http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=126279#38
I drove one of these prior to buying my current ride. I was blown away. Here's what's up:
In a previous thread I was considering leasing from the pool of small SUV's, each one with something to offer. In particular, the Ford Escape/Forester/Rav4/CRV/Vue were the candidates. I won't recap the outcome of that discussion (or how I ended up with none of those).
I tried a 5 speed base model and can tell you to steer away from that tranny choice. It's ill-suited to this taller vehicle, and no fun at all. Then an auto-equipped forester was brought around for me and it was a very good vehicle. Good enough to buy in fact. Finally, the dealer pushed me to try out this white/grey leather Limited he had with a few miles. That's right I had to be pushed. I was in serious-negotiation mode and not looking to waste time on what I knew wasn't going to end up in my driveway.
First impression on the styling is that the Limited is a substantial improvement over base model. In fact, it looks really good with blacked out trim, nice wheels, fog lamps, and the requisite (and functional!) hood scoop. The same can be said for the interior, which has nice quality leather buckets with multiple adjustments, huge sunroof and glass areas, and better-than-average materials and finish. considering the Impreza-sourced componentry, the effect is doubly-impressive.
Once you get in and fire it up, the burbly exhaust note is pleasantly different and just barely audible. Good job there. Time to see how it moves. I should preface my driving experience by telling you that the prior Forester turbo was an underwhelming experience and I held no hopes for this new one to be much of an improvement.
Boy was I wrong.
The wagon just up and goes with very minimal turbo lag, and a very satisfying surge of power that will make friends quickly. The autotranny, though a bit short on gears, was very willing to downshift and kept the turbo on boost really well. I was having fun. Genuine fun.
And the good moves weren't just for straight ahead. The suspension did a decent job of controlling the tallish wagon while providing a smooth ride. You can feel a willingness to rotate and turn with more ease than just about any small SUV. A low CG and light weight simply get the job done. Had Subaru refined the steering to the same level as the suspension, I would tell you this is the best sub $30k SUV.
There are only a couple of things that I would improve or avoid when i eventually buy one of these gems. The steering is just not at the same league as the overall vehicle dynamics. Then there is the top-of-the-line navigation stereo combo. It's a branded aftermarket unit, much like what the competition uses at this price point. The competition's stereos are just plain better. Thankfully, the double-din size is easy enough to swap out for way better aftermarket units.
Overall, I'm super impressed with this SUV. It kills the competition in several regards, is somewhat rare, and a hoot to drive.
This test drive happened a couple of weeks ago, I subsequently leased a much cheaper wagon. Can't stop thinking about this Forester though.
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I drove one of these prior to buying my current ride. I was blown away. Here's what's up:
In a previous thread I was considering leasing from the pool of small SUV's, each one with something to offer. In particular, the Ford Escape/Forester/Rav4/CRV/Vue were the candidates. I won't recap the outcome of that discussion (or how I ended up with none of those).
I tried a 5 speed base model and can tell you to steer away from that tranny choice. It's ill-suited to this taller vehicle, and no fun at all. Then an auto-equipped forester was brought around for me and it was a very good vehicle. Good enough to buy in fact. Finally, the dealer pushed me to try out this white/grey leather Limited he had with a few miles. That's right I had to be pushed. I was in serious-negotiation mode and not looking to waste time on what I knew wasn't going to end up in my driveway.
First impression on the styling is that the Limited is a substantial improvement over base model. In fact, it looks really good with blacked out trim, nice wheels, fog lamps, and the requisite (and functional!) hood scoop. The same can be said for the interior, which has nice quality leather buckets with multiple adjustments, huge sunroof and glass areas, and better-than-average materials and finish. considering the Impreza-sourced componentry, the effect is doubly-impressive.
Once you get in and fire it up, the burbly exhaust note is pleasantly different and just barely audible. Good job there. Time to see how it moves. I should preface my driving experience by telling you that the prior Forester turbo was an underwhelming experience and I held no hopes for this new one to be much of an improvement.
Boy was I wrong.
The wagon just up and goes with very minimal turbo lag, and a very satisfying surge of power that will make friends quickly. The autotranny, though a bit short on gears, was very willing to downshift and kept the turbo on boost really well. I was having fun. Genuine fun.
And the good moves weren't just for straight ahead. The suspension did a decent job of controlling the tallish wagon while providing a smooth ride. You can feel a willingness to rotate and turn with more ease than just about any small SUV. A low CG and light weight simply get the job done. Had Subaru refined the steering to the same level as the suspension, I would tell you this is the best sub $30k SUV.
There are only a couple of things that I would improve or avoid when i eventually buy one of these gems. The steering is just not at the same league as the overall vehicle dynamics. Then there is the top-of-the-line navigation stereo combo. It's a branded aftermarket unit, much like what the competition uses at this price point. The competition's stereos are just plain better. Thankfully, the double-din size is easy enough to swap out for way better aftermarket units.
Overall, I'm super impressed with this SUV. It kills the competition in several regards, is somewhat rare, and a hoot to drive.
This test drive happened a couple of weeks ago, I subsequently leased a much cheaper wagon. Can't stop thinking about this Forester though.
