The redesigned Forester compact SUV is claimed to be quieter and more responsive than before, but the 2.5-liter flat-four remains the only engine choice for now.
They built up a cult following in the 90s with their (at-the-time) unique drivetrains and utter WRC dominance. They’ve pretty much been coasting since the mid 2000’s on those designs and name recognition, then proceeded to break everything that made their cars “Subaru” trying to chase fuel economy targets that they suck at.
Like. Their first gen Forester got like 25mpg back in 99. Their current Forester 24 years later gets 29-30mpg on a really good day and only makes 15 more crank hp, while cars like Honda makes are getting 35+ in similar form factors while making 200+hp. And that modern Forester’s AWD system is kinda useless because of how awfully the CVT behaves in literally every driving condition. (I should know- I’ve had to deal with both.)
Their entire lineup is heavily mid soccer mom cars that don’t even really do a good job of soccer-momming and only hold a fraction of the real “AWD” capability that their old ones were.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re not “bad” cars. But they’ve been dead to the enthusiast space for years and aren’t coming back.
They built up a cult following in the 90s with their (at-the-time) unique drivetrains and utter WRC dominance. They’ve pretty much been coasting since the mid 2000’s on those designs and name recognition, then proceeded to break everything that made their cars “Subaru” trying to chase fuel economy targets that they suck at.
Like. Their first gen Forester got like 25mpg back in 99. Their current Forester 24 years later gets 29-30mpg on a really good day and only makes 15 more crank hp, while cars like Honda makes are getting 35+ in similar form factors while making 200+hp. And that modern Forester’s AWD system is kinda useless because of how awfully the CVT behaves in literally every driving condition. (I should know- I’ve had to deal with both.)
Their entire lineup is heavily mid soccer mom cars that don’t even really do a good job of soccer-momming and only hold a fraction of the real “AWD” capability that their old ones were.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re not “bad” cars. But they’ve been dead to the enthusiast space for years and aren’t coming back.