2019 /2020 Subaru Forester | Deal Or No Deal?

Today we are here with the

2019

Subaru Forester, the latest Subaru vehicle in the United States. The Woods started in 1997 and was one of the first crossovers in the world. It originally started out as a tall truck of sorts, but now we have more. of a traditional crossover appearance with this redesign of the Forester they expect this to be the most popular Subaru in

2019

and we already see that in December 2018 it managed to beat a Subaru Outback to become the most popular Subaru in the United States. The most important thing to know about the Forester for 2019 is that it starts at $24,000, making it one of the lowest base prices in this particular segment, and it comes with standard all-wheel drive and standard LED headlights, so We have a lot of standard feature content even though the price is similar to competing front wheel drive vehicles in general, making it about a thousand dollars less expensive than a basic front wheel drive Toyota Rav4, we also have LED fog lights in the front which are not Optional and you will notice that we do not have a radar sensor in the front, there is no radar sensor because Subaru takes a novel approach to its active safety system.

We have a stereo camera system right here behind the windshield that replaces the single camera. and the radar sensor system found in Honda and Toyota products, this gives us basically the same set of active safety technologies, adaptive cruise control, autonomous braking lane-keeping assist, and sway warning. Step up to the Sport version and we get automatic high beams again. Enabled by this same camera system right there, the limited version adds blind spot monitoring thanks to some radar sensors at the rear of the vehicle and if you move all the way up to the top and touring version, which is what we're looking at here.

We have reverse automatic braking that helps prevent you from rolling back and a driver focus monitoring system. The driver focus monitoring system is something interesting. It uses a camera just behind the windshield in the instrument cluster. Actually, look at the driver a lot. Just like your iPhone, as we see in the latest iPhone models, it not only recognizes the driver and will act as a vehicle memory system, but it also makes sure that the driver is actually looking ahead on the road. Now you can fool him a little if you look. to the side, but your eyes are still looking at the road, you'll actually think you're not paying attention to create previous generations of the Forester.

Subaru took some of its compact hatches and sedans, made it basically a station wagon and then stretched the top end a bit to give it a taller greenhouse, but this generation the Forester was definitely designed as a dedicated crossover even though it is related to some of The other Subarus out there are one hundred and eighty-two point one inches long, this is a little longer than average in this segment, but still easier to park in something like a Nissan Rogue or a Volkswagen Tiguan. The Rogue and Tiguan are longer than average in this segment because they were both designed to accommodate an optional third row in the rear, although it's worth noting. that for 2019 only Volkswagen will offer that third row, if we move towards the front you will notice something a little different than the average crossover in this segment and that is this longer hood which is due to the way Subaru has chosen to place the engine under there , resulting in a slightly longer bonnet, more traditional looking, but actually a little less practical on the inside than some of the competition.

In the rear, we have a fairly traditional style rear end for a crossover compact and a fairly vertical tailgate. it helps improve cargo practicality and then we have these taillights that actually remind me a little bit of the Honda Pilot with a sort of crab claw look. Here these are combined rear flap modules that the industry talks about not all LEDs, so we have LED brake lights. and LED parking lights, but the turn signals and reverse lights are not LED, so if that's something you're looking for, you won't find it even in the Forester's top trim.

There are some changes under the hood for 2019, we don't have a manual. transmission and there is no turbocharged engine available, instead we just get a standard two-and-a-half-liter four-cylinder boxer engine. In most vehicles in this segment, all engines are lined up in a small row. Imagine soda cans stacked in a small row on this engine. They are opposite horizontally so although this is not entirely correct, they actually oppose each other, which is why they call it a box or motor which makes the motor flatter and closer to the ground, but in reality it is a bit longer than a standard motor in this case.

Segment power is 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque. The only transmission offered is a standard continuously variable model, as we've seen in many other recent Subaru models. Fuel economy is very high because this model does not just compete. with other all-wheel drive models, but also with lower front-drive versions of the rav4 and CRV, so 29 miles per gallon is actually better than most of the front-drive competition in this segment if you want better fuel economy. fuel. than this, you'll actually have to look at something like a hybrid, this is one mile per gallon better than last year. Towing capacity is pretty average for the compact segment, but you will find a little more towing capacity in some of the competitors, a rav4.

It will tow 3,500 pounds in the Jeep Cherokee it will tow 4,500 pounds, but all versions of the Forester max out at 1,500 pounds since we are driving the top-of-the-line version, we obviously have the most comfortable seats available. I'm going to give these 9 Out of a total of 10 points for the compact crossover segment, we have a tilt-telescopic steering column with a decent range of motion that makes it much easier for shorter or taller drivers to find a good one. driving position. We have a two-position seat memory. the door and again the driver focus monitoring system will actually recognize the driver of the vehicle, welcome this or that and adjust its settings that way we also have a power driver's seat with a two-way adjustable lumbar support, I think that's It's a shame I would have liked to see a four way lumbar support on top and an adjustment on all of these seats, they are quite comfortable and we don't have a seat extension so if you are a shorter person or you have less weight. legs, it will be easier to find a good driving position, as we see in most models in this segment, the passenger seat in this high-end version is electric but does not have the same range of movement as the driver's seat in general.

Legroom is 80.8 inches, putting it right where the Mazda CX-5 is and a little below the Honda CRV. It's worth noting that the new 2019 RAV4 actually has a little less combined legroom than the Forester, which is why it's taller. Families will find a little more room here with the front seat adjusted for me at 6 feet high. You can see I have several inches of legroom left and even if I move to the right side of the vehicle where I had 6 feet. 5 people up there, I still have about 2 inches of legroom left. The rear seats also have a reclining mechanism.

There is a small piece of tape if I can find it here on the side and that allows me to recline the rear seats about 3 inches. to make them a little more comfortable and of course you can fold them completely with a cargo area in the back, cargo capacity ranges from 35.4 cubic feet in the base version to 33 cubic feet in the top level versions, that's because under this loading area cargo floor in most versions we find a spare tire that reduces the available loading capacity, which means that if you look at the basic versions of the forest or the overall capacity of the car is very competitive with the larger entries in this segment, but most trims will actually be slightly below some of those larger alternatives.

We have some nice touches back here, like buttons to help release the rear seat backs from the cargo area in the back and we have a cargo cover that is a roll-up variety which is usually my preference before. Let's continue, let's talk about the rear seat belts because here we have one that comes out of the roof and is for the center seating position. In my opinion, it's a little less useful than the ones built into the back of the rear seat, but Subaru does provide them to us. with a loop here on the back of the back seat to try to reposition the seat belt so that it doesn't come out at exactly the same angle there as we see in some of the competitions, however, this means that if you put a child seat in central position and you fix it with the seat belt it can be twisted a little to the side instead of being very centered on the back of the rear seat when we look at the interior keep in mind that we are in the high-end Touring model, so we have this Panoramic sunroof, although it's not as large as some of the sunroofs you see on the competition, you'll notice that it extends right to the knees of the rear passengers and, unlike many of the competitors, it actually has a panoramic sunroof . manual display instead of electric the driver and front passenger have height adjustable shoulder belts four way adjustable headrests these are ratchet style headrests and then we have the brown leather upholstery in this particular trim the front seats are perforated in the center Although these seats are not ventilated, only heated, as we have seen in other Subaru models, we do not have very aggressive bolsters in the front, so it is a little easier for larger people to find a good driving position comfortable when we look ahead.

Doors Note that we're in the high-end trim, so we're generally getting more premium materials than those found in the base model Forester. We've got a lot of soft touch plastics here on the top section of the door and then harder plastics on the bottom, there's a lot of different material textures, we've got injection molded top sections right there, kind of a ball game theme area. golf where you actually have little indentations in that injection molded plastic and then more traditional. plastics on the bottom of the dash, the dash is made of soft touch injection molded materials and again we have that different type of texture right there on that bottom section again that golf ball theme, a section of the same upholstery that we found on the side of the seat backs and then a large container-style glove box below, in the center of the dashboard, we find a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system or an 8-inch touchscreen system;

You'll find the smaller system on the lower end trims and the 8-inch system. on the higher models they all feature automatic Apple Carplay and Android integration and if you get the top-of-the-line model you can also opt for a factory navigation interface, plus this software is a significant improvement for Subaru over the its latest generation software. much more intuitive and easy to use, we have a single slot optical disc player right there, if you are interested, above the infotainment system we have another LCD screen that gives us several different readouts, such as the status of the active vehicle safety, the Oval. driving system is an off-road screen we also have the weather delivered by XM satellite radio navigation turn-by-turn directions information from Apple CarPlay and of course the typical information from your trip computer is also difficult to see on the camera, but we have another section just above Here on the top trim, this is what houses the cameras that actually look at the driver's face and monitor that you are actually paying attention to the road.

You will only find that on the top Touring trim, going down the dash, you have dual zone climate control on this particular model, you will also find the button for the keyless ignition system here on the left under the climate control knobs It is where we find the USB inputs, auxiliary input and a 12-volt power port. There is also a small storage area but it is not big enough to store a larger smartphone if you have the USB cable connected, the gear lever is a fairly traditional design, take us back and themanual mode is on the left and then use the paddles on the back of the steering wheel, the 2019 Forester, is the first Subaru to receive its new X-mode system.

This controls the way the all-wheel drive system behaves and It now includes different modes: we press down for normal mode and then turn counterclockwise for snow. and dirt and then right for deep snow and mud, this controls how not only the all-wheel drive system but also the stability and traction control systems handle different situations. Here on the right we find the toggle switches for the front seat. heaters, electric parking brake and an automatic brake hold button; Behind all that we have two large, deep cupholders between the front seats, we have a padded armrest that opens to reveal a moderately sized storage compartment;

It's not as big as some, but it's a little deeper than some of the driving options, the estimate is a dial layout, we have a tachometer on the left speedometer on the right and then a color multifunction display in the middle, this screams where we see things like our tire. press some things that repeat on that LCD screen above the infotainment system and the ability to change certain vehicle settings, like the way the vision system works, the steering wheel has a three-spoke design, we have sport grips on top and this particular steering wheel is leather. Wrapped up, you'll find the paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel that I mentioned earlier, we have here up on the right and then down here on the left, there are a lot of buttons on the steering wheel, so instead of minimize buttons Subaru really looks like Having done everything possible, we have the button for the heated steering wheel here on the right, these three buttons here on the left control this LCD screen right between the tachometer and speedometer, while this information button controls the LCD screen above of the infotainment system.

Then we have forward and back volume up/down source buttons, some dedicated phone buttons. Here on the left side and then on the right side, the buttons for the adaptive cruise control system with this generation of the Subaru Forester decided to really focus on a few things, fuel economy of course, which has long been a hallmark Subaru and improved handling. Accelerating cabin noise, however, wasn't necessarily high on the priority list and that's why it's actually a little slow for this segment when we were in North Carolina driving this when we first got one. score of nine point nine seconds zero to sixty, but that was to twenty.

Two hundred feet and of course it was about eighty degrees out here in Northern California we accomplished the task in 9.6 seconds at essentially sea level, perhaps making up for the acceleration times. Subaru has chosen to adjust the accelerator pedal very aggressively, so it is actually difficult to achieve. a soft start in the

forester

always feels a little too eager if you push the accelerator pedal too hard you have to be very very soft so that your head doesn't turn back a little when you take off in our 60 to the zero stop test, This model stopped from that speed to zero in 127 feet, which is a little longer than when we first drove the vehicle, but still about average for this particular segment as far as overall handling goes.

I will take into account all Forester models. Note that the Forester sits quite high off the ground. We have almost nine inches of ground clearance in this vehicle. It is very similar to several Jeep models in terms of overall ground clearance. and the lower part of the body of this Subaru which really helps when it comes to rough roads or off-road situations although, again, this is not really a dedicated off-road vehicle like you would find in a Jeep Cherokee for example, so this It won't be as capable in rock climbing or really tough situations as the Jeep model, but because of its high ground clearance, it's less likely to get scratched by things if you decide to take it a little further out than something like a Honda CRV or perhaps a Mazda cx-5, the downside to the Subaru's increased ride height and off-road focus is that overall handling ability suffers, we definitely get a lot more lean and sink a lot more body roll into the curves.

You can definitely feel the vehicle leaning and the overall grip just won't be as high as some of those road-focused models like the Kia Sportage or Mazda CX-5. On the other hand, the softer springs really help when it comes. to the overall ride quality and I will definitely give this model an A+. It's definitely more compliant on the road, especially on a rougher road, than a Rav4 or CRV. The suspension is softer again thanks to the Subaru's more off-road mission. If you are driving on a bumpy gravel road or a dirt road, you really don't want a firm suspension because that will actually reduce the tire's ability to make contact with the road.

A softer suspension like this will actually give you more control in those situations when it comes to cabin noise. Subaru has definitely made some improvements over the previous generation Forester, especially when it comes to wind noise. There's much less wind noise around the cabin than the last Subaru Forester we tested, and overall road noise has increased. at 72 decibels, which puts us right in the thick of the compact crossover category because Subaru has really resisted including hybrids, plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles in their lineup, instead they have decided to focus on improving fuel economy in all of its vehicles and Since all-wheel drive is a core Subaru value that had to make all of its all-wheel drive vehicles very competitive in terms of fuel economy with the core front-drive competition, during a week of mixed driving, This particular model has averaged just over 28 miles per gallon, which is right where the EPA says this vehicle should be.

The 28 miles per gallon is obviously less than the new Toyota rav4 hybrid, this is extremely good for a non-hybrid vehicle in this segment, so if you are really worried about the reliability of the hybrid or you just don't like the way it hybrids drive, this gives you excellent fuel efficiency and a standard traditional all-wheel drive system. When you look at the competition, really none of the all-wheel drive entries other than the hybrids will be able to beat the fuel economy we found in the Forester; in fact this is noticeably higher than many of the competing front wheel drive models, for example a front wheel drive Hyundai Tucson, we have the Kia Sportage or the Mazda cx-5 you won't get the fuel economy we find in this model with all-wheel drive and if you had all-wheel drive in those vehicles, it will be significantly different if you are looking for the sportier vehicle.

In this segment or the most capable one on offer, you will not find that in the forestry the forest really has a different mission in mind. This is really designed for someone who lives in the country and isn't really going to take their vehicle off the road. but you're worried about inclement weather, traction, snow, mud, mud, gravel, etc., someone who might have to worry about running over some branches that have fallen in the storm, something like that, but if you're going to try to haul your crossover compact to Moab, then you'll want a Jeep Cherokee, not a Subaru crossover, but Subaru also focuses heavily on fuel economy and overall value, which we'll talk about here in a moment.

Remember again that the all-wheel drive system is standard on this vehicle, as is the fuel economy rating of 29 miles per gallon, the only obvious downside to this of course being the overall acceleration performance. There are quite a few vehicles in this compact crossover segment that will take you to faster highway speeds than this. You'll definitely feel more lively when performing overtaking maneuvers, the super definitely feels slow if you're trying to overtake someone, so if you're on a rural mountain road and you have a passing lane you're more likely to be able to pull it off. . that maneuver in most of the competition the Subaru is going to take a little extra time as I said at the beginning of the video it is important to remember that the Subaru Forester has a very economical base price now if things start to improve as you go from model to model base to the top and trim so that we get improved interior touches of leather, etc. and of course more feature content, but you have to remember that the basics of the vehicle were also designed for those twenty-four thousand two hundred and ninety. base price of five dollars keep those prices in mind as we move towards the competition, the 2019 rav4 was a big surprise to everyone because the new rav4 is much more dynamic and not much more exciting looking than the model that preceded it.

As we see with most modern Toyotas, it is also equipped with their latest active safety technologies, including radar adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, automatic high beams, etc. - basically the same type of set of features that we find standard on the Forester, so it's not really an advantage over The other place where things get a little interesting in the RAV4 line is the new Adventure model because it has a torque vectoring rear axle that we haven't seen In this segment until now, other vehicles in this segment announced that they can send power. at the rear or the front of the vehicle, but they are using the brakes to do that and the rav4 is not using mechanical torque vectoring or an axle like we find in a BMW M car or something like an Acura MDX .

This gives the rav4 one of the most capable all-wheel drive systems in this particular segment. It actually ranks second only to the Jeep Cherokee, so where does that place the Subaru? Honestly, the all-wheel drive system in the Forester is pretty middle-of-the-road. The overall package design in this segment is very similar to any other vehicle in this segment. Most of the power is sent to the front axle. A lot of power is sent to the rear to help improve grip, especially when pulling away, but it's a front-biased system, the big difference between the Subaru system and more capable systems is that you can't command a full lockup of the rear. central coupling.

Subaru is always trying to control exactly where the power is sent and a complete lockout cannot be ordered. locking that coupling now the Toyota rav4 is also underpowered, although it is not as slow as the Forester in the zero to sixty tests, it will probably have very high reliability as would be expected today, but the fuel economy is good in On paper, but not as good in person, it seems that when it comes to overall dynamics and on-road performance, don't expect the available torque vectoring axle to turn the RAV4 into an Acura RDX because they're not really being that aggressive.

As is necessary, it is about sending power to the rear, so it has that functionality, but it is more discreet than what we see in the luxury segment. Finally we have the price of the rav4 at twenty-five thousand five hundred dollars, it is $1,200 more expensive than a basic model. The overall feature content of the Subaru Forrester really isn't that far from model to model. If you want all-wheel drive in your Rav4 then it costs $2,600 more, so it's obvious that the Forester is absolutely excellent value in the base model. a pretty good value as long as you take a look at models under $30,000 or so, as you start to move up the ladder things start to fall apart a bit the rav4 ends up being a pretty good value in its trims. high range compared to what we see in the Subaru and there's a little more opportunity to vary things up so you can get the hybrid system in the rav4 for even better fuel economy.

You have the adventurer grade version with more offer and capacity. etc., next we have the Honda CRV, like many Hondas in the United States, the CRV is very complete and that is its greatest asset. I'm talking about the way you put together scores for performance, ride, handling, etc., it doesn't necessarily excel in every category. but it scores very highly in almost all the different categories, we have a large cargo area, very comfortable seats, a lot of available technology, a fresh feeling interior. I think the overall build quality of the interior is also definitely among the best in this particular segment, butWhen it comes to value, the CRV's base models aren't as good as the Forester.

A basic CRV with all-wheel drive will cost about fourteen hundred dollars more and won't be any faster because of the turbocharged engine. it's not found on that base model so if you're taking a look at most of the reviews where they praise the performance of the turbocharged engine you should know that that won't be on the base model if you want Apple Carplay and the turbo then it will cost around At three thousand dollars more than the Forester, that simply means that the Forester is an excellent value compared to the base Honda models, but something interesting happens when you look at the top and all-wheel drive Honda CRV touring models.

It's actually a little less expensive than a top-of-the-line Forester. The two vehicles have relatively similar feature sets, but the overall interior quality and overall interior comfort level in the CRV are actually a little better than what we found in the Subaru Forrester. It's also likely. It will be a little more reliable because Honda generally gets better reliability numbers than Subaru. Performance will obviously be better in the Honda thanks to its turbocharged engine and we will have a little more cargo space in the back and generally a little more cargo. It's also practical, so at under $28,000 the Subaru is a better value, but above $28,000 the Honda is actually a better value.

The next logical competitor is the Jeep Araki, which really excels when it comes to offering audibility, but you have to pay for that capability offered in the Jeep because the base models are already more expensive than the Subaru Forester by between twenty-five thousand and forty, but not You get all-wheel drive on that base model, you also get the less powerful engine due to the overall curb weight of that base engine. on the Cherokee it makes it quite slow now if you want to get one of the fastest vehicles in this segment you can get the optional 2 liter turbo or the v6 engine both will make the Cherokee one of the fastest vehicles but if you are looking those basic models, it's definitely going to be slow.

If you want all-wheel drive in your Jeep, you'll have to shell out at least twenty-six thousand seven forty and that's the only way to get the extra. More similar ground clearance to what we see in the Subaru, if you want even better ground clearance and even better off-road capability you can get one of the different Trailhawk varieties, however they start at at least thirty-three thousand six hundred Ninety-five. Therefore, the base model Trailhawk will be as expensive as the most expensive Subaru Forester. The two vehicles are ultimately in a different league. It's very obvious that the Subaru was really designed for mud roads, gravel roads, that kind of ranch life, whereas the Cherokee was really trying to be the crossover that you could also take to Moab and that's not exactly what we see in the Subaru.

Next we have another entry from Japan, the Mazda cx-5, which has long been one of my favorite crossovers in this segment. The CX-5 is simply the most attractive vehicle of this group. The CX-5 has also long been one of the best vehicles in this group in terms of dynamics and I'm talking about overall feel, not necessarily overall driving grip, because Mazda really excels when it comes to driver involvement, but not necessarily Of course, you could fix it by adding better tires to the CX-5's aftermarket, but so far the only thing I couldn't do was get a CX-5 faster from zero to sixty because they were offered. one or two engines depending on the year and none of them were as powerful as some of the competitive engines in this segment, but that's all different for 2019. because we finally have their new turbocharged engine under the hood, 250 horsepower actually makes Of the CX-5 one of the most powerful of this group, although most of my time in the CX-5 Turbo has been in the middle of a Canadian winter, you should expect it to be one of America's most dynamic compact crossovers.

Now don't expect it to be the most capable on offer. However, that will actually go to the Subaru, Cherokee, and Rav4. The CX-5 does not have the same type. of ground clearance that we found in the Subaru and the suspension is noticeably firmer, it's something I even noticed in the snow in Canada, so if you're taking your vehicle on a longer road trip, the Subarus will be much more comfortable. and as a result they're probably also more capable rocks aren't going to hit things as easily underneath the CX-5 tends to scrape up a bit on the road.

My conclusion on this segment is that it's a pretty tough call, but I think the CX-5 is still my overall first pick here because it's so much fun, so good looking and absolutely gorgeous, but I must also say that there are some other great top picks in this segment, as well as the new Toyota rav4. The Adventure is surprisingly a very, very competent vehicle, it's very reliable, it will probably sell very well, you'll be able to find one easily, and it will actually be more fun to drive than before if you're looking for the best value.

However, a Subaru Forester is simply the best value under $28,000 and I have to say that if you are looking for something that is definitely under $28,000, I would probably take the Subaru Forester over anything because for that dollar you will simply get more. vehicle than what you find in the alternatives I think the Mazda cx-5 is more attractive I think it is more dynamic but it will be more expensive if comparably equipped. Thank you for taking the time to watch this video. Make sure you click the subscribe button. there, if you haven't already, click at the top of the screen if you want to support this channel which will take you to patreon calm down and don't forget to find us on facebook.com slash Alex, not us so you can see what we're up to. driving this week