First impressions on the new Forester

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We drove the car about 800 miles in the week after we bought it between my wife commuting in it and a weekend trip.
First off, Subaru has fixed the most annoying thing about these cars, that being fuel economy.
The best tank I ever saw from our '09 was around 28 mpg.
This '17 delivered a hand calculated 31.2 mpg and that included many miles in the young to mid eighties with the AC always on and this is obviously a young engine. Our '12 Accord won't do any better when driven the same way.
This car is quieter than the '09 but it rides and drives much the same, which is good.
Anyone who has owned a W123 or W115 (we've had both) would find the long travel suspension and ability to deal easily with rough pavement familiar. Either Forester rides better than our '12 Accord although they aren't quite as quiet nor are they as fast at higher speeds. The '17 is significantly quicker than the '09 even without running it really hard, which I didn't. I saw no more than 4600 revs.
The tallest available gearing appears to be 37 mph/1000 revs. The Accord is geared a little shorter at 31 mph/ thousand revs while the '09 Forester gives only 25 mph/ thousand revs.
Anyway, this is a very pleasant car and I could see owning one of these as my only car.
It is that pleasant and that capable. Did I mention that there is no better AWD from any maker?
If anyone is thinking of looking at a Subaru when shopping an Accord/Camry/Mazda6/Fusion/Rav/CRV/Hyudai-Kia, I'd encourage them to have a look and a drive. You'll pay a little more for any Subie, but it's worth it or we at least think so.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27

It is that pleasant and that capable. Did I mention that there is no better AWD from any maker?




Is that true now that its CVT?

We are looking at small suv's , the forester is nice but the only way to not get a CVT is with a manual trans.( Manual is fine with me, but not Mrs Spasm)
 
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I drove a 17 Crosstrek and was really impressed. Is the Subaru brand stepping it up across the line? The 18 is supposed to be an upgrade with a new engine and improved CVT.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
fdcg27 said:
It is that pleasant and that capable. Did I mention that there is no better AWD from any maker?



I don't know a thing about the AWD in my wifes car, if there is a difference in an automatic vs a stick model and if it's better, equal or less effective than what Subaru offers.
 
Glad you like it. I like the Subaru AWD system. It's one of, if not the best. Their CVT is nice too.
 
We have a fleet of 3 new ones at work we use for security vehicles. It hasn't been good. Non-stop electrical issues and other stupid little petty things you shouldn't be fixing on new cars (the oldest has now reached only 23k). Two are 16's I hate with a passion, the CVT is such an annoyance walking gets serious consideration as an alternative. Okay that's an exaggeration but if you like to drive around in a vehicle that acts like a golf cart the CVT is for you. The newest is a 17 and the CVT in that one is notably better. Real changes or dumb luck I don't know.

We have one 14 Honda CRV left and the experience with it has been vastly superior to the Subaru's much to my surprise. (I am no Honda fan.)

They handle pretty nice. The AWD is nice too but Subara's oft quoted status as the king of AWD is far more a result of decades of successful marketing than any real advantage over competitors who have some really good systems too at this point. JMO.

I also have run into a few private owners and they love the things, go figure. OP I sincerely hope you have a great ownership experience.
 
We have a fleet of 3 new ones at work we use for security vehicles. It hasn't been good. Non-stop electrical issues and other stupid little petty things you shouldn't be fixing on new cars (the oldest has now reached only 23k). Two are 16's I hate with a passion, the CVT is such an annoyance walking gets serious consideration as an alternative. Okay that's an exaggeration but if you like to drive around in a vehicle that acts like a golf cart the CVT is for you. The newest is a 17 and the CVT in that one is notably better. Real changes or dumb luck I don't know. No matter what I do I can't get the seat adjusted to my liking and have back pain issues after a shift as well. Only vehicle I have had this problem in.

We have one 14 Honda CRV left and the experience with it has been vastly superior to the Subaru's much to my surprise. (I am no Honda fan.)

They handle pretty nice. The AWD is nice too but Subara's oft quoted status as the king of AWD is far more a result of decades of successful marketing than any real advantage over competitors who have some really good systems also at this point. JMO.

I also have run into a few private owners and they love the things, go figure. OP I sincerely hope you have a great ownership experience. Under private owner use there is a great chance you will.
 
My son and his wife who live in the center city of Philly bought the 2017 a couple of month's ago and they love it. They said the ride is quiet and the initial gas mileage which was a combination of city and highway was 29 mpg. They test drove a CX5 but didn't really care for it something about it was to car like. Not sure what my son was trying to say. My wife drives a 09 CRV which has been flawless, knock on wood. I would like to trade in our 04 explorer in another year or so. My first thought was another CRV but with a 1.5 liter turbo I'm not sure. Other's on my list would be the CX5 and the Forester. Good Luck with the new car.
 
Subaru is known for great AWD systems but the other makes have not been standing still. A lot of good systems out there now.
 
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