Mazda CX-5 vs Subaru Forester: Which Mid-Size SUV Fits Your Life?

This is a fact-led look at two of the most common answers to the same question: a mid-size SUV with all-wheel drive that a family can live with for years. We compare current rows only, grade against grade, and we put a price basis next to every dollar figure. We have not driven either car, so there is nothing here about how they feel on the road. It is all paper: maker documents, ANCAP and our own records.

What each one costs

Every figure below is recommended retail before on-road costs, which is what we hold for both brands. The cheapest CX-5 G25 Pure is $39,990. The cheapest Forester AWD is $45,990. That $6,000 gap is the single biggest price fact in this comparison, and it shrinks as you climb. The CX-5 Touring is $47,490 and the Forester Sport is $48,490, only $1,000 apart. At the top, the Akera is $54,990 while the petrol Forester Touring is $50,990, so the Mazda is $4,000 dearer there.

The Forester also has a second ladder the CX-5 does not. The hybrid starts at $47,990, which is $2,000 over the entry petrol, then steps up to $54,990 for the Sport and $55,990 for the Touring. That is a $7,000 jump from the entry hybrid to the next grade, which is worth knowing before you fall for the badge.

Mazda CX-5 (2.5L petrol, all-wheel drive)

Subaru Forester (2.5L petrol, all-wheel drive)

Subaru Forester Hybrid (all-wheel drive)

Prices are as at the date under each figure, from the makers' Australian price information. We hold no drive-away figure for any of these twelve rows, so none is shown. The weekly line under each price is a finance estimate on an assumed rate, not a quote.

Safety: two five-star results from two different years

Both cars carry five ANCAP stars in our records, and neither number is the whole story. The CX-5's rating is from 2025 and covers all variants. The Forester's is from 2024. ANCAP's assessments change as it updates its protocols, so a 2025 result and a 2024 result are not an identical test, and the percentage gaps below are a guide rather than a ruling.

On those numbers the CX-5 scores higher in adult occupant protection (90 against 83 percent), vulnerable road user protection (93 against 86) and safety assist (87 against 75), and the two tie on child occupant protection at 91 percent. The Forester's record shows nine airbags. Ours holds no airbag count for the CX-5, so we are not going to guess one.

The driver-assist kit is more even than the ratings. Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and lane keep assist are standard on every CX-5 and every Forester row in our records. Rear cross traffic alert is standard on all five CX-5 grades and on five of the seven Foresters; the two base petrol Foresters show no data for it rather than a No, so ask the dealer.

Engines, the hybrid, and what they use

The CX-5 is one engine: a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated four with 132kW and 242Nm, a six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive, claiming 7.4 L/100km combined on 91 RON. The Forester petrol is also a 2.5-litre four, a Subaru boxer, with 136kW and 247Nm through a CVT, and claims 7.9 L/100km. It also runs on 91 RON. The Forester Hybrid claims 6.2 L/100km, which is 1.7 litres better than its petrol sibling and 1.2 better than the CX-5.

Turn that into a year. At 15,000km, 1.2 L/100km is 180 litres, and the Hybrid's 1.7 against the petrol Forester is 255 litres. At an assumed $2.00 a litre (an assumption, not a forecast), that is about $510 a year, so the $2,000 you pay for the entry hybrid over the entry petrol Forester takes just under four years to come back on fuel alone. Do fewer kilometres and it takes longer. Do more and it takes less.

Subaru does not publish a 0 to 100 time in the documents we hold, so the Forester columns say no data and we do not print an estimate. On the claimed combined figures the CX-5 covers about 784km on a tank, the petrol Forester about 797km, and the Hybrid about 1,016km. That is arithmetic on the claimed numbers, not a range test.

Space, boot and towing

The CX-5 is the longer car by 35mm, the wider by 30mm and the lower by 35mm, and it has 145mm more wheelbase: 2,815mm against 2,670mm. Wheelbase is not legroom, but it is where legroom comes from. The Forester answers with 220mm of ground clearance against 205mm, a tighter 10.8m turning circle against 11.2m, and a boot-seats-up figure of 496 litres on the petrol (484 on the Hybrid) against the CX-5's 466.

The seats-folded figures are a reminder to read the footnote: the CX-5 lists 1,594 litres and the Forester about 1,170, but makers measure a folded load space in different ways, so treat that gap as a hint and take your own bulky item to the showroom. Mazda lists the CX-5's payload at 517kg on most grades and 488kg on the Akera; we do not print a payload for the Forester.

Towing is a tie on the petrol cars, with 1,800kg braked and 750kg unbraked, and a split on the Forester Hybrid, rated at 1,200kg braked. If a caravan or a boat is on your list, the powertrain matters more than the badge. The Forester's tow ball download is 180kg on the petrol and 120kg on the Hybrid, against 150kg for the CX-5. Our towing rig check needs a kerb weight, GVM and GCM, and we hold no GCM for the CX-5 or the Forester Hybrid, so we cannot run either through it. Our towing planner works from the weights you enter, and the ball weight comparison explains why the tow ball limit often decides before the headline rating does.

Equipment by grade

Equipment has four honest states in our records: Standard, Optional (with a printed price), No (the maker's document says it is not fitted) and No data. A blank in a maker's brochure is not a No, so the table below only says No when a document does. The table shows a spread of grades, since these are the items that move with the price. Where the CX-5 Akera and the Forester Touring land in the same price band, the pills show what each one includes.

Screens are one place where the data is clear. The CX-5 has a 12.9-inch touchscreen from the base Pure and a 15.6-inch one on the Akera, while the Forester has 11.6 inches across the range. Speakers go from 8 on the lower CX-5 grades to 12 on the GT SP and Akera, and the Forester runs 6 on the lower grades and 10 on the Touring. Wheels are 17 inches on the CX-5 Pure and Evolve and 19 from Touring up. On the Forester they are 18 inches across the petrol range, 18 on the entry Hybrid and 19 on the Hybrid Sport and Touring. Full-size spare: the Forester petrol carries one, the Hybrid gets a puncture repair kit, and the CX-5 has a temporary spare.

Warranty and servicing

Both makers give five years and unlimited kilometres, and both want a service every 12 months. The distance is where they differ: 15,000km for the CX-5, 12,500km for the Forester. The Forester Hybrid adds a separate battery cover of eight years or 160,000km.

Servicing cost is a different kind of number for each. Subaru's five capped services (A to E) run $370.91, $636.98, $379.36, $888.62 and $398.77, about $2,674 in all. Mazda's own service price guide, dated 8 October 2026, lists the first five visits at $352, $526, $352, $621 and $352, which is $2,203. Mazda says those are service prices that can change and vary by state, not a capped price, so the comparison is a guide. On those figures the CX-5 is about $470 cheaper over five years.

Running costs, finance and tax

Fuel is the running cost that separates these cars most clearly, and the hybrid arithmetic above is the main finding. Servicing favours the CX-5 on the figures we hold, and the Forester Hybrid's eight-year battery cover is a plus if you plan to keep one a long time. Everything else, insurance, tyres, registration, depends on where you live and who you are.

On tax, every grade of both cars is under the 2026-27 luxury car tax threshold of $80,809 for cars that are not fuel efficient, so LCT is not in play. The electric car FBT exemption covers battery electric cars only, so neither these petrol cars nor the Forester Hybrid qualify.

So which should you buy?

The answer depends on what you need most, so here it is by need rather than by badge.

• You want the lowest price in the class: the CX-5 Pure at $39,990 is $6,000 under the cheapest Forester, and every CX-5 grade is all-wheel drive.
• You want a hybrid: the Forester is the only one of the two that has one, from $47,990, and it claims 6.2 L/100km.
• You want the best published crash-test percentages: the CX-5 leads on three of four categories, from a newer test year.
• You tow a caravan or a boat: pick a petrol car. Both tow 1,800kg braked, and the Forester allows a 180kg tow ball download against 150kg.
• You drive rough roads or want height: the Forester has 220mm of ground clearance against 205mm.
• You want the most screen and the longest wheelbase: the CX-5, at up to 15.6 inches and 2,815mm.
• You want predictable servicing: the Forester's five services are capped; the CX-5's are cheaper on Mazda's own guide but not capped.

Keep reading

The cars: Mazda CX-5 range and Subaru Forester range, or all Mazda and Subaru models. Other head-to-heads: Forester vs Outback, CR-V vs RAV4, CR-V vs Forester, Forester vs RAV4, RAV4 vs CX-5 and CR-V vs CX-5. From the news desk: the 2026 CX-5 price and specs and the CX-5's five-star ANCAP result.