I drove a Forester today...

... and I liked it!

Got it as a courtesy car while the Taco is getting some work done. 2017 with 860km on the odo, not sure of the trim level. Got 9L/100km on the way home (mix of city and some highway), while playing around with the car (ie. not driving conservatively). In the Taco I'm lucky to get 12L/100km while granny'ing it.

Preppy little thing - touch the gas and it flies. Transmission is wonderful. Even played around with the paddle shifters because racecar. Downshifts in a heartbeat, smooth as silk. Brakes are good - very predictable. Suspension is stiffer than my Taco (and mine is on the stiffer side to begin with).

Interior is plain, but clean and everything's where you'd expect it to be. Stereo is okay. Huge sunroof is cool.

The only thing I outright didn't like was the steering wheel - too small, too thin, too many buttons, and the button press feel is awkwardly stiff.

No, I won't be trading my Tacoma for it, but I can see why people like these things.

That is all.

 

Wife and I looked at these and agree they are nice. The one we test drove was loaded and seemed very nice, I just couldn't get over some of the awkward styling in it. I've owned 2 Foresters myself so I "get" Subaru styling, it just seemed off to me.

I did not notice the small steering wheel, but my wife who can barely describe what her car looks like, noticed it right away. We ended up with a 17 Rav.

 

This was one of my options, probably #2 or #3 on my list. My wife convinced me to haggle for my Tacoma and it worked out which was my #1. Outback I'm sure would have been tapping on my shoulder though.

 

The styling is definitely an acquired taste. But I also wasn't initially crazy about the Tacoma, and outright hated the new 4Runner, but now I love both.

If I didn't have a dog and was still rocking an SUV, I think this thing would be in the running. Properly loaded, with a small lift and nice all-terrain tires, I can see it being a nice overlanding vehicle.

 

Better than other compact SUVs like the RAV4 and CR-V?

 

Not sure if this is a serious question or not. But for off terrain practicality, forester wins by far.

 

Don't know, haven't driven those.

My buddy has a 2010 RAV4 and it's a nice little SUV. Pretty bare bones (he got a mid-level trim or so), and really not all that suitable for off-roading (too many vulnerable components), but it does have its upsides. His trunk sits very low to the ground, allowing for more space and easier loading of goods. Not something I normally thought about, but definitely noticed a large difference when comparing to my previous SUV ('06 ML350).

 

Love the look of the outback

 

My wife had a CRV and currently has a forester, we both agree the forester is better. Subaru must have changed the steering wheel in the new ones, her's is a 13 and the wheel is fatter and nicer than my 09 tacoma. She's definitely staying with subaru in general but her next car might be a smaller subie, maybe the crosstrek.

 

Just bought the wifey an Outback. Didn't get to test drive the Forester, but they look nice as well. Looking forward to getting x2 the mpg on long roadtrips over the Tacoma.

 

Coming from a Forester I've gotta agree. Loved the pep. I had an XT with a turbo, so it was definitely a different kind of fun than driving my Tacoma. I do miss the paddle shifters, they really are useful and fun. Spacious too. I think my rear passengers had as much, if not more, leg and head room than in my Tacoma DC. And about the offroad performance: I think people overlook or forget that this car has stock 8.6" of clearance. Add a little lift and some AT tires and it'll get over a lot... but still not, by any means, a rock crawler. For those not wanting to mess with switching in/out of 4x4, the all wheel drive of Subarus is awesome. But at the end of the day it is still a car, not a truck.

 

And that's its biggest downfall (for my needs/use).

The responsiveness actually really reminds me of the 2015+ RAM1500 V8 models I test drove about a year and a half ago. Touch the gas and they fly.

 

Wifey currently has a 2010 XT. Lots of gitty up - they make a great sleeper...

 

We will soon own both -- a white 15 Outback limited w/eyesight (love it and the amazing traction) and a VERY BLUE 17 Tacoma SR5 AC AT 4WD . I hope the Tacoma gets to me soon as our chances for a snow comparison are getting less and less!

 

We're getting ready for our 3rd Subaru. My wife loves them and I love that she's safe as can be on her 80 mile daily commute

 

When the gf was looking at compact SUVs subaru got the boot because of their excessive oil burning issues. Also, according to her the CRV is for old people. So RAV4 it was! It is a great little rig though we are happy.

 

^Yes, oil burning issues affected about 10% of Foresters in model year 2011 with the non-turbo FB engine. It's been fixed in 2012+ models. Higher trims with the turbo engine never had the issue.

I meant for general use. People typically don't buy these crossover SUVs for off-road capability. No question Forester is better than the RAV4 or CR-V off road, for what it's worth.

 

There must be a lot of "old people" buying CRV's as they are the number 1 selling SUV in the US!?

 

Hey I like them! But I'm sure there are.

 

No apologies needed -- we like and did like them as well --had a 08 -- I decided to sell the 08 and get a new 15. Sold the 08 --got over 15K for it a (private sale). While shopping for the new CRV, we test drove 2 different (one month apart) NEW Crvs, both had the same annoying vibration issue. we decided to look elsewhere. That's how we found the Subaru and their great cars.
I sure hope Honda finally fixed the rough idle issue. They did not even admit it was a problem till 8-10 months later. The gods (engineers) at Honda "could do no wrong" --at least they thought so.