Compare the2025 Subaru ForesterVS 2024 Kia Sportage

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Forester have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Kia Sportage doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Subaru Forester has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Sportage doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Forester has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Sportage doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Forester. But it costs extra on the Sportage.

Both the Forester and the Sportage have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

The Forester’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Sportage runs out after 100,000 miles.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Subaru vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Subaru 4 places higher in reliability than Kia.

As tested in Car and Driver the Subaru Forester is faster than the Kia Sportage:

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Forester lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability without compromising ground clearance. The Sportage doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

On the EPA test cycle the Forester gets better mileage than the Sportage:

The Forester has 2.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage (16.6 vs. 14.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Forester has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Sportage doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Forester’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Sportage are solid, not vented.

The Forester stops much shorter than the Sportage:

The Forester’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sportage LX/X-Pro’s standard 65 series tires. The Forester Sport/Touring’s tires have a lower 50 series profile than the Sportage SX Prestige/X-Line’s 55 series tires.

The Forester Sport handles at .82 G’s, while the Sportage X-Pro Prestige pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Forester’s turning circle is 3.2 feet tighter than the Sportage’s (35.4 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Forester has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Sportage (8.7 vs. 8.3 inches), allowing the Forester to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Forester has 8.8 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Sportage (110.8 vs. 102).

The Forester has 1.6 inches more front headroom, 1.9 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, .3 inches more rear hip room and 1.1 inches more rear shoulder room than the Sportage.

The Forester has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Sportage with its rear seat folded (74.4 vs. 74.1 cubic feet).

The engine in the Forester is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Sportage. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Subaru service is better than Kia. J.D. Power ranks Subaru 7th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 39% lower rating, Kia is ranked 24th.

The Forester’s standard driver’s power window opens or closes with one touch of the window control, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths. The Sportage’s standard driver’s power window switch has to be held the entire time to close it fully.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Forester has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Sportage doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Forester to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Sportage doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Forester’s optional rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Sportage offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the Forester and the Sportage offer available heated front seats. The Forester Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Sportage.

The Forester has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Sportage EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line/X-Pro.

The Subaru Forester outsold the Kia Sportage by 8% during 2023.