Compare the2026 Ford Bronco SportVS 2026 Subaru Forester

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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The Bronco Sport has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Forester doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The Bronco Sport has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Forester’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Bronco Sport has standard Cross Traffic Alert and rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Subaru charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Forester and it’s not available on the Base and the Forester’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Forester have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Subaru Forester:

	Bronco Sport	Forester
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	140	198
Neck Stress	178 lbs.	263 lbs.
Neck Compression	29 lbs.	39 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	123/237 lbs.	276/274 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	153	211
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.6 inches
Neck Stress	177 lbs.	242 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Subaru Forester:

	Bronco Sport	Forester
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	205 lbs.	349 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	144	208
Spine Acceleration	33 G’s	58 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	14 inches
Hip Force	512 lbs.	589 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

There are over 4 times as many Ford dealers as there are Subaru dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Bronco Sport’s warranty.

Reliability

The Bronco Sport has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Forester doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Bronco Sport has a standard 760-amp battery. The Forester’s 620-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Bronco Sport third among small suvs in their 2025 Initial Quality Study. The Forester isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Ford vehicles are more reliable than Subaru With 4 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Ford higher than Subaru.

Engine

The Bronco Sport’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 22 lbs.-ft. more torque (200 vs. 178) than the Forester’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Bronco Sport Badlands’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 56 more horsepower (250 vs. 194) than the Forester’s optional 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Car and Driver the Ford Bronco Sport is faster than the Subaru Forester:

	Bronco Sport turbo 3 cyl.	Bronco Sport Badlands	Forester 4 cyl.	Forester 4 cyl. hybrid gas
Zero to 60 MPH	8.2 sec	5.9 sec	8.4 sec	8.4 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	8.7 sec	6.5 sec	8.8 sec	9.2 sec
Quarter Mile	16.3 sec	14.5 sec	16.6 sec	16.5 sec

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Bronco Sport with its standard engine gets better fuel mileage than the Forester Wilderness 2.5 DOHC flat-4 (25 city/30 hwy vs. 24 city/28 hwy).

The Bronco Sport has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Forester doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

The Bronco Sport stops much shorter than the Forester:

	Bronco Sport	Forester
70 to 0 MPH	163 feet	176 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	126 feet	137 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	135 feet	152 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

The Bronco Sport has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Forester doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Bronco Sport is 2.1 inches wider in the front and 1.5 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Forester.

Chassis

The Bronco Sport is 9.8 inches shorter than the Forester, making the Bronco Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Bronco Sport Badlands offers available computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Forester doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Bronco Sport has .3 inches more front headroom, .5 inches more front hip room and 2.1 inches more rear headroom than the Forester.

Cargo Capacity

The Bronco Sport has a much larger cargo volume than the Forester with its rear seat up (32.5 vs. 29.6 cubic feet).

An optional locking center console keeps your small valuables safer in the Bronco Sport. The Forester doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Bronco Sport’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Forester’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Towing

The Bronco Sport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Forester’s (2200 vs. 1500 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The Bronco Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Forester uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The power windows standard on both the Bronco Sport and the Forester have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Bronco Sport is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Forester prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

If the windows are left open on the Bronco Sport the driver can close all of them from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Forester can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Bronco Sport has standard Intelligent Access that allows you to unlock the doors from either front door handle, unlock the cargo door, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Only the Forester Premium/Sport/Limited/Wilderness/Touring offers a Keyless Access and Start.

The Bronco Sport’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Forester’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Bronco Sport’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Subaru only offers heated mirrors on the Forester Premium/Sport/Limited/Touring.

The Bronco Sport offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Forester doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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