Alongside the facelift model, Subaru released a new model called the Forester Wilderness for the North American market. It is intended to be a more off-road-oriented version of the Forester, and is positioned between the Limited and Touring trim levels in the Forester lineup. Visually, the Forester has more body cladding, and on the inside, copper-colored accents. It features a 0.5 inches (13 mm) lift for a total of 9.2 inches (230 mm) of ground clearance, the Wilderness also has all-terrain tires, a modified final drive ratio, and a stronger roof rack than previous models. Subaru's StarTex water-repellent seats are also standard.

The Wilderness is powered by the same 2.5-liter FB25D naturally-aspirated four cylinder engine powering other North American market Foresters. The Wilderness uses an Enhanced Dual-Function X-Mode version. The X-Mode is upgraded and re-tuned, with settings for snow, dirt, deep snow and mud. Additional wheel-slip is allowed to occur, which provides an advantage in harsh driving conditions.
What's the main benefits of a Subaru Forester Wilderness?
The Forester Wilderness provides 0.5 inches (13 mm) lift that increases ground clearance to 9.2 inches (230mm). 
The vehicle comes with all-terrain tires, modified final drive ratio, stronger roof rack, and water-repellent seats. 
The engine size is the same, but it includes an enhanced dual-function x-mode with additional wheel-slip allowance to handle harsh driving conditions in snow, dirt, deep snow, and mud.