So, today was the day to get up close and personal with the oriental offering.
The demonstrator was a Forester Sport which we were fine with as its the same mechanically as the spec we’re interested in.
The car was well fuelled and I’d arranged to have it out for a while. So we opted to take it on a run from Congleton to Castleton and back, and I’ve got to tell you I couldn’t have picked a better road to put the AWD machine through its paces. It had plenty of rises, falls, and twisty bits.
Jumping into it I was glad to see that the start button is on the right, as is the cruise control, so very intuitive for right handers like me. Lots of adjustment on the driving position. Mirrors fold in very tight to the body I noticed.
My wife is only 4’10” but found it very easy to get into and get a good seat position, with plenty of room around her.
Some don’t like the Forester dash, feeling its a bit busy. Personally I do like it, it would just take a little getting used to like any new car.
I’m not going to try and have anyone believe it is a perfect car, I don’t think such a thing exists. I think every car will have “individualities” and this is no different.
I found that some of the terminology that the on board sat nav used could be a little misleading if one eye isn’t kept on the screen too. But there is the option of USB connection to use other navs from a mobile if that’s your thing.
The car was bleeping at me quite a lot, but time spent with it to set it up to my preferences would improve that.
The engine bay could benefit from a little better sound insulation, but if you like to hear an engine working then it may suit you.
Hitting the road from cold I didn’t expect any decent mpg, especially given the particular route I chose, and sure enough early on it was at 20mpg. That said it’s the same on our XC40 from cold so I’m very used to that. Official figure on the Forester is 34.7mpg, so I was curious as to whether it would get anywhere near it. Short answer Yes, and quite often bettered it. So for an SUV of its size with an AWD system, and a 2 litre petrol engine, I wasn’t unhappy with that at all.
The visibility in the car is fantastic given the size of the pillars and glass panels, and the tinted rear privacy glass is surprisingly bright when looking from the inside out.
I loved the S/I drive which gives you the option of changing the torque curve, and was really useful on the route I chose. I also really like the adaptive cruise. The heated steering wheel was toasty warm and would be a joy in the winter, or even just to sooth arthritic hands like mine.
On the drive I approached a bend where I could see that the tarmac surface had been degrading. I kept my foot in and let the car do its thing with power distribution through the AWD system, and whilst it was a touch lumpy given what I was driving over, it stuck to the road like 💩 to a blanket👌.
Both I and my wife were very comfortable in the car over the couple of hours we were in it, the heaters in the seats were good but positioned more in the seat pad, whereas the Volvo has them in the lower back area which is a touch better in our opinion.
So almost 5 years on from starting to campaign for Subaru’s return to the scheme, it felt a little surreal, but we added the low cargo mat and shaped splash guards to the car, and the mats will go in courtesy of the dealer. We agreed a deal and placed the order.
We opted for an XE Premium in Horizon Blue Pearl.
