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I’m interested in the Forester XE Premium. There are aspects of the Sport that I like, but black wheels are not for me.
I’m interested in the Forester XE Premium. There are aspects of the Sport that I like, but black wheels are not for me.
I’m with you there. The black wheels on the Sport do look a bit weird. I saw a Sport when I went to the showroom last week and the red flashes on the roof bars, down the side of the car and across the front just look a bit cheap. They give the car a bit of a ‘Toys-R-Us’ look, if that makes sense?
I also like the sunroof and the extra fuel economy that you get with the XE Premium compared to the standard XE or the Sport.
I think Subaru have done much better with the 2025 Sport when that comes along. The bronze trim looks far better than the lipstick on the current Sport
I gave this a watch today, a couple of years old now, and originally for the Australian market by the sound of it, but an interesting take on things ….
I gave this a watch today, a couple of years old now, and originally for the Australian market by the sound of it, but an interesting take on things …. https://youtu.be/1zakxy_BnWE?si=TDM6uoSkkGku5Wp4
Interesting review and nice to see the comparisons. I looked at the Suburu at the dealers and liked what I saw too. The only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of height clearance in the boot. (79.5cm)
I will go and have a look at the new KGM Torres when it finally arrives at the dealers (They told me it was going to be in the showroom on 1st March) and if that looks better than the Forester then I might wait until the summer, just to see if it makes an appearance on Motability.
Really do like the Subaru Forester XE Premium in Horizon Blue Pearl. Hopefully this week we see them go live, and we can think about putting some time in on the car.
Motability must be about to pull the trigger on Subaru going live, as this dealer in North Wales has now published pricing on its website ….
My local Suburu dealer must have been tipped the wink about it too, as they rang me today after my visit and enquiry there last week, to ask if I would like to go for a test drive in the Forester. Going on Friday so I’ll let you know how it goes.
The KGM Torres is another vehicle I will be looking at next week but there’s no guarantee that vehicle will even make it onto Motability so if the Forester is good I may just go for one of them anyway.
I would order a Forester today if it came on the scheme. Especially as Renault seem to have lost my car at the port. I kid you not.
Current: MY24 Renault Austral Iconic FHD. AP £3,995 +£570 for hoist.
Previous Motability cars:
2013 Ford Focus estate petrol auto.
2016 Vauxhal Zafira 1.4T petrol SE Auto.
2019 Ford Kuga Vignale 1.5 petrol auto AWD.The 6th gen Impreza has made its way to more European countries this year including Germany and likely to make its way here.
I’d love another one now Ive matured a little. However at 134bhp I don’t think I’ll bother even looking ?
i nearly bought a forrester about 9 years ago. was a nice motor but expensive to run. ended up with a top of range biggish skoda estate[forgot name]. that was a lovely car too. trouble is subaru are not close, nor are skoda or most dealers now. kia is very close so may consider them.
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoisti nearly bought a forrester about 9 years ago. was a nice motor but expensive to run. ended up with a top of range biggish skoda estate[forgot name]. that was a lovely car too. trouble is subaru are not close, nor are skoda or most dealers now. kia is very close so may consider them.
340hp STI SG9 import 6 speed all yours for £17k
Yup!
To be honest I keep looking at it thinking I really want that ?
It on a 23 plate but, from memory its built around 20yrs ago!
You can view it on Autotrader.
That’s the issue though, they are fundamentally old cars, and at some point will give issues, and when they do, then what is the parts situation. Plus, unless you can read Japanese, you’ll never make head nor tail of the service history ?
Could be worse though Kezo.
Many years ago a more able version of me ran an Opel Manta GTE Coupe. I loved it but the ‘400’ version was the holy grail at the time.
Check this out ? ….
If they are genuine irmsher wheel arches, less than 100 were built and not many 400’s were built anyway. That said it was outpaced by the likes of the 4WD Audi Quattro. Saddly Group B no longer, shame really!
£80k Ouch.
Exciting day for Willis, getting some time with the Foz.
A little more info on their AWD system …
https://youtu.be/YIY392Qtu0I?si=FOqIVlqhnt6BJQqx
Give us your thoughts on it later fella. ?
So Willis, how did you get on with the Forester ?
It was good, but not as good as I really wanted it to be.
I was quite surprised when I got to the garage, as I had expected a shortish test drive, with the sales guy to come with me, so while we were doing a bit of paperwork and taking a pic of my driving licence, I asked if it would be possible to go down the gravel lane to where I live, just to try the vehicle off tarmac. The salesman passed me the keys and said I could take it where I liked as long as I was back by five now I had been added to the insurance! I’ve never had this before so was a bit surprised but it was really nice being able to really test the vehicle properly. As it was, I felt two hours told me more than enough so I got back to the garage about 1pm.
The car didn’t have quite the same ‘presence’ that the Torres did from the day before, although the interior seems a bit better made, with everything looking like it has been made to cope with real life just that bit better. I guess it just felt a bit more durable. The driving position was great and the massive sunroof made the cabin so light, especially compared to the Torres, although the drivers view wasn’t quite as good, especially when going around an island as the A post seems to be in exactly the wrong position.
The steering felt really light (maybe just because I am used to a Ford Galaxy which pretends it’s a tank) but the throttle felt a little unresponsive, especially at slower speeds, but the two most annoying parts of the whole test drive were a very annoying lane assist system that kept trying to put me back into the exact centre of my side of the road, even when I was trying to pass parked vehicles and an even more annoying collision brake system that kept causing a juddering braking effect when any other vehicle passed me too closely from the opposite direction! I’m sure I could have found a button somewhere to turn both things off, but as I was only test driving I left them on but also think they need to be less sensitive.
I was a little disappointed to find that the boot height was only 79cm (Exactly the same as the Torres weirdly) but the boot does seem big, especially when the back seats are down.
Over a very loose, rutted and uneven driveway, the vehicle had no issues with traction and also seemed to even the ride out and take away the normal sway felt but I didn’t really think it was a proper test of the car. so I took it further into the farm and crossed a wet grassy field but for all I noticed it could have been on tarmac. I even gave it a bit of steering wheel jerk as I was halfway across the field but the back end refused to slide around.
In summary, I liked the Forester and would be happy to have one if there was nothing better, but for now I’m going to hang on and see if anything else becomes available over the next three months.
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