2025 Chevy Equinox vs 2025 Subaru Forester
When it comes to choosing the right compact SUV in 2025, two models dominate the conversation: the Chevy Equinox and the Subaru Forester. These models have long been favorites among drivers seeking a blend of comfort, efficiency, and capability. Yet, comparing the 2025 Chevy Equinox vs 2025 Subaru Forester reveals how Chevrolet’s best-selling SUV makes a bold leap forward and seals its fate as a fan favorite.
The compact SUV market is more competitive than ever, and Chevrolet knows it. While the Forester sticks to Subaru’s tried formula of offering reliability, adaptability, and efficiency, Chevrolet recognizes that drivers deserve more. The 2025 Equinox evolves into a more compelling all-around vehicle packed with value. Its refreshed design, stronger heartbeat, and well-crafted interior give the 2025 Equinox greater appeal, especially with Chevrolet maintaining the SUV’s affordability.
Where the 2025 Forester is utilitarian and practical, the 2025 Equinox embodies style, athleticism, and sophistication. The 2025 Equinox offers more torque and engaging performance, along with a quiet cabin that sets the stage for an enjoyable experience wherever the road leads. These characteristics make the 2025 Equinox a smarter buy for drivers who genuinely want an SUV that offers the best of both worlds: reliable performance, practical features, and value-oriented luxuries.
As your Chevrolet destination, we’re here to showcase why the 2025 Equinox is the better choice against rivals like the 2025 Forester. Chevrolet certainly makes our job easier with its best-selling SUV, but our bias is rooted in facts. You deserve to know those facts as you shop for the perfect compact SUV to add to your garage.
| 2025 Chevy Equinox | vs | 2025 Subaru Forester |
| $28,600[a] | MSRP | $29,995 |
| 203 lb-ft | Torque | 178 lb-ft |
| 1,500 lbs | Towing | 1,500 lbs |
| 5 | Passengers | 5 |
Performance
The 2025 Forester and 2025 Equinox have compact footprints, making them agile and responsive. Yet, Subaru relies on its standard formula despite the Forester’s all-new design in 2025. Thankfully, Chevrolet takes a different approach, ensuring the 2025 Equinox evolves to meet and exceed our expectations of performance, agility, and efficiency.
Standard Powertrains
The 2025 Forester might be newly redesigned, but its heartbeat is the same, with Subaru equipping the compact SUV with a 2.5L Boxer-4 engine and Lineartronic Continuously Variable Transmission. The Boxer engine produces 180 hp and 178 lb-ft of torque, with the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system adding to the SUV’s dexterity in slippery conditions. Subaru requires drivers to spend more on a mid- or top-tier trim, such as the Sport and Premium, for improved all-season performance. These trims have driver-selectable X-Mode with Incline Start Assist and upgrades like Hill Descent Control.
Chevrolet stays true to its customer-centric roots and refuses to ask drivers to spend more without seeing tangible value. The 2025 Equinox rolls off Chevrolet’s production line with a 1.5L turbocharged inline-four under its hood that makes 175 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque—a higher output than the 2025 Forester, which guarantees the Equinox offers more low-end power and better acceleration. Chevrolet pairs this standard powertrain with a continuously variable transmission. All-wheel-drive models replace this CVT with a smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission, which boosts torque output to 203 lb-ft for outstanding capability and performance in any situation.
An EV Advantage
The 2025 Forester offers a two-engine lineup that transforms its Boxer engine into a hybrid powertrain. The hybrid Boxer engine produces 194 hp, enticing Subaru fans with its output and efficiency. However, Chevrolet goes one step further, skipping the hybrid option and heading straight to the realm of EVs.
The 2025 Equinox EV outperforms its hybrid Subaru rival, showcasing Chevrolet’s ingenuity. The 85-kWh battery and single motor produce 220 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque, yielding an EPA-estimated range of 319 miles. Opting for the dual-motor all-wheel-drive configuration increases the output to 300 hp and 355 lb-ft of instant torque, slightly reducing the driving range to an EPA-estimated 307 miles. You won’t find an EV option in the Forester lineup, making the 2025 Equinox appealing to those looking for a more environmentally friendly alternative with a spirited driving demeanor.
Value
Many automakers capitalize on the widespread demand for compact SUVs, increasing their prices because they know drivers will oblige. We see this strategy from Subaru, with the 2025 Forester starting at $29,995. Subaru anticipates that drivers will pay more for the brand, especially for an all-wheel-drive SUV. Chevrolet offers a far more valuable alternative, with the newly redesigned 2025 Equinox boasting a budget-friendly starting price of $28,600.[a] This lower starting price means the Equinox is significantly more affordable than the Forester.
Standard Features
The 2025 Forester Base sets the baseline for the family, with minimal features that defy its price tag. The entry-level trim has LED headlights, raised roof rails, the EyeSight driver assistance suite, and the Subaru STARLINK Multimedia system on a 7-inch touchscreen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are undeniably the trim’s best features, which doesn’t say much for this base trim, considering the 2025 Equinox LT has an 11-inch Driver Information Center, an 11.3-inch center touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated front seats, and a heated steering wheel.
Climbing the lineup tells a similar story, with the 2025 Forester Premium adding conveniences like Keyless Access with Push-Button Start and a panoramic moonroof. Subaru asks drivers to spend more on enhanced driver assistance technologies, whereas Chevrolet adds more standard ones to the Equinox in 2025. These integrated technologies are part of the Equinox’s DNA, meaning you don’t have to pay extra for a tech package or dig deeper into your wallet to splurge on a top-tier trim.
The Forester’s family tree culminates with the Sport, Wilderness, Limited, and Touring before delving into the hybrid models. While the number of trims exceeds the 2025 Equinox’s three-trim lineup, the differences are minimal and don’t adequately reflect the increased price. Instead of watering down the Equinox’s lineup, Chevrolet simplifies and gives drivers three trims with distinct personas, from the value-packed LT to the sporty RS and adventurous ACTIV.
Technology
The 2025 Equinox showcases Chevrolet’s efforts to give drivers far more for their money. Chevrolet opened its doors in the early 1900s to design an automobile for every purse and purpose. Today, the 2025 Equinox continues that legacy with cutting-edge tech and a vast digital landscape that outshines and outperforms rivals like the 2025 Subaru Forester.
Digital Landscape
The 2025 Forester and 2025 Equinox are modern marvels that showcase our reliance on technology in the driver’s seat. The Forester rolls off Subaru’s production line with a 7-inch standard touchscreen display or an available 11.6-inch Multimedia Plus System. The standard display has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with the larger display adding wireless integration for improved convenience. The displays also have Bluetooth capability, a rear vision camera, SiriusXM All-Access Radio, and TomTom navigation included with the 11.6-inch display.
The Forester’s digital layout is impressive until you consider its higher starting price and what rivals like the 2025 Equinox offer. The 2025 Equinox, which is more affordable, has a standard 11.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a Wi-Fi hotspot, and Google Built-In, which adds Google Assistant, the Google Play Store, and Google Maps. This display complements the Equinox’s 11-inch configurable driver information center, where you’ll see vital performance insights, navigational cues, and driver assistance alerts.
Driver Assistance
Chevrolet and Subaru prioritize driver safety, equipping the 2025 Equinox and 2025 Forester with cutting-edge driver assistance features. The 2025 Forester has Subaru’s EyeSight suite, with mid- and top-tier trims expanding this suite with enhanced technologies. For example, early ones have Blind-Spot Detection with Lane Keep Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, and Automatic Emergency Steering. Top-tier trims, like the Forester Touring, add the DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System.
The 2025 Equinox offers something far more feature-rich and value-oriented as Chevrolet expands the SUV’s standard safety suite. Chevy Safety Assist remains standard across the Equinox’s 2025 lineup, equipping the SUV with IntelliBeam, Following Distance Indicator, Forward Collision Alert, Front Pedestrian and Bicyclist Braking, Side Bicyclist Alert, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert, Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking, Enhanced Lane Keep Assist, and Rear Cross Traffic Braking. These features and Chevrolet exclusives like Teen Driver solidify the Equinox’s fate as a segment leader against rivals like the Forester in 2025.
Visit Us Today
Were you sure that your search for a compact SUV would end with you behind the wheel of the 2025 Subaru Forester? The Forester enjoys a new redesign in 2025, but its updates are limited to aesthetics and don’t stray beyond the standard Subaru formula, as it doesn’t introduce more engaging performance and features beyond its practical design. Fortunately, this is where the 2025 Equinox shines, with Chevrolet’s newly updated SUV filling in the gaps where its rival falls short, all while maintaining its affordable price tag.
Comparing the 2025 Equinox to the 2025 Forester reveals the obvious winner. Chevrolet goes above and beyond to give drivers more for their hard-earned money, keeping the Equinox budget-friendly without compromising its modern styling and advanced tech. It’s everything you want and deserve in an SUV, and it’s waiting at McCluskey Chevrolet. As your trusted Chevy dealer, we’re thrilled to give you a front-row seat to the best-selling Equinox. We’ll listen to your needs as we treat you to a world-class dealership experience. It’s an exciting combination that ends with you behind the wheel of the award-winning Equinox.
