Thinking of new Forester

[Dennis Maher]

I was thinking of buying a new Forester. Any owners out there have any advise. I was also wondering if they are stable in high winds, especially on the highway by trucks, or do they get pushed around due to the height of the vehicle. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[H]

Well I just bought the 04 Forester 2.5 XS. I only have 1000km on it thus far but I can compare to my other cars, which are a 90 Legacy Wagon (2.2) and an 86GL Wagon (1.8).

The Forester has better mileage (34mpg - imperial gallons), which is better than either of the other two vehicles. The forester seems to me to feel more planted on the road. Slightly firmer ride, but comfortable enough. The front seats are quite firm, relative to most cars. Wind buffeting has been a non-item thus far. I think the forester is really just a slightly tall wagon, lots of head room. It's 300 pounds lighter than the Legacy. I think the added toughness is a plus, heavier duty suspension relative to the Legacy. Plus the Forester is built in Japan as opposed to Indiana for the Legacy.

Hope it helps.

 

[Hal Whelply]

I've had my 2.5XT nearly 8 months and 8,000 miles. Very stable. It's not very high--not nearly as much as large SUVs. I love the car. Only downside:
it's not the most economical; I get 16-17 MPG around town, and have done no better than 22 MPG on the road. But that was doing 80-85 MPH much of the time, so I can't complain. The turbo is exhilarating; you have to curb the temptation to use it, or forget decent gas mileage.

I've had no problems whatever. Only very minor frustration: the automatic climate control doesn't work very well, a well-known weak spot. I can live with it.

HW

 

[ricardox]

My brother drives a '04 Forester 2.5X. I drive a '03 Legacy L SE Wagon. I have a little over 16,000 miles on my car while he has clocked around 2,000 miles. I had the chance to drive his car on a roadtrip up to Santa Barbara. The Legacy rides lower and handles a lot better than the Forester. I have to agree that the seats are a bit firm for my taste (sore body after a 3-hour drive) on the Forester. The Forester seems to have more low-end torque, though, maybe because it really is 300 pounds lighter. The ride on the Forester is more truck-like, meaning that you will feel every bump in the road. Better off-road capabilities in the Forester, though. The Legacy has more legroom and storage space in the back, though, and if you look that the 30th anniversary edition for the 2004 model year, you'll see that for the same price as the base Forester, you get a lot more goodies (alloy rims, dual moon roofs, leather-trimmed steering wheel and shift knob, the power driver's seat). Test drive the Forester and feel it for yourself. Both excellent cars, though =)

 

[Edward Hayes]

When I set my Forester tires to the recommended tire pressure it rides quit nicely. My Forester was deliver with ~ 45 psi in the tires and it did ride like a truck. Ed

 

[Frank Logullo]

When I set my Forester tires to the recommended tire pressure it rides quit nicely. My Forester was deliver with ~ 45 psi in the tires and it did ride like a truck. Ed

Same here. Dealer did not reset pressure which came like this from the factory on my 2003 either. OTOH I did get exceptional mileage on a long trip before I discovered this.
Frank

 

[ricardox]

That did help a bit. I didn't get a chance to test drive the Forester before my brother bought it (I'm the wannabe grease-monkey in the family). We drove it from LA to Santa Barbara to LA the day he bought the car (keeping in mind the break-in procedures). I got to drive the 110 mile leg back to LA and I noticed that not only did it ride like a truck, but the vehicle pulled to the right! I check the tire pressures the next morning and sure enough, they were set at 45 psi. I corrected that and rotated the tires (thinking it may just be radial pull), but it still pulled to the right. I brought it back to the dealer with 600 miles on the clock and they reset the alignment for free. It now rides the way it should, although I still prefer my Legacy =)

 

[Ignignokt]

I was thinking of buying a new Forester. Any owners out there have any advise. I was also wondering if they are stable in high winds, especially on the highway by trucks, or do they get pushed around due to the height of the vehicle. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks,

After about 2 months and 4500 miles, here are my assessments of my Forester:

Seats are too firm. Or maybe my butt's just getting too soft.

Ride is very firm, but I like that. I prefer feeling every crack in the pavement. It's most beneficial in foul weather, when "feeling" the road is 9/10th of deciding how close you are to overdriving the road conditions. I get lots of snow in the winter where I live, so this is extremely important to me. If you have to live with badly broken roads, you might want to look at something with a softer suspension. Cornering is mediocre, which isn't too surprising considering the car's relatively narrow tires and tall ride height. While I like a car that can corner like it's on rails I don't find many opportunities to exploit that kind of handling in my normal driving routine, so the so-so cornering isn't a big issue for me. And I'll be glad for the narrow tires come winter.

Turbo motor goes like stink. I like to use it to pass whenever the opportunity presents itself. And not only do I pull down 23 mpg on the highway (74 mph), but I still pull down 22 on my commutes to and from work -- which is when I like to work out the turbo. Turbo requires premium gasoline, so if fuel cost is a concern for you you'll want to get a N/A model. Overall, I'm very happy with the compromise between power and fuel economy that Subaru has acheived with this engine. (Obviously I'm willing to spend a bit more at the pump in exchange for more fun on the drive.) One of the reasons I bought this particular vehicle was the potential for wringing more power out of the engine with aftermarket mods. But at the moment, I'm pretty happy with it just as it is. Yes, more power is always nice (and what an excellent "sleeper" a plain-looking Forester with 300+ hp would make), but at what cost to fuel economy and engine longevity? Plus I recently read about something called "boost creep" that can affect these
2.5L turbo motors when you start messing around trying to extract more power out of them. So for now, I'm enjoying it just as the Subaru engineers intended. Perhaps at some point down the road -- after I've already gotten my money's worth out of it -- I'll start hopping up the engine. The STi safely gets 300 hp out of basically the same engine. I figure I can probably do the same with mine without too much trouble.

Not as much cargo room inside as it appeared when I was shopping. The first several-night trip my family took in it completely packed the back of the car. We have since bought a rooftop carrier for longer trips. I can't comment on mileage with the rooftop carrier, since the car only wore it once, from the store home.

Cross winds are felt, but not feared. This is the tallest vehicle I've owned since my '92 full-size Chevy Blazer. That truck was horrible for *so* many reasons. It's been all sedans since then. So, yes, it's buffetted more by cross winds than the sedans I've become accustomed to, but not enough to bother me.

Brakes are excellent as OEM brakes go. If you decide to upgrade to 17" wheels, you'll have slim pickings in the tire department. I planned to use the stock 16" wheels for snow tires and mount summer tires on 17" aftermarket wheels. But Tirerack shows only two models of tire to choose from in the 215/55R17 size that would be needed in this application. And one of them is Goodyear, which I don't buy.

I planned to get an aftermarket "push bar" after buying it. But the only ones I've found that look like what I was expecting are sold in Australia, and cost more to ship than to buy. The only thing you can get here in the US is the funky-looking thing that Subaru sells that clamps right onto the front of the bumper. Not my style.

Good luck,

- Greg Reed

 

[Hal Whelply]

Generally I agree with Greg's assessment. However, I continue to be mystified by the references (his and others) to (a) too-firm seats; and (b) feeling every tar strip on the road. I suppose if one's previous ride was a Buick LeSabre, Ford Crown Vic, etc., it might be understandable; but that doesn't seem to apply. IMHO, the seats are nowhere near as firm as what you'll find in most any VW, to mention one marque. I've said here before that I find my FXT Premium seats quite comparable to those in our Volvo S60 in terms of support and "cushiness." As for the tar strips, yes, you may be aware of some of the bigger ones, but in no way is it so intrusive that this quality of the ride is in the forefront of my attention all the time. I like the firm, planted-on-the-road sense.

As always, it's intriguing to read/hear the vastly different sensations and perceptions reported by the range of drivers for a given car.

HW

 

[Richard Chang]

Generally I agree with Greg's assessment. However, I continue to be mystified by the references (his and others) to (a) too-firm seats;

I think that people say this because of the seat covers rather than the actual "cushiness" of the seats. The seat cover on a Forester is some sort of rough fabric. Most other cars' cloth seats have some sort of velour like surface. It takes a while to get used to the Subaru seats.

-R.

 

[Hal Whelply]

Though I ended up with leather, I found the Forester fabric appealing, and could have lived with it quite well. The "velour like surface" in many Japanese cars, and lots of GM product, has always seemed cheap to me. I call it "mouse fur."

HW

 

[Ignignokt]

Generally I agree with Greg's assessment. However, I continue to be mystified by the references (his and others) to (a) too-firm seats; and (b) feeling every tar strip on the road. I suppose if one's previous ride was a Buick LeSabre, Ford Crown Vic, etc., it might be understandable; but that doesn't seem to apply. IMHO, the seats are nowhere near as firm as what you'll find in most any VW, to mention one marque. I've said here before that I find my FXT Premium seats quite comparable to those in our Volvo S60 in terms of support and "cushiness." As for the tar strips, yes, you may be aware of some of the bigger ones, but in no way is it so intrusive that this quality of the ride is in the forefront of my attention all the time. I like the firm, planted-on-the-road sense.

As always, it's intriguing to read/hear the vastly different sensations and perceptions reported by the range of drivers for a given car.

HW

Can't comment on VW seats, as I've never owned one. Here's what I *have* owned (recently):

1998 Oldsmobile Cutlass
1990 Audi V8 Quattro
2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue GL
1989 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro

My wife also had a '93 Mercury Sable wagon before we bought the Astro (took delivery on September 11, 2001).

Personally, I don't consider any of these cars to be land yachts of the variety you imply above. I consider them to be middle-of-the-road cars that strike a balance between handling and comfort.

- Greg Reed

 

[Ignignokt]

Though I ended up with leather, I found the Forester fabric appealing, and could have lived with it quite well. The "velour like surface" in many Japanese cars, and lots of GM product, has always seemed cheap to me. I call it "mouse fur."

I guarantee that I'm not judging the seats harshly by the texture of their covering. I'm judging them harshly because they're quite literally a "pain in the ass." I could drive any of my other cars for 8 or 10 hours without any problem. The Forester has my butt aching for a break after about 2 hours. And as often as I make the 3-hour trip to my folks' place, this has quickly become a noteworthy annoyance. My 30-minute commute to work doesn't give me any problem. It's just on longer trips that I find myself wishing for more comfortable seats.

- Greg

 

[Jim Knoll]

I have a 99 forester plus a 2004 forester. The seats in the 99 forester are MUCH more comfortable and provider greater cushioning than the seats in the 2004. The 2004 seats are like sitting on a chair with no cushion. Subaru must have saved money by removing losts of cush from the 2004 seats. I still prefer the 99 Forester seats over the 2004 seats.