When most Subaru enthusiasts hear the word rally, one car immediately comes to mind: the Subaru WRX.
That reputation is well earned. Subaru's performance identity was forged through decades of stage rally competition, turbocharged performance, Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, and cars designed to attack loose surfaces at speed.
But the Rebelle Rally is a very different kind of rally—and Subaru is returning in 2026 with a vehicle you might not expect to see tackling more than 1,500 miles of desert terrain: a 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid.
Even more impressive? This Forester isn't entering simply to prove it can finish. It's coming back as a defending champion.
From WRX Rally Heritage to Forester Hybrid Adventure
The WRX represents Subaru's traditional performance-rally formula: speed, handling, acceleration, and competition-inspired engineering.
The Rebelle Rally turns that formula on its head.
Rather than being a race against the clock, the Rebelle challenges competitors with more than 1,500 miles of demanding desert terrain while navigating with traditional maps, compasses, and roadbooks—without GPS or electronic navigation.
That makes vehicle capability important, but it also puts a premium on navigation, preparation, teamwork, consistency, and smart decision-making.
And that's exactly what makes Subaru's choice of the Forester Hybrid so interesting.
Instead of bringing a WRX-derived rally machine, Subaru is demonstrating what one of its everyday AWD crossovers can accomplish when pushed far beyond the environment most owners will ever encounter.
The Championship-Winning Forester Hybrid Returns
Subaru announced that Carey Lando and Andrea Shaffer will return as Team 200 for the 2026 Rebelle Rally, competing in the X-Cross class in a specially prepared 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid.
They aren't newcomers, either.
Lando and Shaffer won the X-Cross class in 2025 in theForester Hybrid, and Team 200 has earned consecutive X-Cross victories in 2024 and 2025.
That makes this year's entry particularly significant. Subaru isn't simply experimenting with whether a hybrid crossover can survive an off-road rally. TheForester Hybrid has already proven itself capable of winning one.
This Is Definitely Not Your Stock Forester Hybrid
While the vehicle maintains its Forester Hybrid foundation, Team 200's rally machine has received some serious upgrades for the desert.
The specially prepared Forester features:
- A 3-inch suspension lift
- RaceWorks coilovers
- RalliTEK adjustable arms
- 30-inch Milestar Patagonia A/T Pro tires
- Anderson Design & Fabrication underbody protection
- TORQ locker
- Recovery equipment
- Diode Dynamics auxiliary lighting
- Additional rally and off-road modifications
The result is a Forester that looks dramatically different from the hybrid crossover you'd normally see commuting around Chicagoland.
Yet that's part of what makes the project compelling. Underneath all that rally equipment remains a vehicle based on Subaru's practical AWD crossover.
"A Hybrid Can Do Hard Things Too"
Perhaps the best explanation for choosing the Forester Hybrid comes from driver Carey Lando.
She explained that the Rebelle rewards thoughtful driving, preparation, teamwork, and good decision-making rather than simply outright speed. The Forester gives the team an opportunity to explore what happens when a hybrid crossover is taken well beyond the places people normally expect to see one.
"We want to show that a hybrid can do hard things too."
And this particular Forester already has the trail experience to back up that statement.
The vehicle has tackled legendary western routes including Hell's Revenge in Moab, Utah, Black Bear Pass, and Imogene Pass in Colorado.
A Forester With a Nod to Subaru's Rally Past
Even though Team 200 isn't driving a WRX, Subaru's traditional rally DNA hasn't disappeared.
Look closely at the Forester's blue and high-visibility livery and you'll see a deliberate connection between Subaru's past and present.
According to Subaru, the 2026 graphics were developed collaboratively by Lando and B. Stubbs Vinyl & Graphix, combining elements of Lando's longtime MtnSubi Outback design with Subaru's classic stage-rally heritage.
That makes the Forester almost a bridge between two sides of the Subaru personality.
The WRX represents the performance side of rallying—fast, aggressive, and competition focused.
The Forester Hybrid represents the adventure side—AWD capability, endurance, efficiency, navigation, and the ability to keep moving when pavement disappears.
Different missions. Same adventurous Subaru DNA.
More Than 1,500 Miles Without GPS
One of the most fascinating aspects of the Rebelle Rally is what competitors don't have.
There is no GPS navigation guiding Team 200 from point to point. Competitors must navigate using maps, compass headings, and roadbooks while crossing more than 1,500 miles of desert.
That makes the event as much a test of the people inside the vehicle as the vehicle itself.
Lando and Shaffer's experience working together is therefore a major advantage. Their approach emphasizes teamwork, sportsmanship, vehicle capability, and helping other competitors along the way.
Team 200 Is Rallying for a Cause
Team 200 has selected The Bluebird Fund as its nonprofit beneficiary for the 2026 Rebelle Rally.
The organization works to expand access and opportunity in motorsports through grants supporting safety, development, and participation, including opportunities for women in motorsport.
It's another element that makes the Rebelle effort about more than simply reaching the finish line.
What the Forester Hybrid's Rally Run Means for Subaru Drivers
Most Forester Hybrid owners aren't going to install a three-inch lift, bolt on 30-inch all-terrain tires, and point their Subaru toward the desert.
That's not really the point.
Extreme environments like the Rebelle Rally give Subaru an opportunity to demonstrate just how far an AWD crossover platform can be pushed.
For everyday drivers, the takeaway is much simpler: the Forester may be designed to handle commuting, road trips, changing Chicagoland weather, and family duty, but there's considerably more capability underneath it than those everyday situations typically require.
And the fact that Subaru is doing this with a hybrid makes the story even more interesting.
The Next Chapter of Subaru Rally Capability
The 2026 Rebelle Rally runs October 7–17, with Team 200 once again putting its championship-winning Forester Hybrid to the test.
For longtime Subaru fans, it's an unusual but exciting evolution of the brand's rally story.
We're accustomed to seeing the WRX throw dirt, attack corners, and carry Subaru's rally flag.
This time, it's a Forester Hybrid.
And instead of asking how quickly it can get through a rally stage, the challenge is whether the vehicle and its team can intelligently navigate more than 1,500 miles of unforgiving terrain and come out on top.
After winning its class last year, the Forester Hybrid has already given us an answer.
Yes, a hybrid can do hard things too.
Follow the Adventure
The 2026 Rebelle Rally begins October 7, and fans can follow Team 200 throughout the competition through Subaru, MtnSubi, and Rebelle Rally channels.
