Dennis said:
I was thinking of buying a new Forester. Any owners out there have any
advise. I was also wondering if they are stable in high winds,
especially on the highway by trucks, or do they get pushed around due
to the height of the vehicle. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks,
After about 2 months and 4500 miles, here are my assessments of my Forester:
Seats are too firm. Or maybe my butt's just getting too soft.
Ride is very firm, but I like that. I prefer feeling every crack in the
pavement. It's most beneficial in foul weather, when "feeling" the road is
9/10th of deciding how close you are to overdriving the road conditions. I
get lots of snow in the winter where I live, so this is extremely important
to me. If you have to live with badly broken roads, you might want to look
at something with a softer suspension. Cornering is mediocre, which isn't
too surprising considering the car's relatively narrow tires and tall ride
height. While I like a car that can corner like it's on rails I don't find
many opportunities to exploit that kind of handling in my normal driving
routine, so the so-so cornering isn't a big issue for me. And I'll be glad
for the narrow tires come winter.
Turbo motor goes like stink. I like to use it to pass whenever the
opportunity presents itself. And not only do I pull down 23 mpg on the
highway (74 mph), but I still pull down 22 on my commutes to and from
work -- which is when I like to work out the turbo. Turbo requires premium
gasoline, so if fuel cost is a concern for you you'll want to get a N/A
model. Overall, I'm very happy with the compromise between power and fuel
economy that Subaru has acheived with this engine. (Obviously I'm willing
to spend a bit more at the pump in exchange for more fun on the drive.) One
of the reasons I bought this particular vehicle was the potential for
wringing more power out of the engine with aftermarket mods. But at the
moment, I'm pretty happy with it just as it is. Yes, more power is always
nice (and what an excellent "sleeper" a plain-looking Forester with 300+ hp
would make), but at what cost to fuel economy and engine longevity? Plus I
recently read about something called "boost creep" that can affect these
2.5L turbo motors when you start messing around trying to extract more power
out of them. So for now, I'm enjoying it just as the Subaru engineers
intended. Perhaps at some point down the road -- after I've already gotten
my money's worth out of it -- I'll start hopping up the engine. The STi
safely gets 300 hp out of basically the same engine. I figure I can
probably do the same with mine without too much trouble.
Not as much cargo room inside as it appeared when I was shopping. The first
several-night trip my family took in it completely packed the back of the
car. We have since bought a rooftop carrier for longer trips. I can't
comment on mileage with the rooftop carrier, since the car only wore it
once, from the store home.
Cross winds are felt, but not feared. This is the tallest vehicle I've
owned since my '92 full-size Chevy Blazer. That truck was horrible for *so*
many reasons. It's been all sedans since then. So, yes, it's buffetted
more by cross winds than the sedans I've become accustomed to, but not
enough to bother me.
Brakes are excellent as OEM brakes go. If you decide to upgrade to 17"
wheels, you'll have slim pickings in the tire department. I planned to use
the stock 16" wheels for snow tires and mount summer tires on 17"
aftermarket wheels. But Tirerack shows only two models of tire to choose
from in the 215/55R17 size that would be needed in this application. And
one of them is Goodyear, which I don't buy.
I planned to get an aftermarket "push bar" after buying it. But the only
ones I've found that look like what I was expecting are sold in Australia,
and cost more to ship than to buy. The only thing you can get here in the
US is the funky-looking thing that Subaru sells that clamps right onto the
front of the bumper. Not my style.
Good luck,
- Greg Reed
