2019 Subaru Forester Review

Sami Haj-Assaad
by Sami Haj-Assaad

When it arrives this fall, the new Subaru Forester will be the best compact crossover on the market you can get. The familiar styling and other low-key specs hide the Foresters true form as one of the best products that Subaru or any of its competitors has put out in quite some time.

It’s a culmination of a number of factors: a brand new 2.5-liter engine finds its home, a new transmission, new driving modes, a new platform and an important new driver safety feature that puts everyone else to shame.

The Top Safety App

I want to start with that specifically, the newly available DriverFocus system, that sticks a driver-focused camera with facial recognition in the cabin of the vehicle. After registering your face with the system, it can set up the cabin to your liking, arranging the seats, mirrors and climate control to your liking. It can be registered for five users, which is far more than the 2 or 3 memory seat settings that most cars have, but in reality, this part of DriverFocus is just a convenience gimmick, the true benefit is that the system can tell when the driver is fatigued or distracted and bring them back to the task at hand.

ALSO SEE: Where Is Subaru From and Where Are Subarus Made?

In the worst case scenario, the system works in collaboration with Subaru’s EyeSight safety suite, and will preload features such as automatic braking to prevent an accident caused by the distracted driver. This can help prevent so many accidents, needless injuries and deaths, especially as driver assistance features like an adaptive cruise with stop and go capabilities, lane keep assistance and rear automatic braking become more common, and drivers lose touch with the weight of their responsibilities on the road. In fact, a week prior to testing the Forester, my colleague and I witnessed the entirety of an accident caused by a distracted driving. Features like DriverFocus aren’t just useful, they’re practically necessary these days, and to see it in one of Subaru mainstream models, the Forester underlines that fact.

FAST FACTS

Engine: 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer
Output: 182 hp, 174 lb-ft of torque
Transmission: CVT
Fuel Economy (MPG): TBD
Fuel Economy (l/100kms): TBD
Price (USD): TBD
Price (CAD): TBD

It’s the killer app of the car, and it shows just how far Subaru has come, as it offers a feature that’s currently only found on the flagship Cadillac CT6 that costs over $85,000. Consider that the Forester will cost less than half of that, features standard all-wheel drive, over 76 cubic feet of storage and it’s pretty easy to see what makes the Forester so impressive, but nothing comes close to impressing more than the safety features, which makes the brands track record with the IIHS so impressive, where almost every vehicle in the lineup has scored a Top Safety Pick or better rating.

Efficient with space and comfort

But other aspects of the car are solid too. Take the new engine, for example, a newly minted 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer, that has a lot in common with the 2.0-liter engine found in the Crosstrek and Impreza. It makes 12 more horsepower and 2 more lb-ft of torque than the outgoing 2.5 and the total figure of 182 horsepower means that the Forester looks pretty comparable to its closest rivals in that sense. The new transmission has some say in allowing the Forester to be more responsive and fuel friendly, with a wider spread of ratios. Finally, Subaru has improved the engine thermal management system of the car, which will bring the engine up to temperature much quicker, which will again provide benefits in both comfort and efficiency.

Another interesting tweak has been added to the Foresters climate control system which can use the airbag sensors to determine whether passengers are on board. If the front passenger and rear passenger spots are empty, the climate control system won’t provide conditioning to those areas, which improves efficiency.

The rest of the cabin has been designed with more comfort in mind. It’s designed without too much flair or drama, looking more like the Crosstrek but with better materials and seats. There are more padded soft-touch materials found at key touch points like where knees and elbows would bang plastic panels, which means the Forester would be more comfortable when cruising with your hands out the window.

Rear Window into the Passenger and Cargo Area

In the rear, there’s more foot room, which makes getting in and out of the vehicle easier, while the rear seat pockets have been redesigned to better suit the needs of passengers in the year 2018. There are special cutouts in the pocket so that it’ll snugly hold a gadget and is easily within reach of the rear USB ports. I’m not as big on the rear seat side sills in the Forester as I was on the Ascent, in the latter vehicle there are two steps to help you reach your roof rack, while the Forester’s step is quite small in comparison. But the Forester gets a similar smart roof rack with helpful tie-down spots.

The cargo area is wide and extremely practical, allowing for a full golf bag to easily fit in it sideways. There’s an abundance of space, with 76.1 cubic feet of storage, and the hatch opens quicker than before thanks to a new strut design.

On the road perfection

The Forester being practical is nothing new, as is the fact that it has fantastic visibility, but what about it being fun to drive? That’s the case here, as the new global platform that underpins the Forester is more rigid, that allows for a more responsive drive. There’s a limited amount of body roll, especially in comparison to the outgoing model, and the automaker mounts the rear stabilizer bar right to the chassis, which helps with on-road feel. Subaru says that the stiff new platform makes the suspension do the work in minimizing the feeling of imperfections on the road, but here in Japan, all the roads are meticulously maintained so I’ll have to test that theory back on our crummy roads in North America.

The steering is light but responsive. It doesn’t feel as heavy as the last model, but it’s definitely tighter feeling, as the car can change directions with ease. The two drive modes don’t change the handling feel of the Forester but will change the throttle response for a somewhat more engaging drive. There’s also a manual mode for the CVT, that allows you to swap between seven pre-set gear ratios.

More than just a mall crawler

But this being a Subaru, people will want to take it off-roading, and we have a lot of evidence to prove that it can handle conditions ten times worse than it’ll be subjected to. Through an off-road course built for mountain bikes, the Forester impressed, and there’s a new X Mode system with two settings: snow/gravel and deep snow/mud. The big difference between the two is that the latter setting also turns off traction control to let the vehicle power through trickier messes. The vehicle also packs down-hill stability control as well, and one of the displays can show you the pitch and yaw of the vehicle when you’re off-roading.

My complaints with the Forester are few, and honestly, I’m much more impressed by what it offers at what will sure to be a competitive price. Seeing how it’s been one of Subarus best selling vehicles of all time, I trust it’ll maintain its place in the lineup in that $22,000 to $40,000 sweet spot.

The Verdict: 2019 Subaru Forester Review

Without a doubt, the Forester is going to be a stand-out in the segment. It’s not only better than it’s ever been but better than anything else out there. It’s hard to fathom why someone shopping in this class wouldn’t buy it, but it’s likely factors like warranty length (where Subaru has just a 3 year, 36,000-mile new car warranty) and dealer location and availability are scaring off some potential customers. Trust in the Forester though, it’s more than worth the switch.

LOVE IT

  • DriverFocus facial recognition
  • Better on road feel
  • Extremely capable off road
  • Practical cargo area

LEAVE IT

  • Sterile interior design
  • Drive modes only affect throttle response
Sami Haj-Assaad
Sami Haj-Assaad

Sami has an unquenchable thirst for car knowledge and has been at AutoGuide for the past six years. He has a degree in journalism and media studies from the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and has won multiple journalism awards from the Automotive Journalist Association of Canada. Sami is also on the jury for the World Car Awards.

More by Sami Haj-Assaad

Comments
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4 of 9 comments
  • BlakeS BlakeS on Aug 02, 2018

    I'm sorry but this supposed review read like a press release from Subaru. With the XT gone, this SUV is of zero intrest

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    • MtnSkier MtnSkier on Aug 27, 2018

      Totally with on the in-bed with Subaru press release as a review. Zero critical thinking, reviewer more interested in pleasing Subaru than giving an unbiased review. Plus, NO XT equals NO Interest!!!

  • Bill Bill on Nov 01, 2018

    The review says one reason not to buy a Forester would be the warranty. Except for Korean manufacturers Subaru's warranty is on par with it's competitors including Honda and Toyota. The review fails to mention Subaru's 5 year, 60,000 mile powertrain warranty which is a major omission.

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