Subaru Forester vs Toyota Land Cruiser

What's the difference?

The MY26 Subaru Forester packs plenty of punch in terms of standard features, a roomy and functional interior and overall driveability. Sure, it’s not the most exciting vehicle to drive on- or off-road but to get stuck on that is to miss the point entirely. This is a decent all-rounder with a solid background and an AWD system that long ago set the gold standard for vehicles of this type.

In a tough mid-size SUV market segment aimed more at those intent on driving through car parks rather than adventuring through national parks, the Forester offers greater versatility than most and should not be ignored.

The i-Force Max hybrid set-up is aimed at improving performance rather than fuel efficiency, but its effectiveness in that respect is hard to fathom.

Increases in power and torque are welcome, of course, but the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel Cruiser is just as good as the hybrid off-road and with a bigger fuel tank and greater driving range.

The hybrid LandCruiser will certainly appeal to some buyers, but the lion’s share of those interested in the 300 Series are looking to tow big loads and go long distances in comfort, which is why the diesel Cruiser at this stage is the better pick of the two powertrains.

This Forester is 4655mm long (with a 2670mm wheelbase), 1830mm wide and 1730mm high.

The new generation retains more than enough of the previous Forester – blocky profile included – to remain clearly recognisable.

Traditionalists may chafe at the slicker, more citified appearance of this Forester over previous generations but the overall package is inoffensive enough to not elicit any howls of outrage from passers-by on the street.

The Forester’s interior maintains a similar cabin look and feel as before but with a 11.6-inch portrait-oriented multimedia touchscreen dominating up front, a mix of physical and on-screen buttons, as well as soft-touch surfaces and durable plastics.

Nothing of note has changed onboard the Cruiser and the GR Sport variants are all the same, inside and out, no matter which powertrain you opt for.

And that’s fine because this is a good-looking rooster.

The GR Sport is listed as 4995mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1990mm wide and 1955mm high. It has a kerb weight of 2620kg.

This 300 Series looks much the same as it did at launch in 2021: big, chunky, imposing – like me if I was wearing high heels.

As a point of difference to other Cruisers, though, all GR Sports have variant-specific badging on the grille, front doors and rear tailgate.

Inside, it’s pretty much the same story which is borne out in how comfortable and practical it remains.

The Forester is quite roomy for a mid-size SUV and this is the top-spec variant so there’s leather everywhere.

The interior layout is neat and tidy and lands firmly on the correct side of being practical and familiar, with all controls easy to locate and operate.

The touchscreen offers mostly simple intuitive functionality with infrequent need to cycle through numerous menus and sub-menus to access what you want.

The aforementioned mix of physical and on-screen buttons, as well as soft-touch surfaces and durable plastic are welcome here because, you know... real life.

The front seats offer ample support and the driver is able to dial-in their preferred position via power controls on the eight-way power-adjustable seat (with dual memory). The front passenger has an eight-way power-adjustable seat. Both seats are heated and ventilated.

The 60/40 split folding second-row seats aren’t too shabby either, in terms of comfort and amenities, with a fold-down arm-rest with cupholders and directional air vents etc.

Cargo volume is 496 litres (with rear seat in use) and 1174 litres (with the rear seat down, 1667 litres to ceiling.

The tailgate is powered and hands-free with a kick sensor (apparently). But I never tried that, instead opting for the tailgate-mounted button to open and close it.

The LandCruiser’s cabin is a functional and comfortable space, and – no matter the spec level – it always has a sense of familiarity about it.

All seats in the GR Sport are leather-accented and comfortable and there are soft-touch surfaces throughout the interior.

The driver gets a heated and power-adjustable steering wheel and both occupants up front cop ventilated and heated, power-adjustable seats (with memory functions for the driver).

The GR Sport’s 12.3-inch colour touchscreen is easy to use, with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there’s a wireless charging pad near the shifter.

Physical buttons and dials make operational life in the Cruiser much easier than if all functions were adjusted via on-screen controls, as is the case in some new vehicles.

There are USB and USB-C charging points up front.

There’s a cool box in the centre console and its lid can be opened from either side, so driver or passenger can access whatever is chilling within.

There’s also a powered sunroof if you’re that way inclined.

Beyond those features, there are the usual storage spaces, cupholders, receptacles in the doors for bigger bottles and other spaces for your bits and pieces.

The second-row seats are in a 40/20/40 split-folding configuration.

The GR Sport’s cargo space, when all five seats are in use, is a listed 910 litres behind the second row, somewhat impacted by the underfloor presence of the hybrid battery. That cargo area grows to 1842 litres when the second row is stowed away.

The rear cargo area of the hybrid has a 200V/1500W inverter, four tie-down points and of course, there's a full-size spare.

All in all, the Cruiser has the goods when it comes to practicality.

The five-seat Toyota LandCruiser 300 GR (Gazoo Racing) Sport Hybrid sits near the top of the 300 Series line-up and as such has a price-tag of $155,990, before on-road costs.

It's worth noting the GR Sport is also available with a 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel engine at $147,090, before on-roads.

Standard features include a 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system, a 14-speaker JBL audio system, as well as leather-accented seats, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats, 18-inch alloy wheels and more.

The i-Force Max hybrid set-up is the big attraction in this package and, largely because of that new powertrain, Cruiser buyers have to cop a heftier price – just under $9000 – over the diesel variants.

As the highest off-road grade in the Cruiser line-up, the GR Sport is kitted out with front, centre and rear diff locks, E-KDSS (essentially an electronic active swaybar), and the long-time bolted-on LandCruiser 4WD heritage.

Exterior paint options include the no-cost Glacier White or Ebony, or choose from Crystal Pearl, Arctic White, Graphite, Eclipse Black or Merlot Red, each of which costs $710.

Rivals such as the Nissan Patrol Warrior (priced from around the $110,000 mark) or Land Rover Defender (from $102,000) offer similar levels of standard features, but something like the Denza B8 plug-in hybrid (kicking off from around the $91,000 mark) has a packed standard features list for much less cash.

The Forester has the line-up’s 2.5-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated boxer engine (producing 136kW at 5800rpm and 247Nm at 3700rpm) matched to a constantly variable transmission (CVT), which some people detest, and some people couldn’t give a rat’s whether it’s there or not.

Also onboard is Subaru’s all-wheel drive system, driving modes (including 'Normal', 'Deep snow/Mud', and 'Snow/Dirt') and 'X-Mode' “that constantly monitors the traction available to each wheel and centralises the control of key components including the engine, transmission, drivetrain and brakes to help manage slippery conditions”, according to Subaru.

The big news here is the i-Force Max hybrid powertrain consisting of a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, an electric motor and a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Toyota reckons the “purpose‑built 1‑Motor Hybrid system” is designed for towing, off‑roading and heavy‑duty performance and that the additional electric motor “enhances power and responsiveness (compared with an equivalent diesel-only model), working seamlessly alongside the internal combustion engine”.

In general driving, it’s difficult, nigh on impossible, to discern the positive impact, if any, of the i-Force Max. But the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine alone is impressive.

There’s no denying this Cruiser now benefits from a substantial increase in power (up 114kW to 341kW combined peak output) and torque (up 90Nm to 790Nm combined peak output) over the diesel Cruiser.

The Dakar Rally-inspired LC300 GR Sport’s 10-speed torque converter auto cleverly handles open-road driving and high- and low-range 4WDing, micro-managing power and torque to maintain a level-headed but involved driving experience.

The GR Sport has full-time, dual-range 4WD, a well-calibrated off-road traction control system, as well as front, rear and centre diff locks, so it’s almost unstoppable.

In this realm, the Cruiser holds its own against the likes of Nissan Patrol Warrior and Land Rover Defender.

Official fuel consumption on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle for the Forester is 7.9L/100km and it uses 91RON 'standard' unleaded petrol at a minimum.

On this test, I recorded 8.1L/100km. But fuel consumption was as low as a dash-indicated 1.7L/100km while driving the Forester with adaptive cruise control engaged.

The Forester has a 63-litre fuel tank, so, going by our on-test fuel-use figures you could reasonably expect a driving range of almost 780km from a full tank. However, as with any vehicle, once you’ve loaded the Forester with any real-world burdens (e.g kids, dogs, camping gear, etc) you’ll soon see the fuel consumption increase.

Official fuel consumption is 10.0L/100km on a combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

Our fuel consumption on this test was 13.6L/100km, which is substantially more than the claimed figure, but testing did, of course, include high- and low-range 4WDing.

This hybrid Cruiser has a 98-litre fuel tank (the diesel holds 110 litres) so, going by those fuel figures, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 720km out of a full tank.

The Forester feels comfortable and composed on sealed surfaces and offers some degree of dynamism to the driving experience – so in line with previous generations.

It feels more refined, sharper to steer and more responsive than before. There’s ample visibility to the front but a substantial B pillar obscures the driver’s vision back over their right shoulder.

The Boxer engine and CVT work well together, power and torque outputs are more than adequate in this package, and that much-maligned transmission is not intrusive if the Forester is driven with care and common sense.

However, acceleration from a full stop is sluggish.

The suspension set-up – MacPherson struts up front and double wishbones at the rear – yields a firm but not jarring sense of ride and handling.

The 1662kg Forester proved nimble to manoeuvre around the Big Smoke, the suburbs and in the bush (more about that soon) with a neat 10.8m turning circle.

All-wheel drive vehicles are capable of tackling off-road adventures in their own right but, for safety’s sake, AWD drivers should avoid anything beyond well-maintained dirt tracks in dry weather. AWD cars are designed for use on bitumen roads with some dirt or light-duty off-road use.

And so it was with our test of this Forester. On-test off-road terrain equalled firm-packed sand and gravel/dirt bush tracks in dry weather, although we did drive through one shin-deep mudhole with no trouble.

The Forester has a listed 220mm of ground clearance, the suspension held up well over a brief stint on mild corrugations and Subaru AWD proved more than up to the task when things became a little trickier, providing improved grip and traction in slippery conditions that demanded to be driven at very low speeds.

If push comes to shove, it’s capable of more than light off-roading, but the Forester’s ground clearance and off-road angles ultimately limit its off-road capabilities.

The Forester’s 'all season' tyres – Falken Ziex Z001A A/S (225/55 R18 98V) – are fine for light to moderate off-roading but anything more difficult than that and you’ll need to get a set of more aggressive all-terrain tyres. It does have a full-sized spare onboard.

It has maximum towing capacities of 750kg (unbraked trailer), 1800kg (braked) and a maximum towball download of 180kg. GVM is 2223kg; GCM is 4023kg.

Some niggles: The driver awareness system is annoyingly over-reactive.

Steering, now electric, is light but precise and this 4WD wagon feels highly manoeuvrable; with a turning circle of 11.8m it's quite nimble.

The new hybrid set-up is aimed at performance rather than fuel efficiency and as before the Cruiser remains a comfortable open-road cruiser, smoothly tapping into oodles of power and torque when required, all managed smoothly through the 10-speed auto.

This Cruiser’s on-road ride and handling are composed but it is soft rather than dynamic. Its suspension – double wishbone, independent at the front and live axle and multi-links at the rear with coils all-around – soaks up most irregularities in any road surface.

Its ventilated disc brakes front and rear brought the big Cruiser to a controlled stop during our emergency-braking scenarios on test.

When it comes to off-roading, this LandCruiser benefits from handy 4WD gear some other Cruiser grades miss out on, namely Toyota’s swaybar-disconnect equivalent E-KDSS (electronic-Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System), front and rear differential locks, and adaptive variable suspension.

The E-KDSS set-up acts like an electronic active swaybar, adjusting tension on the front and rear sway bars to suit the terrain and driving conditions.

While it’s a high-value addition on-road – tightening them for better body control at higher speeds on sealed surfaces – it gives the vehicle a lot more flexibility in terms of wheel articulation off-road, offering full stretch on the axles when tackling off-road scenarios.

This hybrid 300 Series tackled all obstacles at our unofficial testing and proving ground without any strife; its top-tier power and torque levels are consistently delivered across a broad rev range and that 10-speed auto is never caught out, scrambling through ratios to find the sweet spot.

High- and low-range gearing are solid in the 300 Series, and the suite of driver assist tech, aimed at making off-road driving easier and safer, is comprehensive: the traction control system has been further fine-tuned over previous versions, and is now even more precise in application.

The 300’s multi-terrain select system gives you the option of cycling through driving modes – for example, Sand, Snow, Mud, Rocks and Dirt – to suit the terrain. When engaged, the modes adjust vehicle systems, throttle, engine output etc to best suit the conditions, driving style and terrain.

Off-road measurements and angles are on point for a large 4WD wagon. Ground clearance is 245mm, wading depth is 700mm, and approach, ramp-over and departure angles are 32, 25 and 25 degrees, respectively.

Besides that, whether it’s being able to access 790Nm of useable torque across a broad rev range, or relying on the LC300’s well-calibrated traction control, or if you are engaging front, rear and centre diff locks, this Cruiser is an almost unstoppable off-roader in the right hands.

Even without the diff locks engaged, this 300 conquers every obstacle you drive it at, through and over.

If you plan to use this 4WD wagon for anything more difficult than dry-track 4WDing in good weather then get more aggressive all-terrain tyres to replace the standard Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains (265/65 R18).

The GR Sport’s full-size spare is mounted to the underbody but it doesn’t impact running clearance.

The 300 Series can legally tow 750kg unbraked, and 3500kg braked.

Here, the Cruiser remains true to its old-school spirit – albeit with a tech edge – in the same way the Nissan Patrol Warrior does, while something like the Land Rover Defender is more spaceship than scrub explorer.

All of the 300 Series line-up, except the GR Sport, have the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in January 2022.

Safety gear includes 10 airbags, two ISOFIX anchor points, as well as AEB with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, active cruise control (all-speed), lane departure alert (with brake to steer), road sign assist (speed signs only), trailer sway control and more.

Off-road driver-assist tech includes crawl control, downhill assist, hill-start assist, multi-terrain select, multi-terrain monitor with panoramic view and active traction control.

The MY26 Subaru range is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, five-year/75,000km capped price servicing, and 12 months roadside assistance.

A service is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest. After your free “1 Month Health Check and Chat”, cost per service is $347.95 (at the 15,000km/12 month mark), $520.45 (30,000km or 24 months), $393.10 (45,000km or 36 months), $679.30 (60,000km or 48 months) and $358.20 (75,000km or 60 months). Average over the five years is $459.80.

Subaru Australia has more than 140 dealerships across the country with a decent spread over metro and regional areas. Foresters may be serviced at those dealers or by approved mechanics.

The hybrid Cruiser is covered by Toyota’s five year/unlimited km warranty.

Servicing is scheduled for every 12 months or 20,000km (whichever occurs soonest) and costs are, at time of writing, $450 per appointment for the first five years or 100,000km (whichever occurs first).

Toyota Australia has more than 300 authorised service centres around the country.