cars dot com auto review
hi I'm Joe Weisenfelder with cars.com taking a first look at a
redesigned Subaru Forester
to 2014 this is their small SUV on
this one is a regular 2.5 there's also a new 2.0 XT
which has a turbocharged 2-liter that one has more power up
let's take a look most of our editors agree
that photos don't do this vehicle justice in fact video might not we don't
know what you're saying right now
it's not a bad looking truck on redesigned front and
definitely more modern I don't think it looks as good as the Impreza which was
recently redesigned
and on which this cars loosely based up but it looks pretty good in person
the higher trim levels like this limited give you things like body-colored mares
and the rear spoiler if you get the top Touring trim level you get
side turn signal indicators as well up
roominess good actually a little bit better than the previous one a
and in terms of features they've modernize that in some ways yes it has
tilt/telescoping steering wheel which is good but also
things like and center armrest applied for them back and head restraint which
you don't always get when the redesign it's a good time to stick those things
and
in terms of the interior quality this one is
the Limited trim level second from the top it has leather
pretty nice my center services as usual
if you've ever seen our videos I don't like silver plastic this think great the
same great up but there's
a bit over pattern and texture on part of it that seems pretty good I don't
know why they didn't put that across the board
the optional navigation system pretty small by today's standards
I think that could be better the back seat is really roomie
for vehicle in this class I've got the driver seat all the way back
where I needed to drive and my knees are anywhere near it
of raised a bit but comfortable the center floor appears actually
lower than it used to be which is good for car with all-wheel drive
%uh makes a center seat more usable this being a higher trim level
you also get I refining backseat
goes back one step taking a look at the 2.0 XT
has a more aggressive look more aggressive front and fairly different
grille
it also has these full vent on the front and
this LED running light which is a pretty distinctive
though not as distinctive as they used to be because a lotta cars
have LED running lights now along with the ex tease
sport suspension and stronger front brakes it has
larger wheels 18-inch alloys in place up to 17 inch alloys
that are standard what matters most
in the xy is a new to America to leader
turbocharged direct-injected four-cylinder boxer engine it makes 250
horsepower
258 pound-feet a park versus the regular ones 170 horsepower 173 pound-feet of
torque
that is a nice increase there's a downside though you can only get this
one with
a CVT automatic transmission the regular one
you can get with a six-speed manual or CBT when you get
this for see also get paddle shifters which sounds weird for CBT but there are
six or
8 I different ratios that this allows you to select
no mileage has improved a bit for 2014
in the regular CVT forrester it is as high as 32 miles per gallon on the
highway
up with the manual its 29 on the highway and in this version with all the extra
power
28 on the highway couple other points
%uh the stores and has eyesight thats a lot I've
active safety features bundle together it is an option a
couple things that it does wanted ads these two cameras
appear in pods now i can say they block my vision but they're a little bit
distracting not sure how that's going to go until we drive it
also with the different drive motor comin the XT
and some others active safety features you got a pretty busy steering wheel
I don't mind it but some people might 2014 marks the introduction
of the force's first power liftgate of
works like any others I'm glad to see it but I'm not glad to see that
it's not a whole lotta clarence could be better cargo area remains
nice unusable a new up level feature here
little buttons on the side spring-loaded folding seats
nice to have so are overall 2014 looks really good
we're looking forward to driving it especially this one
the two liter turbocharged direct-injected 2.0 XD
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