The Forester has been popular for many reasons, and this model relies upon all the old tricks to please the driver. Sits up high enough, but not too high. Visibility is great. Ride is smooth and even though there is some body lean, it's not awful. Storage is great for it's size due to the boxy shape. It's quicker from 0-30 than I expected, but, it has no real get-up-and-go past anything other than pedestrian accelleration rates.
My wife is not a sportscar driver, so the lack of sprinting power and soft suspension don't bother her one bit! What she loves is the Harmon-Kardon stereo. WOW! All her boxes have been checked. Then, there's the beautiful pearl paint job with the orange trim pieces of the Sport package...she loves the combo.
It appears the fuel economy is going to be good. nearly 33 mpg the first fill-up. I'll make a guess that pure highway at speed limits will yield a bit north of 35 mpg...not bad for a brick on short stilts. She traded in a 2018 Camry (111,000 miles) that would get 40 mpg at slightly greater than highway speeds, but she says the improved ride height and stereo make up for the slight penalty in mpg. (Considered keeping the Camry as it's not half-way used up, but we don't need 3 cars.) UPDATE: MPG is low 30's mpg when about 80% is highway driving at 75 mph. If I were driving it, I could do a bit better as I'm more focused on efficiency than my spouse.
Very happy so far! I've already ceramic coated the paint and even the black painted wheels, as well as the first flush-out oil change (old habits die hard). Oil and oil filter change could not be easier. No drip, no mess, no ramps required. Plan to keep to 5000 mile lntervals with high quality 0w20 oil such as Mobil 1 Extended Performance to keep those long timing chains in good condition. Like most modern Subarus, we intend to keep this one for more than 100,000 miles.
