| 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
2014 Subaru Forester and 2015 Volkswagen Golf / GTI Specifications
| Model Year | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Model | Subaru Forester | Volkswagen Golf / GTI | |
| Engine | turbocharged 2.0L H4 DOHC-4v 250 hp@5600 258 lb-ft@2000 |
turbocharged 2.0L I4 DOHC-4v 292 hp@5400 280 lb-ft@1800 |
|
| Transmission | 8-speed shiftable CVT | 6-speed automated manual | |
| Drivetrain | AWD | AWD | |
| Body | 4dr SUV | 4dr Wagon | |
| Difference | |||
| Wheelbase | 103.9 in | 103.5 in | 0.4 in |
| Length | 180.9 in | 179.6 in | 1.3 in |
| Width | 70.7 in | 70.8 in | -0.1 in |
| Height | 66.4 in | 58.3 in | 8.1 in |
| Curb Weight | 3624 lb. | 3440 lb. | 184 lb. |
| Fuel Capacity | 15.9 gal. | 13.2 gal. | 2.7 gal. |
| Headroom, Row 1 | 41.4 in | 38.6 in | 2.8 in |
| Shoulder Room, Row 1 | 57.0 in | 55.9 in | 1.1 in |
| Legroom, Row 1 | 43.0 in | 41.2 in | 1.8 in |
| Headroom, Row 2 | 39.8 in | 38.6 in | 1.2 in |
| Shoulder Room, Row 2 | 56.5 in | 53.9 in | 2.6 in |
| Legroom, Row 2 | 38.0 in | 35.6 in | 2.4 in |
| Total Legroom | 81 in (over 2 rows) | 76.8 in (over 2 rows) | 4.2 in |
| Cargo Volume, Minimum | 34.4 ft3 | 30.4 ft3 | 4 ft3 |
| Cargo Volume, Maximum | 74.7 ft3 | 66.5 ft3 | 8.2 ft3 |
TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2014 Subaru Forester
| 2014 Subaru Forester Seat Room and Comfort: Pros | ||
| Year | Comment | |
| 2014 | Beyond visibility, people buy crossovers to get more space for people and cargo. As in previous Subaru Foresters, the 2014's ceiling is cathedral-high. I could have worn a top hat inside. If you're very tall, and have been seeking a compact vehicle in which you'll easily fit, you've found one. If, on the other hand, you've been seeking expansive elbow room, the Honda CR-V has more of it. And legroom? A combined (first and second row) figure of 81 inches tops every other compact SUV, including the otherwise segment-leading Honda (79.6 inches) and Toyota RAV-4 (79.8 inches). The Chevrolet Equinox offers another tenth of an inch, but with a 188-inch length (vs. the Forester's 181) and 4,083-pound curb weight (vs. the Forester 2.5i's 3,366) it's not truly compact. Subaru has worked no such miracles with shoulder room. At 56.5 inches, the Forester's is typical of the compact crossover class. Add in a small driveline hump (absent in the Honda) and three adults won't happily share the rear seat for long. But how many car owners put three adult-sized people in the second row for long, anyway? Measurements don't tell the entire story. The Honda's rear seat cushion is too low to the floor to provide adults with thigh support, and its rear seatback can be reclined to only two nearly identical positions. In constrast, the Forester's passengers enjoy a comfortably high rear seat that reclines through a broader range. One negative for rear seat comfort: unlike the Ford Escape (but like nearly all other compact crossovers, including the CR-V), the Forester has no rear air vents. Thanks to the tall, square rear body, cargo space is also the best in the segment, though not by as large a margin as the rear seat. Up front, there are plenty of bins in which to stash your stuff. see full Subaru Forester review | |
What Our Members Are Saying about the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2014 Subaru Forester
| 2014 Subaru Forester Seat Room and Comfort: Pros | ||
| Year | Body/Powertrain | Comment |
| 2015 | 4dr SUV 170-horsepower 2.5L H4 CVT AWD |
I'm 6'3" and often don't fit comfortable in vehicles. I found this had a very nice amount of front seat room. The center console tends to stay out of the way as well, some newer designs have the center stack moving into where my right knee would be. It's a very noticeable improvement over my previous 2009 Escape. I actually found the Forester more comfortable for me than the Outback. I was expecting the opposite. see full Subaru Forester review |
| 2015 | 4dr SUV 170-horsepower 2.5L H4 CVT AWD |
After looking at Explorer's, I was surprised how much more room the Forester had in the back seat. Granted it doesn't have a third row, but if you don't need a 3rd row, the Forester is hard to beat in this segment for rear seat room. We can put a forward facing child seat in the back, move the front seat up a about 2 inches from all the way back and there's still plenty of front passenger room and my 1.5 year old son can't kick the back of the seat. see full Subaru Forester review |
| 2014 | 4dr SUV 170-horsepower 2.5L H4 CVT AWD |
Excellent rear seat comfort and rear seats are 60/ 40 and easy to fold flat. rear seats also have recline function which is nice ... excellent leg room see full Subaru Forester review |
| 2014 | 4dr SUV 170-horsepower 2.5L H4 CVT AWD |
Huge rear seat for the car's size see full Subaru Forester review |
TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2015 Volkswagen Golf / GTI
| 2015 Volkswagen Golf / GTI Seat Room and Comfort: Pros | ||
| Year | Comment | |
| 2015 | The original Golf revolutionized the automotive world by demonstrating how practical a small car could be. Though the latest, seventh-generation Golf is much larger than the original, and every major auto maker now offers a Golf-like compact, the Volkswagen continues to impress with its practicality. Let's start with the front seat. The seat itself is shaped and padded to provide nearly ideal comfort and support in daily driving. The performance buckets in the GTI and R have firmer bolsters that provide more lateral support, but the regular Golf's buckets are cushier and more comfortably contoured. The e-Golf uses the same exemplary seats. In comparison, the seats in the Soul EV are merely okay. The view forward from the e-Golf's driver seat is also about as good as it gets in a current compact, with a reasonably-sized instrument panel and an expansive, comfortably raked windshield flanked by relatively thin pillars. This said, some people might prefer the higher driving position in the quasi-crossover Soul EV. For me, a conventional car's lower position continues to feel more natural, especially in turns. Battery packs take up space. Even with the (roughly) 1.5-kWh battery packs used by hybrids cargo capacity usually takes a hit. In the Soul EV, rear seat legroom suffers a three-inch reduction due to the underfloor location of the car's 27-kWh battery pack. But VW engineers managed to design and package a 24-kWh battery pack so cleverly that the e-Golf's passenger and cargo room are identical to those of a regular Golf. Adults will comfortably fit in the car's back seat. The same can't be said about most other EVs--the Soul being a second exception. Even with the three-inch cut, the Kia's back seat is about as roomy as the Golf's. The i3's back seat is far tighter. Which EV treats its passengers best depends on the season. The e-Golf includes rear air vents, while the Soul EV+ includes rear seat bun warmers. Moving to the cargo area, the Soul EV's battery pack eats up a dozen cubic feet, leaving just under 50. The uncompromised e-Golf can contain a couple more. But these figures don't convey the differing proportions of the cars' cargo holds. The e-Golf's is a few inches longer, while the Soul EV's is a few inches taller. Which is the better cargo hauler depends on the shape of your cargo. The much larger Tesla Model S can hold a few more cubic feet, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class about the same as the e-Golf. No other EV comes close, especially not the 12-cube BMW i3. see full Volkswagen Golf / GTI review | |
What Our Members Are Saying about the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2015 Volkswagen Golf / GTI
| 2015 Volkswagen Golf / GTI Seat Room and Comfort: Cons | ||
| Year | Body/Powertrain | Comment |
| 2016 | 2dr Hatch turbocharged 210hp 2.0L I4 6-speed manual FWD |
Difficult ingress and egress see full Volkswagen Golf / GTI review |
See TrueDelta's information for all SUVs
See TrueDelta's information for all Subaru models.
