out, plus moving back into the second row doesn’t feel like a huge comfort downgrade.

Light in the second row is also good, the seats recline and the touch-point materials are like the front seats - comfy leather and a lack of scratchy plastics unless you go looking for them.

The second row can also be folded down (in a 60/40 split) from the boot with controls near the electric tailgate, which brings the boot space from 498 litres to 1060L, though Subaru says maximum space available is 1740L up to the ceiling.

It might lack the up-to-date styling of those rivals, but the Koleos is practical and spacious inside and great for family duties.

As with the outgoing fourth-generation Nissan X-Trail, the Koleos is one of the larger offerings in the medium SUV segment, and it’s evident when sitting in the front or rear seating row.

Rearward visibility could be better, with a small rear screen and thick C- and D-pillars impeding vision and creating a blind spot.

The front seats are well supported and comfortable and while the driver’s side is power adjustable, the front passenger seat is manually adjustable.

It has a deep central storage bin with a hidden shelf for coins and more. The Koleos features a sizeable glovebox and good bottle storage in the doors, with room for other items.

There’s a weird fixed cup holder in the centre console. It’s not adjustable and there’s room for two very narrow cups and two larger, but not wide, cups. It’s strange. Interior designers could have used that space better.

The CVT's position indicators are located to the left of the shifter and are thus obscured, so you have to rely on the instrument cluster display to confirm what gear you want. 

The steering wheel looks and feels good, but the controls aren’t super logical. There are old school switches in the console to activate the cruise control and speed limiter, but then to adjust and reset the speed you have to hit buttons on the wheel that are not clearly marked. 

The audio controls are housed on a panel-like stalk to the right side of the steering column, which isn’t ideal. These make more sense if they’re housed on the wheel itself. 

Along with a number of cars we have sampled recently, the Koleos has split analogue and digital controls for the air conditioning. Just integrate it in the screen or have traditional controls - not both!

It has a part-digital instrument cluster which is fine, but there’s no head-up display.

Renault’s 'R-Link' multimedia set-up in the Koleos is old, with dated graphics and a small screen, but the menu layout is clear and logical. 

The Koleos lacks wireless phone charging and it makes do with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The quality of the Bluetooth and CarPlay phone audio is poor and sounds tinny. 

The proximity key that locks and unlocks the vehicle remotely when you walk towards or away from it works every single time. Many of these systems from other brands are patchy at best but the Renault system is faultless. 

The rear seats recline and fold manually 60/40. They’re also surprisingly comfortable. There’s enough bucketing to sink in a bit, and the seats are set high up so kids can easily see out windows.

Space is ample in the second row, with loads of head, leg, toe and knee room, even behind my six-foot (183cm) driving position.

The rear pew has ISOFIX points on the outboard seats, lower air vents, a 12-volt outlet, map pockets, a centre folding armrest with two cupholders, but no USB ports. You have to make do with the two ports at the front.

Open the power tailgate and you’ll find a decent 458-litre boot with all seats in place (maximum 1690L), which is off the pace of its cousin, the Nissan X-Trail (565L), as well as the Toyota RAV4 (580L) and Hyundai Tucson (539L).

A 17-inch steel spare wheel is housed under the boot floor which might explain the lower boot capacity, and there are handy tie-down hooks, a couple of smaller storage nooks and a solid cargo blind. 

A European badge doesn’t always mean you pay more than say, Korean or Japanese offerings, and Renault is an example of that.

The Koleos line-up, for now, starts from $33,590, before on-road costs, for the two-wheel drive Life and tops out at $46,390 for the Intens all-wheel drive.

But after July 1, 2022, prices will increase across the Renault line-up, with the Koleos set to range from $35,000 to $47,500.

There’s only one petrol engine option since the diesel was dropped in 2019 and each variant is paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) driving either the front or all four wheels.

That pre-July pricing is competitive against its rivals, undercutting the opening price of automatic versions of the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, and more.

Our test car, the Koleos Black Edition, is priced at $40,090 (rising to $40,500 from July 1) and is based on the specification of the mid-range Zen front-wheel drive (FWD). It is limited to 400 units in Australia.

Renault is one of a number of car makers to offer a black-themed model in recent times, alongside Kia, Mitsubishi, Toyota, SsangYong, and others.

The Black Edition adds dark flourishes like 19-inch dark-grey alloy wheels, gloss black roof rails and door mirrors, sidesteps, French flags on the B-pillar (even though it’s built in South Korea) and a choice of three exterior metallic paint colours including black (of course), grey or white. 

It also gets a hands-free powered tailgate, black synthetic leather upholstery with yellow stitching, matt carbon-look inserts, an 8.7-inch multimedia portrait touchscreen and ‘Limited’ badging on the chrome door sills.

That’s on top of features that are standard on the Zen, like a proximity key, push-button start, dusk-sensing headlights, rain-sensing wipers, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, auto-folding exterior mirrors, an electrically adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, a reclining rear seat, dual-zone air-conditioning, and heated and cooled front cupholder.

The multimedia system houses sat nav and comes with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, digital radio and an eight-speaker audio system.

There’s more details on the safety front below, and many rivals come with more modern in-car tech but there’s no question the Koleos offers very good value-for-money. 

The same drivetrain as is used in the 2.5i-S is found in the STI Sport AWD.

No prizes for anyone who guessed it’s a 2.5-litre flat-four engine, but some might be disappointed to know that means no turbocharging and no sporty transmission - the STI Sport still outputs 136kW and 239Nm via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Subaru’s ever-present ‘symmetrical’ all-wheel drive system is, of course, here in the Forester too, but the brand’s relatively recent foray into hybrid drivetrains was given a miss for this version.

The Koleos shares its powertrain with the X-Trail. That means it uses a Euro 5-rated 2.5-litre four-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine delivering 126kW of power at 6000rpm and 226Nm of torque at 4400rpm.  

It is paired with a CVT and drives with the front, or all four wheels, depending on the grade. 

The Koleos has a braked towing capacity of 2000kg.

Subaru claims a 7.4L/100km combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel consumption figure for the STI Sport AWD, and while we’ve seen tests come close to that in other variants of the Forester with the same drivetrain, inner-city life can be a detriment to the Forester’s drinking habits.

On a test loop which was fairly unsympathetic to fuel efficiency, the Forester’s trip computer reported a 10.2L/100km figure, though a commute from inner-Melbourne to the CBD saw the digits nudge 13.0.

Historically, highway driving has been better for the Forester, and the STI Sport should be no different - plus its 63-litre fuel tank (able to run on 91 RON) should mean if you can approach Subaru’s claimed fuel consumption figure, you could theoretically find yourself driving more than 800km on a single tank.

According to Renault, the combined fuel consumption figure for the FWD Koleos is 8.1 litres per 100 kilometres. The AWD Koleos sips 8.3L.

After a week of mixed urban, freeway and semi-rural driving, we recorded 11.3L/100km.

Koleos uses 91 RON petrol, has a 60-litre fuel tank and emits 188g/km of CO2 emissions.

Like much of the Forester STI, the driving experience is heavily borrowed from some tried and true Subaru characteristics.

That naturally aspirated flat-four engine, though underwhelming on paper, gets the job done without much fuss. In fact, it sometimes feels peppier than it should given its outputs.

Its 'S/I' (Sport or Intelligent) drive mode selector is there to adjust acceleration style, but it doesn’t make an enormous difference.

Yes, it could do with more torque, but the engine doesn’t struggle and only starts to sound laboured at high revs during the kind of acceleration you’d need for seconds at a time.

The sound of a CVT whirring away isn’t exactly auditory bliss, nor does it make for engaging acceleration.

But it’s relatively quiet under regular load below highway speed and, as long as the road isn’t too coarse, NVH is generally good in the Forester.

Road, wind and engine noise are certainly present in certain circumstances, but they’re not intrusive until you get to higher speeds.

At those high speeds is where you might notice one of the most significant changes to the STI version of the Forester - the dampers have been retuned by STI, for what Subaru hopes is a “sharper, more responsive driving experience”.

It’s hard to seriously call the Forester sharp - it’s a mid-size family SUV with enough clearance to go light off-roading - but the STI Sport holds up well for what it is.

The Forester driving experience was already likeable and easy, and in terms of cornering and handling bumpy rural (or even just bumpy urban) roads, the suspension keeps things under control without feeling too stiff.

Its body doesn’t roll as much as you might expect when cornering, but given STI’s engineers focused their efforts on the dampers, its a good thing the Forester doesn’t either waft or thud when presented with big sharp bumps, nor does it vibrate and rattle over constant rough surfaces.

Of course, it’s also got 'X Mode' controls for different surfaces like snow, dirt and mud, making it a pretty handy companion for outdoor adventuring or camping trips in regions where the weather gets a bit unpredictable. If you’ve ever tried to get a front-wheel drive hatchback out of a muddy hillside campsite…

Essentially, the Forester is the kind of SUV that, if you wanted to, you could have a medium amount of fun with on a twisty road before taking it down a particularly rough, unsealed or muddy trail, then later hand the keys to your grandma knowing she’d be able to handle everything about the driving experience, too.

The drive experience is a mixed bag with some highlights and lowlights.

The ageing 2.5-litre engine is responsive enough from a standing start - it has a 0-100km/h time of 9.5 seconds - but it lacks any real punch and becomes breathless the second you encounter a hill.

It is noisy and revs hard when pushed, with the CVT drone not making for a particularly pleasant aural experience. You’ll hear a fair bit of road and tyre noise in the cabin, too.

The steering is dull and feels quite artificial, but the brakes feel strong.

Unless you’re on a perfectly smooth road surface, the ride is a little busy and the damper tune fails to adequately soften corrugations, potholes and speed bumps. 

It is, however, a more capable handler than expected. The chassis is well sorted, and aside from feeling top heavy with body roll when cornering, it has decent grip and displayed impressive roadholding characteristics, even on a sweeping bend with a loose shoulder surface.

There was a little understeer detected turning into a particularly tight bend.

It can’t match the dynamism of the Kia Sportage or Mazda CX-5, but it does engage the driver to some extent.

The Koleos was awarded a five-star ANCAP crash safety rating back in 2017.

It comes as standard with six airbags, auto emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, cruise control, a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, and a tyre pressure monitor. 

It lacks some of the more modern active driver aids that are offered as standard in rivals, like an active lane-keeping system that helps ensure the vehicle doesn’t cross line markings. The Koleos makes do with an audible warning that, oddly, sounds like a whoopie cushion when activated.

The cruise control is not adaptive, instead it’s the old school version that doesn’t detect vehicles ahead and lower its speed accordingly. 

Having more up-to-date safety gear would improve the Koleos’ appeal.

Subaru’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is now considered the minimum par-for-course coverage for a mainstream new car in Australia, while some rivals are offering seven-, eight- or even 10-year warranties (though the longer one are sometimes conditional).

Subaru also offers 12 months of roadside assistance, though this is also often offered in similar lengths to warranties by competitors.

Servicing intervals for the Forester are every 12,500km or 12 months, with the first of five capped price services (aside from a free one-month check-up) costing $370.91 and the most expensive (fourth) costing $888.62.

A $1387.25 three-year service contract or a $2674.64 five-year plan are on offer.

The Koleos is covered by Renault’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is stadatd in the meainstream market, now. 

It is available with a five-year capped-price servicing plan, with each service costing $429, except year four which will set you back $999.

The servicing schedule is every 12 months or 30,000km, whichever occurs first.