Forester more economical than Acccord? Surely not!

[fdcg27]

Anyone who has owned earlier Subaru AWDs is well aware that great fuel economy was not among their virtues.
Our '09 Forester would always yield fuel economy about 15% inferior to what we saw from our '99 Accord, although the Accord was a stick which probably helped.
We are now about 2300 miles into the '17 Forester we bought four weeks ago. Imagine my surprise in finding that the Subie actually yields about 10% better fuel economy in similar driving conditions than our '12 Accord, which is also around 200 pounds lighter than the Forester and obviously has fewer driven parts, lacking drive to the rear wheels.
On my wife's commute, the Accord averaged around 28 mpg while the 'roo is giving around 31 mpg.
My wife's one reservation about buying another Forester involved fuel economy and that proved to be unfounded.
Just a bit of anecdotal data for anyone looking to buy an AWD in this size range who might be concerned about fuel economy.

 

[NHGUY]

Makes one wonder why VW never stuck with the flat/opposed engine vs their upright 4/5 cylinder offerings all these 40+ years later....

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
while the 'roo is giving around 31 mpg.


This is almost unbelievable to me.

 

[Toros]

You can bank on a new head gasket job at 90-100K with the Subaru boxer 4.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: Toros
You can bank on a new head gasket job at 90-100K with the Subaru boxer 4.


You sure about that ?

 

[OneEyeJack]

Could it be that Subaru makes some good vehicles even if they are not the volume leaders in their markets and they are a bit different?

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
while the 'roo is giving around 31 mpg.


This is almost unbelievable to me.


Believe it...I drove a new '15 Outback with the 2.5/CVT combo and got up to 34 mpg at lower highway speeds.


Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: Toros
You can bank on a new head gasket job at 90-100K with the Subaru boxer 4.


You sure about that ?


Agree with Mr Nice... if we were talking '03 Subaru I'd agree 100%.

 

[Tech819]

Originally Posted By: Toros
You can bank on a new head gasket job at 90-100K with the Subaru boxer 4.



C'mon that seemed to be a problem at least 10 years ago. It's like saying if you buy a 2017 Honda Odyssey be prepared for a transmission problem or a Accord V6 has all those transmission problems.

According to Fueleconmy.gov the Subaru does have better combined economy.

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=31788&id=37453

 

[dareo]

As one would expect comparing a CVT DI car to a port injected slushbox. Compare a DI CVT Accord and the Forester and you should see a slight edge to Honda. But even that isn't fair since the Subaru offers AWD.

 

[Rolla07]

Wow, good mpg. Wonder if it will get better once broken in.

 

[Donald]

The Forester may not be a super exciting car to drive but it's AWD and gets good mileage.

Exciting to my wife is a sunroof and satellite radio.

 

[CKN]

I traded in my 2012 Legacy for various reasons. But the mpg figures that are being quoting above are accurate. AND yes they do beat the EPA test figures.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: CKN
I traded in my 2012 Legacy for various reasons. But the mpg figures that are being quoting above are accurate. AND yes they do beat the EPA test figures.


I remember you mentioning the paint chips on the front end. A week or so ago I touched up the front hood of the Camry and the front and rear bumper covers. I even picked up some fine tip paint brushes from the craft section of Walmart. But the pen tip did an excellent job filling the chip. The greater the pressure that's applied the more paint comes out. So for the tiny ones it takes a gentle hand. But very satisfied with how it turned out.

Returned the paint brushes since I never used them. Wiped all the chips first with rubbing alcohol for adhesion.

 

[BearZDefect]

Gasoline is also very good right now, I have seen some record MPG from our cars this past month. Six months ago they couldn't get anywhere close to this on the same trips.

 

[JHZR2]

My father gets over 30mpg in mixed driving with his 14 forester.

 

[Padawan]

Originally Posted By: Toros
You can bank on a new head gasket job at 90-100K with the Subaru boxer 4.


We owned a 1999 and a 2001 Forester which both had over 150,000 miles when we sold them. We also currently have a 2006 Saab 9-2X (rebadged WRX) with 165,000 miles on it, and my father-in-law owns a 2005 Outback 2.5 XT with 176,000 miles. None have had any head gasket issues whatsoever.

I only ever use OEM Subaru coolant and always add the Subaru Cooling System Conditioner as specified in the manual.

 

[2dogs]

The dash display on my '16 Forester indicates 30.9 mpg. Mostly suburban driving. One day I'll check the mileage the right way.

 

[fdcg27]

The fuel economy figures I quoted for both of our cars are hand calculated and logged with every tank.
Do the same with your Forester and you'll probably find the dash display number to be about 5% optimistic.

 

[2dogs]

Thanks fd...I kind of figured the display wouldn't be "spot on".

 

[PeterPolyol]

Like clockwork, the bias-mongers are trying to trivialize the MPG figures and move goalposts. Enjoy that FE, fd