2019 Subaru Forester vs 2019 Toyota 4Runner

If you’re in the market for a modern SUV capable of getting off the beaten path, you have only a handful of options. These include the 2- and 4-door Jeep Wranglers, the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, the Land Rover Range Rover, and the Toyota 4Runner. Of those, only the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and the 4Runner are 4-door SUVs that put off-road grit above all else.

While the Jeep Wrangler is only one year removed from a complete redesign that brought in many new technologies, the 2019 Toyota 4Runner is based on a design first introduced in 2009. For those keeping score at home, that means the DNA underpinning the 4Runner is a decade old. Yet picking which vehicle I’d choose as a daily drivable, off-road-capable SUV is a surprisingly difficult decision.

So where does an old goat like the 2019 Toyota 4Runner fit in the modern SUV market? Interestingly, the 4Runner's advanced age actually helps it in some respects.

Consumers are hungry for all-weather capability, plenty of space for passengers, and plenty of space for the gear that comes with those passengers. Crossovers can offer all of this, while also providing solid fuel economy. So, it makes sense that crossovers of different sizes and price ranges are dominating the new car market. Nearly every automaker out there today offers at least one, if not multiple crossovers, in their showrooms.

But while this is a new trend for some brands, Subaru has been offering multiple vehicles that fit the crossover formula for decades.

In particular, the Subaru Forester has been around since 1997. When it arrived, the Forester provided standard all-wheel drive, reasonable fuel economy, plenty of cargo space, and an affordable base price. It was not the first vehicle to come standard with all-wheel drive—that would be the AMC Eagle of the 1970s. But the AMC brand is no more, and the '97 Forester offered all these attributes while also being incredibly reliable, and thus set the blueprint for the modern crossover craze.

The modern compact SUV market includes popular vehicles like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Volkswagen Tiguan, and more. With all these rivals, can the all-new 2019 Subaru Forester once again set the curve in this segment?