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Is the 2020 Subaru Forester the BEST compact AWD SUV to BUY?

Feb 27, 2020
Hey guys, what's up? I'm Joe ready for the rise of the Middies. I'm back here at Loki Subaru in Port Richey, Florida and we've got it. This is the

2020

Subaru Forester. This is the top trim level. This is the Touring edition. Let's talk a little. about the Forester so over the years it really stood out with some unique vehicles with the Outback with the Forester the Forester first came on the scene back in 1997 in Japan here in the United States it was in 1998 that it really came into its own. stood out and didn't really have a place to fit well in the car market because everything is shifting to SUVs and people's interests are shifting towards SUVs, many Subaru vehicles are now just hitting the sweet spot for taste and lifestyle for every budget with the Forester. is now based on that global architecture, all of their vehicles are moving to the Outback Ascent global architecture, etc., what that means is you're going to get a Ford, a Forester that's 70% stiffer, the chassis is 70% stiffer. rigid.
is the 2020 subaru forester the best compact awd suv to buy
It also means that the center of gravity will be lowered, which will give you better handling and all that, but let's see what the Forester redesign is, how it went from last year to this

2020

year in this touring edition, so from the beginning. I'll look at the updated headlight housing. The wonderful news is that when they redesigned the Forester it still looks like a Forester. Many people were concerned about the full LED lighting on the Touring model. I also like the shape of the daytime running lights which are also The LED also lights up and gives a nice look when the vehicles are going down the road.
is the 2020 subaru forester the best compact awd suv to buy

More Interesting Facts About,

is the 2020 subaru forester the best compact awd suv to buy...

Now when we go down to the bottom corner, you get a nice chrome treatment that I think fits perfectly with the four star, especially with some silver on that one. On the headlight housing you have the lower fog lights and then when we come across the front on the lower section you have a matte black which is cool and a nice metallic silver just to balance it out and shine a little bit. You have eight point seven inches of ground clearance, as always, so this is a perfect vehicle for going off-road with Subarus All We Drive's fabulous symmetrical system.
is the 2020 subaru forester the best compact awd suv to buy
I really understand what's going on here. You have the chrome treatment. around and across the top matches the chrome and the lower pieces of the front fascia and then you have flat black horizontal slots that match the flat black here so it really ties it together and that grille is definitely the identity of the brand Subaru when he climbs on the hood. I really like what's happening. You've got a nice raised section in the middle reminiscent of those first generation Rangers and as you go towards the corners of the hood I like the way they have a slight rise. and some very nice and distinctive fiddles, especially this one because it goes forward and then curves as you approach the windshield as we come to the curve, you have a matte black treatment around the fender, these are the Touring edition wheels, so it's a wheel 18-inch machined aluminum with a dark gunmetal gray paint scheme.
is the 2020 subaru forester the best compact awd suv to buy
I wish they did a little more with the wheel. I feel like that's something in the Subaru line. The wheel style could be improved a bit more. especially on the Touring version, but you're definitely going to get good handling with an 18 inch wheel because of what we're working with the tires because this is a 225 in the width and then if you look at this sidewall here, this is a sidewall from the 55 series, so a thicker sidewall gives you a more comfortable ride, especially if you're going off-road now, as we continue down the side, here's something that automatically if you weren't looking at anything else, you know.
This will be a decisive equipment level. You get the nice brushed aluminum mirror covers. I think that really enhances the fit and finish feel of the Forester. You also get the chrome treatment on the top and bottom around the entire glass. The sides are now down as well, a continuation of the flat black and some of that nice metallic silver we picked up from the front. These are nice touches on the Touring trim level, of course, no, Subaru, no, they won't come without them. its roof rails and you could get the crossbars but I like the silver color with the flat black it really ties it into what's happening on the side of the Forester now as we move into the rear quarter look at the body line, it's really cool how it starts. on the door here and goes into the rear quarter, that nice chrome trim widens a little bit towards the corner and then when we get to the rear, I really like what Subaru has done with the Forester, it's very clean, some people They weren't.
I love the taillight design. I am beginning. At first I'm liking it. I didn't really love it. I wish it was like it covered this part. I think it looks a little better, but it is what it is. At the end of the day, and I promise you that you will be able to develop your all-wheel drive system, that Subaru badge, even I like what they are doing with the touring badge, as well as where my Zonk is for the business end here. There is only one exhaust outlet if it is a Touring version. I would like to see dual exhaust outlets.
You can see you also have towing capability with this Forester, but as we move on, pop the hood and see what powers the 2020 Forester. Okay, guys, we've got it. the hood appeared on this jasper green metallic 2020

forester

under the hood it won't be a

subaru

unless you have that flat engine inside so what you're looking at with this 20 24 is a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated flat 4 engine which means the pistons come and go horizontally this one for the new redesign now has direct injection it will give you one hundred and eighty two horsepower 176 pound-feet of torque it is made for a CVT transmission that has simulated gears to make you feel like you have a transmission 7-speed automatic 0 to 60 not the fastest eight point five seconds top speed 127 miles per hour the Forester weighs about 3,600 pounds MPG even with permanent all-wheel drive 26 in the city 33 on the highway and the wonderful thing about Subarus with its flat floors and flat sixes and everything else is that the center of gravity will be very low in the chassis which will help with handling, also think about the safety features these things are. now it's being pushed out of the new interior, the new legacy, we're talking about the year 2023 safety standards, five more stars all the way around and that vision technology, but as we go, turn on this 4 plane and see how it sounds, it's good.
Guys, we're into the hype of 2024, that Touring trim level, top trim level. I know you're probably saying, well, Joe. I've been looking at

forester

s for a while. I wanted to pull the trigger. I wanted to venture a little. and I've been watching all those super commercials. I'm going to go get a dog, how much is the MSRP? The way this one sits is $37,000 but like I said it's fully loaded to the brim but let's see what you get for the money for the door panels Subaru has done a fantastic job with its interior. I love what's happening now, although there is completely dark material for the most part, it looks premium and that really says what you already know, Subaru thinks. the direction they go, I love all the stitching, the contrast stitching on the top of the door panel, the contrast stitching along the armrests, very well done, the textures, this one has the optional Harman Kardon sound and you're also going to get some space in there for your water bottle or a cup of whatever you have Saum, it's here on the dash.
I'm even looking into this, it almost looks like a golf ball, nice soft texture, a little silvery on the air conditioning vents. just to join it to the door, but they even went ahead and brought the simulated stitching in here, all this stitch work just adds to the level of feel of fit and finish, you've got a nice set of information gauges there that you can toggle between all of them. kind of date information that you can see around your Forester, you can see how the all-wheel drive is transferring, all that cool stuff, the weather, right down to the infotainment system, which they've put a lot of work into making it happen.
On par with what the competition has, the infotainment system's screen is 8 inches, obviously a touchscreen like the Starling system. We come back home. Very, very clear graphics. Very easy to swap Apple Carplay and Android Auto. You do not have to wait. It's a very nice Subaru push button start, you have dual climate controls, they're easy to see a little bit of glossy black, but I promise you won't touch it and everything will be fine, nice little cubby for your phone. I have a voltage of 12 volts, a USB to USB. Sorry because they're stacked and then you also have an auxiliary jack.
This will control the CVT transmission. I know it's probably the biggest sore spot on a lot of Subarus, but you know what? for a CVT and those gears they simulate, it actually shifts quite realistically to make you think now isn't this the Touring version that also has accessibility to X mode, so you can turn this knob here and you have snow and dirt or snow deep and mud. so it gives you some options, you have heated seats but I'm going to use it without ventilated seats but to be honest so far the tunes have been pretty minimal, two cup holders, here's the universal key fob that now comes on most the Subarus.
They have the start button, very pleasant touch, good weight. I like the height of the armrest. You've got the same seam that opens up another 12 volts in there and you've got some room for about, I'd say, six Twinkies or if you want. to be healthy about three and a half bananas, nice little place, you could put your cell phone here if you didn't want to, and then the seats are amazing. I love leather. I love the stitching. I just wish they were ventilated and not just heated, they are 10 way adjustable which is also great, full power assist, plenty of head room and you get this beautiful panoramic style sunroof that really lets you see that beautiful sky when you It's about safety as if we were talking about your eyesight. interior mounted system I'm Tonya, you won't have to worry about it failing because mud, dirt and debris hits your front bumper because it's all one container and it's the newest version so it's nice and small, frameless .
You know, I like the auto-dimming ones. Mirror, but why don't you go through the business side? I'll show you behind the wheel of this 2020 Forester. Alright guys, end of business. We'll start at the door panel. Here you can see that they have two memory settings for the driver's side. which is really nice and of course like I said the 10 way adjustable seat even with the lower lumbar ooh that feels good. I like that steering wheel. I'm researching that for the thickness of the leather, the stitch runs a little silvery and then I have a lot of buttons, but I'm telling you, they're not a big deal.
You see these two little guys here. In fact, you could adjust the actual parameters of the engine, which is very good for how the engine works. You have heated steering wheel control and then this will allow you to review all that information in that additional module located on the top and then the instrumentation which I like because it's easy to see, easy to understand and I understand it as an analog phenomenon of the tachometer and then you have that digital screen. in the center, which gives you a lot of information to look at, which is really wonderful and I also really like that clean setup, but overall there's a lot of headroom here as we go, check out the back seat and see how there are your passengers.
I'm going to love this ranger. Well, guys, it's time to get in the back seat. One thing I want to point out before Tom gets too close to the bottom. Here you have some really fantastic plastic that has been brought inside. When you put your kayak on the roof, you have those Subaru cross bars because of the roof rails that are up there, that's what makes a Subaru great. They all come with their roof rails. Just get the crossbars. You could put your foot there to get them. the kayak above or your mountain bike and not tear the carpet, that's some smart thinking from Subaru.
What's also smart is the seat back here, the amount of space you actually get a point four inches more legroom in the back seat of the new one. Forester compared to the last generation, another good thing is this command center, so on the tour you will have two USBs and also heated seats, but as you can see, I have a lot of space and they also have two. Tiers of seat back pockets, including one that is a little smaller. Why is it smaller? Because it's for your cell phone. You can put it conveniently, you don't have to worry about it falling and getting lost in your pocket, sosupposed.
You'll get nicely styled armrests and look, they put some nice trim around the cup holders, a very easy one to use, let's go ahead and check out the cargo area and see how much camping gear we can fit in this forester. Alright guys, the

best

part. any Subaru is bound to be that cargo area, push the power assist button, look at all that space, let me go ahead and lift this up a little bit, but you can see it's going to have tons of room for whatever you need. in your Forester you also have a 12 volt voltage which is very good and then you can see the subwoofer for the Harman Kardon system.
I can show you very well done on both sides of course you go ahead and pull this one and that guy will come down to see that whole room so this thing is ready to rock and roll for whatever you have but I'm ready for rock and roll, let's go ahead and take this Forester for a spin, okay guys, we're on the 2020 Forester, this is the tour now, I know I have. I've talked out loud about this before, I haven't thought about it but I miss the Forester xt keeping my fingers crossed hitting some plastic that Subaru will bring back the xt badge especially now that they got the Outback . turbocharged 2.4 liter in this instead of the 2.5, I think it would be a good choice.
I'm not saying it's standard and then everyone will know, put it in the comments section, well the prices are going to go up, still, how happy you are. I have it because zero to sixty-eight point five seconds is slow and I'm going to use it for that, but I know a lot of people are like driving, they're not worried about speed, but it's good, they have the option, I tell them. I've driven both banks, the XT is amazing, but here we are in this forest or in Turing, nice and smooth. I love the visibility. It seems like Subaru knows some kind of magic that allows them to get incredible visibility with all their I'm really glad they updated the vision technology, which makes it nice and discreet, with a lemon trim, and I even like the additional measurement module that you have, where you can scroll through that different information, get the weather, your navigation, all that.
These types of things obviously vary and all that good stuff when it comes to infotainment, it will be interesting to see when they update the Forester. Now remember that they completely redesigned it last year. When will they do an update? I'm sure he probably won. It won't happen until 2022, what I'm hoping is that you get the 11.6-inch screen instead of this 8-inch infotainment screen and that would really make this feel more upscale, but overall, if you could get to $37,000, I feel very good sitting in this forest. And I've never said that before, to be honest, the fit and finish here is incredible, the armrests are very soft and the perfectly placed steering wheel feels great and the visibility is really incredible.
These rangers love the color green. It really pops with the lines of the Forester and you'll get great gas mileage and you'll also get some safety because guess what Subaru is testing in vehicles for 2023 standards, not current federal standards. So that will ensure that you get home alive every time you drive in the woods. We're making a U-turn, it's a piece of cake when accelerating, that's EB. This t-transmission with the simulated gears really feels like you are driving. a normal automatic. I have had worse experiences and other brands with CVT. I love the CVT. No, I'm losing it, but it has the ability to feel like an automatic.
It also has paddles on the edge of the steering wheel to upshift. and when you go down those simulated gears too, but very very smooth, it gets a little bit buzzy, that's what happens with CVT transmissions in cars, the engine rpm stays constant, but it's not as bad as I said as in other brands. Very, very smooth, although the power delivery and then of course that symmetrical all-wheel drive that keeps you planted, everything is perfectly placed here. I mean getting to the navigation, getting to the infotainment and getting to the air conditioning controls. It's very easy to do. that wonderful panoramic sunroof and the seats are something you would expect from home, that's how good they feel, you could drive hundreds of miles in this forester and feel fresh as a daisy at the end of the day, but like I said, I'd do it like an XT I also wouldn't understand why Subaru isn't putting hood struts on all of their vehicles, they have them on some but not others so it's obviously a cost cutting feature but I think it's something everyone should have. especially the forester, but we're going to move on and hopefully this gave you a nice overall feeling.
Sorry we just have some traffic we drive in, I can't really turn up the wick much, but everything on this car is done right esp. The visual technology clock when I turn into the lane here beeps, tells me the lane exit and all that good stuff, and the

best

part about the view is that it will stay clean, away from all the dirt instead of being in the bumper low. It's an area like many cars where the radar technology is covered with dirt, sand and everything else. However, this has a very, very nice setup here, but we'll continue to finish this and get back to the low-key Subaru. so I'll see you guys in a split second it's been a wonderful day here at low key Subaru I will definitely thank Spencer Montell for putting the rest of the team here is the 2020 forester you should go to for your best SUV if they want it.
We're not looking for a third row or anything like that. I'm going to say for the price and what's going on inside and out and all-wheel drive will definitely be a big contender, but if this is the kind of thing. Do you want to continue watching on ready rise leave a comment in the comments section if you are new to the channel and are about to leave press the subscribe button I promise you it is worth coming back for more if you are a subscriber thank you for being part of the family Radies Rhys, if you want to help us continue creating great content just for you on the channel, click the link in the description, get ready, upload the merch, you have to give up the big boys.
McGee Tom Motion is breaking world records. His weightlifting flies across the country, it's an incredible adventure. Check them out on his Instagram in most of the photos and as always, I'll see you on the next trip.

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