Compare the2026 Lincoln CorsairVS 2025 Subaru Forester

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Model Availability

Safety

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The Lincoln Corsair has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Forester doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The Corsair offers optional 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 Corsair 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 Corsair 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 its not available on the Base and the Forester’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.

Both the Corsair 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, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and 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 Lincoln Corsair is safer than the Subaru Forester:

	Corsair	Forester
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	143	198
Neck Injury Risk	22.5%	24.4%
Neck Stress	185 lbs.	263 lbs.
Neck Compression	23 lbs.	39 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	188/315 lbs.	276/274 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	102	211
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Stress	181 lbs.	242 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	220/169 lbs.	236/225 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 Lincoln Corsair is safer than the Subaru Forester:

	Corsair	Forester
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	240 lbs.	349 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	97	208
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	58 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	14 inches
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	34 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	589 lbs.

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

Warranty

The Corsair comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Forester’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

Lincoln’s powertrain warranty covers the Corsair 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Subaru covers the Forester. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 6 years or 70,000 miles. Coverage on the Forester ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Reliability

The Corsair 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.

Engine

The Corsair has more powerful engines than the Forester:

	Horsepower	Torque
Corsair 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder	250 HP	275 lbs.-ft.
Corsair Grand Touring 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid	266 HP
Forester 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder	180 HP	178 lbs.-ft.
Forester Wilderness 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder	182 HP	176 lbs.-ft.
Forester 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid	194 HP

As tested in Car and Driver the Lincoln Corsair turbo 4 cyl. is faster than the Subaru Forester 4 cyl.:

	Corsair	Forester
Zero to 60 MPH	6.1 sec	8.4 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	17.5 sec	23.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	7 sec	8.8 sec
Passing 30 to 50 MPH	3.6 sec	4.6 sec
Passing 50 to 70 MPH	4.3 sec	6.2 sec
Quarter Mile	14.7 sec	16.6 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	93 MPH	86 MPH
Top Speed	130 MPH	127 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Corsair running on electricity gets better mileage than the Forester:

			MPGe
Corsair
	AWD	Grand Touring Electric Motor	83 city/69 hwy
Forester
			MPG
	AWD	2.5 flat-4 Hybrid	35 city/34 hwy
		2.5 DOHC flat-4	26 city/33 hwy
		Sport/Touring 2.5 DOHC flat-4	25 city/32 hwy
		2.5 DOHC flat-4	25 city/28 hwy

On the EPA test cycle the Corsair running its gasoline engine gets better mileage than the Forester:

			MPG
Corsair
	AWD	2.5 4-cyl. Hybrid	34 city/32 hwy
Forester
	AWD	2.5 DOHC flat-4	26 city/33 hwy
		Sport/Touring 2.5 DOHC flat-4	25 city/32 hwy
		2.5 DOHC flat-4	25 city/28 hwy

The Corsair Grand Touring can travel with zero emissions for 27 miles. The Forester can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

The Corsair 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 Corsair stops much shorter than the Forester:

	Corsair	Forester
70 to 0 MPH	160 feet	172 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	114 feet	131 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Corsair’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Forester (245/45R20 vs. 235/50R19).

The Corsair’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Forester Sport/Touring’s 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Corsair Premiere has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Forester. The Corsair’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Forester Sport/Touring.

Suspension and Handling

The Corsair offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Forester’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Corsair 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.

The Corsair’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Forester doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Corsair’s wheelbase is 1.8 inches longer than on the Forester (106.7 inches vs. 104.9 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Corsair is 1 inch wider in the front and 1.7 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Forester.

The Corsair Reserve AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Forester Sport pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Corsair Reserve AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Forester Sport (27 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 27.6 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

Chassis

The Corsair uses 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.

Cargo Capacity

A standard locking glovebox keeps your small valuables safer in the Corsair. The Forester doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

Towing

The Corsair’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Forester’s (2000 vs. 1500 pounds).

The Corsair Grand Touring can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Corsair can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Forester can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Servicing Ease

The Corsair 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 Corsair Reserve/Grand Touring offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed, warning, turn signal, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Forester doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Corsair and the Forester have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Corsair 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.

The Corsair’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Forester’s standard passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

If the windows are left open on the Corsair the driver can close them all 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.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Corsair’s exterior PIN entry system. The Forester doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its STARLINK Connected Services can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Corsair’s standard Intelligent Access allow you to unlock the doors from any outside door handle, open the cargo door, and start the vehicle, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Keyless Access and Start is only offered on the Forester Premium/Sport/Limited/Touring, and doesn’t offer a sensor on the rear doors, so you’ll have to reach a front handle to unlock the rear door.

The Corsair’s standard 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 Corsair’s optional wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Corsair’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.

Both the Lincoln Corsair and Subaru Forester offer exterior mirrors that can be folded to provide convenience. The Corsair features standard power folding mirrors, which allow for easy, one-touch folding or unfolding at the driver’s discretion. This provides added convenience when maneuvering or parking, as well as when walking past the parked vehicle. In comparison, the Forester’s foldable mirrors are manual, requiring the driver to get out and physically fold them once parked and unfold them before getting in.

The Corsair Reserve/Grand Touring offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Forester.

The Corsair’s optional Active Park Assist 2.0 can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Forester doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Model Availability

The Corsair is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Forester doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

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