2026 Subaru Trailseeker SUVOTY Review: An Adventurous and Cool Toyota, er, Subaru
It drives well and is one of the quickest Subarus ever, but we just can’t shake that one big thing.
Pros
- Super quick
- Handles surprisingly well for its size
- Solid on the trails
Cons
- Not enough Subaru
- Interior and ergonomics issues
- Weird cockpit layout
For 25 years, the Subaru WRX has served as the standard bearer for the brand’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive performance efforts. Consider those days to be a thing of the past thanks to the all-electric Subaru Trailseeker, which uses two motors good for 375 horsepower to hit 60 mph in a blistering 3.9 seconds. That’s the same time as a Porsche 911 Carrera T. Yes, we’re well aware that’s a completely ridiculous comparison, but still! Despite that, the judges had other concerns regarding Subaru’s Forester-sized EV.
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The biggest is that the Trailseeker is extremely closely related to the Toyota bZ Woodland, and in general, the three new Subaru EVs (Solterra, Uncharted, and Trailseeker) are much too similar to their Toyota variants (bZ, bZ Woodland, C-HR) to make any sense to consumers, let alone us judges. In the case of the Trailseeker versus the bZ Woodland, the judges preferred the way the Toyota looked on balance, and given that they’re otherwise (almost) identical, why would anyone choose the Subaru? Hopefully Subaru will offer a Wilderness version to help differentiate it from its Toyota sibling.
For example, here’s features editor Scott Evans on the Trailseeker’s interior: “I’m glad to see it’s got one of the better Toyota entertainment systems. The one with the HVAC controls always present at the bottom and the physical volume knob, which is better than some other Toyota systems.” Translation: There are some good bits here, but they’re all Toyota bits, and that makes it hard to review as a Subaru.
The rest of the cabin—also a clone of the bZ Woodland—didn’t impress. “The base Outback has a nicer interior; it’s more spacious, your knees aren’t at your chest level, and materials are arguably better,” features editor Christian Seabaugh said. “The Outbacks also have more storage, a better infotainment system, and an instrument cluster I’m not squinting to see.”
That last bit raised the hackles of more than one judge. “I love that the solution to complaints about the tiny instrument cluster screen was to make the bezel around it bigger,” Evans said. Also, as in far too many modern Subarus (and Toyotas), the constant beeping can go beep itself.
The Trailseeker did drive fantastically, however. “You better believe I went looking for trails in the Trailseeker,” director of editorial operations Mike Floyd said. “The name practically forces you to hit the dirt, and on our off-road loop it did fairly well.”
Admittedly, the low-rolling-resistance tires held it back a touch, though not hardly at all on our handling circuit. “It was shockingly good to drive around the winding road,” Evans said. “I expected the power, but I did not expect the composure and the grip. This has gotta be the sportiest Subaru I’ve driven since the BRZ or the STI. I don’t ever expect Subaru SUVs to drive like this.”
There’s something quite different about the Trailseeker. Hard to put one’s finger on exactly what, but as discussed, there’s not nearly enough Subaru here. We’re not even talking about all the visible Toyota bits, but that plays into it. “Feels right even though it’s wrong,” buyer’s guide director Zach Gale said. “The Outback-sized SUV wagon allows Subaru to continue selling a wagon now that the Outback looks like an SUV to some. Where the picture gets shaky is that this SUV (or is it a wagon?) lacks the soft ride quality I expect.” But hey, it does have a few touches of its own, namely our test model’s blue leather trim, which we found to be adventurous and cool, kind of like the Trailseeker—regardless of who built it.
