Has Subaru finally nailed the perfect SUV? After a few minor mechanical tweaks and some styling changes, the 2022 Subaru Forester adds some kit that was missing the first time around. Is it any good? Paul Maric gives you a detailed review so you can see for yourself.
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Subaru content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/subaru
More Subaru Forester content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/subaru/forester
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:46
Interior 03:14
Infotainment 04:51
Safety Tech 06:52
Practicality 07:51
On the Road 12:16
0-100 km/h 15:25
Verdict 16:59
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#subaru #forester #review
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Subaru content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/subaru
More Subaru Forester content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/subaru/forester
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:46
Interior 03:14
Infotainment 04:51
Safety Tech 06:52
Practicality 07:51
On the Road 12:16
0-100 km/h 15:25
Verdict 16:59
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#subaru #forester #review
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. So the last time we drove the Subaru Forester, I didn't really like it all that much.
00:04 It was the hybrid model, but they've just updated it. And this is the non-hybrid model,
00:09 which I think I'm going to like a whole lot better.
00:10 This is the top specification non-hybrid Subaru Forester. And today we're going to do a detailed review of it.
00:17 This one here is priced at just under $45,000,
00:20 but if that's a bit too much, the whole range kicks off at a little over $35,000.
00:24 This competes with things like the Toyota RAV4, the Hyundai Tucson, the Kia Sportage,
00:29 you have a lot of competitors to pick from there.
00:32 If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review,
00:34 you can use the time codes up on the screen there, or if you're on YouTube,
00:37 just scroll down and use the chapters below.
00:39 And if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon.
00:42 That way you're going to find out every single time we drive updated cars.
00:45 Now let's talk about the exterior. So you've got nine external colors to pick from, and here's something fun.
00:50 They're all free of charge, so you can pick whichever color you want, and they're not going to sting you any extra for it.
00:55 So I mentioned that this is the update. It really is just a bit of a minor facelift,
00:59 but generally with Subaru, when they do facelifts, they tend to kind of pull and prod at it,
01:04 and you can see there, the headlight cluster in this bottom section looks very different to the previous Forester.
01:10 But it does mean that you get this sort of standard black grille here with the piano black elements down the bottom,
01:15 and then an intake there for cooling. Big Subaru logo just there. And I like this finish down the bottom.
01:20 It's kind of a 3D textured finish, which splits it apart from this top section.
01:24 It gives it a bit of a rugged sort of adventurer vibe, which is what you want from your Subaru.
01:29 Over here at the headlights, you've got full LED headlights with an LED daytime running light.
01:34 Fog lamps down the bottom there. A little bit of a chrome garnish.
01:37 Come around to the side, here you've got your 18-inch alloy wheels.
01:41 So it's got that diamond cut finish on the outside, and then the piano black finish on the inside.
01:46 The 18-inch alloy wheels are pretty modest here on the top spec, given that some of the cars in this segment are now going 19 and even 20 inches.
01:53 So it does mean you get a bit more profile there on the rubber.
01:56 They've done some work to the ride, also the engine mounts as well.
01:59 So I'll be keen to see how that actually transforms this car out on the road.
02:03 The last one that we drove was a hybrid, and I wasn't really all that impressed with it.
02:07 Let's hope that this one is slightly better.
02:09 Cladding there, because off-road you've got 220mm of ground clearance, which is fairly big for this segment.
02:15 A lot of the time they're under 200mm.
02:17 So you could in theory do a bit of light off-roading, but if you are doing anything more serious,
02:22 you're going to want some meatier tyres than these sort of highway terrain tyres.
02:25 Up the top here, you've got this sort of satin finish on the wing mirror there with the indicator built in.
02:30 Chrome elements around the doors.
02:32 You've got roof rails, a sunroof tucked into there, privacy glass, and then come around to the back.
02:37 Now around the back here, it's not LED taillights.
02:39 Look at this, you've got incandescent globes in there.
02:42 I think we're at the point now where we can well and truly be using LED across the entire car.
02:48 Incandescent globes require replacing more often, and I think it's just better to just get rid of them and go LED altogether.
02:54 Forester down the bottom there, and then you've got Subaru and all-wheel drive.
02:58 Bit strange given the whole range is all-wheel drive, but it's there to remind you just in case you forget.
03:02 Got a shark fin aerial there, and then a little spoiler built into the rear.
03:07 What do you reckon about the design?
03:08 Do you think they've given it a modest enough update, or do you think something a little extra was required?
03:13 Let me know what you think down there.
03:14 We're inside the Forester.
03:15 Let's start off with the key.
03:17 So you have lock, unlock, it's the Subaru button, boot, and then on the back it is blank.
03:23 A little bit of garnish on the side.
03:24 It's a proximity sensing key, so you leave that in your pocket.
03:27 Once you're inside, you've got a push button start.
03:29 Now, what about your design?
03:31 Look, I think that given this is an update, it would have been a really good opportunity to introduce the big screen out of the Outback.
03:38 I think that looks really cool in the centre there.
03:40 Instead, they've stuck with this 8-inch screen now across the range.
03:43 So I think they could have gone to a little bit more effort there.
03:46 The other thing that kind of concerns me longer term as well, if you look at the new Kia Sportage, the new Hyundai Tucson,
03:52 look at those big wraparound screens.
03:54 Here, we've just got the 8-inch screen, this screen up the top, and then a small screen ahead of the driver.
03:58 So they've kind of kept with that old-school, traditional look as opposed to going to something new,
04:03 which I guess is fine.
04:04 It suits their buyers, but just something to keep in mind.
04:07 Outside of that, though, I really like the materials they've used around the cabin.
04:10 So everything around here is soft or rubbery, and it means that if you are going for longer distance drives,
04:16 you can rest your legs and knees on these surfaces,
04:19 and they just give you a bit more comfort while you're out on the road.
04:22 So big bonus on that side.
04:23 Turn to your touch points.
04:25 Really nice and soft there in the centre, and soft on the door as well.
04:29 How soft are they?
04:30 Well, we've got our durometer.
04:31 We've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
04:34 If you want to see how this car compares to others that we've tested before, look at the link in the description.
04:39 What about build quality?
04:40 That feels really good.
04:42 Very nice and solid.
04:45 And finally, the door test.
04:47 [door opening and closing]
04:49 Yeah, it sounds really nice and solid as well.
04:51 Okay, let's talk about the infotainment system.
04:53 So 8-inch colour touchscreen.
04:56 You have shortcut buttons down the bottom as well.
04:59 It is joined by another screen up the top there and one ahead of the driver,
05:02 but I'll run you through those two separately.
05:04 Built into the infotainment system is native navigation, so it's a TomTom system.
05:09 It is a little bit laggy.
05:10 You can see there as I'm sort of moving around, it takes a little bit of time to catch up to what I'm doing.
05:15 And then on the radio front, you have AM, FM and DAB+ digital radio.
05:20 This particular spec has an 8-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.
05:23 Pretty decent sound system, so if you are into your sound,
05:27 you will need to go for the top specification that gets that sound system.
05:30 You do also have smartphone mirroring built in, both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
05:35 They're both wired.
05:35 I'll show you what Apple CarPlay looks like.
05:38 There it is.
05:38 So, tiny bit laggy as it sort of moves through those screens,
05:42 but it does take up the full screen there and it looks pretty good.
05:45 You also have voice recognition that works both with the native infotainment system
05:49 and also when your phone is paired.
05:51 And this is what Android Auto looks like.
05:53 Let me click there.
05:54 So, full screen integration again, but same story with Apple CarPlay.
05:58 It's just a tiny bit laggy as you try and go up and down there,
06:01 but look, it really isn't the end of the world.
06:03 Now, the screen up the top there, it serves a couple of purposes.
06:06 So, using this button here on the steering wheel,
06:08 you can actually go through all of the different menus to see your fuel economy,
06:12 trip computer, you can do a clock.
06:13 There's some off-road settings and also safety settings up there as well.
06:18 But when you are driving, it'll act as a reverse camera in addition to the side view camera.
06:24 So, pushing the side view brings that up and I'll run through a bit more detail on that
06:28 when we talk about our parking section.
06:30 And just above that is actually a set of cameras that can look at your face,
06:34 recognize who you are and then apply your car settings.
06:37 Or alternatively, it can also act as a driver attention warning as well.
06:41 So, pretty intelligent setup and the screen is easy enough to see from the driver's side.
06:45 Finally, there is a screen here ahead of the driver,
06:47 which is just for your basic trip computer information.
06:50 Now, let's talk safety.
06:51 There's actually a pretty comprehensive safety suite here
06:54 and it's all driven by the Subaru EyeSight system.
06:57 So, it's a set of cameras up the top there.
06:58 That means you get autonomous emergency braking in the forward direction.
07:03 You also get it in reverse.
07:04 You have lane departure warning and a lane keeping assistant.
07:07 In addition to that, you have radar cruise control, blind spot monitoring
07:11 using that little thing there on the mirror,
07:13 rear cross traffic alert and all of the airbags inside the cabin that you'd expect.
07:18 On the parking front, it's a little bit curious.
07:20 You have a whole stack of cameras here, but not really a 360 camera.
07:24 And you get rear parking sensors, but not front parking sensors.
07:26 So, I'll show you what it looks like.
07:27 You press this button once and it brings up this view up the top.
07:31 So, you can see out the front there and also the side view, which is good for parking.
07:34 One more push of that brings up a wide view version of the front camera.
07:39 And then when you put it into reverse, you get this camera here.
07:42 So, quality is pretty decent and you're able to clearly see what's going on
07:46 behind the car there with those lines included as well.
07:48 Moving on to practicality and we'll start with your connectivity options.
07:52 So, you've got two USB-A ports down here, 2.1 amps, so decent amount for charging.
07:57 An auxiliary outlet, a 12 volt and then in here you have a 12 volt outlet as well.
08:02 Where are you going to put your phone?
08:03 Well, phone can live down the front here, although it's a bit of a squeeze.
08:07 Not designed for big phones.
08:09 Or you can pop your phone in the cup holder there or in that little section,
08:14 but kind of a bit wonky in there.
08:16 A coffee cup.
08:16 Now, it's interesting because you put that in, but it catches on the sides there
08:20 and it's a little bit tricky to grab while you're driving.
08:23 So, I've used the key to prop it up a little bit.
08:25 So, keep that in mind if you like little coffee cups.
08:27 Water bottle fits into there easily.
08:30 You've got teeth on the side that hold it in.
08:32 And then bottle storage inside the door for the little bottle.
08:35 Let's try our big bottle.
08:37 Let's see how that goes.
08:38 Oh, it's so heavy.
08:39 Sort of fits in there.
08:42 I don't know if that's just going to fall out.
08:44 So, I would tread cautiously with that.
08:48 In terms of your other storage, you've got this little slot back here.
08:51 The centre console has a coin tray and then it's pretty decent sized as well.
08:56 And then we have a glove box, reasonably sized there.
09:01 Manual takes up most of that though and there's a little button there to set your tyre pressures
09:05 if you change them.
09:06 And finally, you have a sunglasses holder up the top.
09:09 And finally, comfort.
09:10 You have dual zone automatic climate control.
09:13 And look at this, you finally have heated seats.
09:16 For some reason, when the Forester first launched in Australia,
09:18 it didn't have heated seats.
09:19 They've gone with the top spec model, so I'm glad they've figured out how to integrate that,
09:23 which is good news.
09:24 The seats are very comfortable.
09:25 They just hug you in so nicely.
09:27 They're quite soft as well.
09:28 So, really good place to be seated for a long distance drive.
09:32 Both the driver and front passenger offer eight-way power adjustment.
09:35 So, it's forwards, backwards, backrest forwards, backwards,
09:37 and then you can lift the base of the seat as well, plus memory on the driver's side.
09:43 And the steering.
09:43 So, it offers both tilt and reach adjustment.
09:47 And on our reach test, all of this is easy to grab onto while you're driving.
09:51 Now, before I show you how much room we have back here, have a look at this.
09:54 I like the fact that the door has pretty much a 90-degree opening.
09:58 It means getting kids inside and baby seats and all that stuff is made much easier.
10:03 Once you are inside, though, there is heaps of room here.
10:05 So, my seat's pretty far back, but I've got loads of knee room.
10:08 Toe room's excellent and headroom is reasonable.
10:11 It kind of cuts into it a little bit there, and that's partly due to this
10:14 roof that comes back.
10:15 You can see that sort of eats into your headspace a little bit, but it's not too bad.
10:20 Other creature comforts you've got back here, you've got mat pockets,
10:22 well, two tiers of mat pockets, air vents, two sets of 2.1 amp USB-A chargers.
10:29 In the centre here, you've got an armrest with two cup holders.
10:32 Bottle fits in there nicely.
10:34 You've got rubber teeth as well.
10:35 Bottle storage inside the door, too.
10:37 I don't love the fact you have to assemble your own seatbelt here for the centre.
10:42 I just wish it would be built in like most other cars on the market,
10:45 but anyway, you've got ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats with three top tether points.
10:50 Now, what about your cargo space?
10:51 Given how big the Forester is, I'm expecting good things under here in terms of usability.
10:57 So, you have a little under 500 litres available just here in this configuration,
11:02 but the good news is under the cargo floor, you get a full-size spare tyre plus this storage as
11:07 well.
11:08 So, really good setup there.
11:10 It is kind of rare in this segment to get a full-size spare.
11:13 Normally, it's a space saver, and if you are doing a lot of country driving,
11:16 a full-size spare really is mandatory.
11:18 So, Hyundai and Kia are the only two others off the top of my head that do that.
11:23 Over on the sides, you've got hooks.
11:24 You've got a 12-volt outlet.
11:26 More hooks over here, but have a look at this one.
11:29 They've stuck one into the boot, so you can actually hang stuff off here if you need to,
11:36 or if the boot's closed, you can attach things to there as well.
11:38 So, I haven't seen that before, and I think that's a pretty cool setup.
11:42 Let's see what it's like with our bags in here.
11:44 I forgot the suitcase, which at least, so here is a standard carry-on-sized bag that
11:51 you would normally take onto the plane, so it shows you that you do have a fair bit of usable
11:55 space there.
11:56 Now, this cargo blind's interesting as well.
11:58 So, instead of just being a standard setup, it actually has a little lip on the front of it here,
12:02 so you can actually hide everything that's in the way there.
12:05 If you do need to drop the second row, you've got these handy switches here,
12:10 and that expands the space to a little under 1800 litres.
12:14 I've just hit the road in the Forester.
12:17 Now, if you did watch our old Forester review, if you haven't seen it, you can click up here,
12:21 it was of the hybrid, and the hybrid just wasn't very good at all.
12:24 This, on the other hand, is very different.
12:25 So, this uses a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine,
12:31 makes 136 kilowatts of power and 239 Newton metres of torque.
12:36 Now, it doesn't sound like much, but it is actually pretty good behind the wheel.
12:40 If you give it a kick, it's got a CVT.
12:42 It picks up and moves pretty quickly.
12:45 The actual car itself is fairly light, and it means that when you are sort of getting
12:49 stuck into the throttle, it doesn't feel all that sort of lacklustre or boring.
12:54 You do also have the ability to go to the Sport mode, which they call SI Drive,
12:57 and that just makes the CVT far perkier, and it means that when you do get stuck into it,
13:02 it's ready to pick up and go with a whole lot more urgency.
13:05 I know that some of you really don't like CVTs, but in the world of CVTs,
13:09 this one's actually pretty good, and it communicates well with this engine.
13:13 It just feels like it has a lot of punch across the rev band.
13:15 And, of course, it's a permanent all-wheel drive, and that's standard
13:18 pretty much across all Subarus except the BRZ and the upcoming new BRZ as well.
13:24 The rest of them are permanent all-wheel drive, and it's all the better for it,
13:27 because a lot of the other cars in this segment are an on-demand all-wheel drive system,
13:32 and those just don't really work that well, because they wait for the front axle to
13:35 slip before they send torque to the rear, whereas here with the Subaru,
13:39 if I give this a punch out of this intersection, there's just no slip at all.
13:44 It just hooks up straight away and gives us the traction that we need,
13:48 and I think that's exactly what you want for surety behind the wheel,
13:51 to make you feel like you're completely in charge of the vehicle.
13:53 Let's talk fuel economy.
13:55 So, official Subaru figure is 7.4 litres per 100km.
13:59 We are currently sitting on 8.1, so not too bad,
14:03 close enough there to the official average.
14:05 Okay, so this is blinding me, I'm going to shut that for a second.
14:08 Pop this into sport mode, we'll see what it's like through a couple of corners here.
14:12 Like it's not a fair bit of body roll, it is just body roll, and you do notice there,
14:19 it's not like the old Forester XT, you remember the turbocharged one that
14:23 Ram was doing tuning to and all that sort of stuff, it doesn't feel like that,
14:26 it sort of feels very much more family-like,
14:29 but it's not the end of the world, because of the all-wheel drive system,
14:31 you really do have enough traction to just keep the foot in through the corner,
14:35 it's not enough power to really sort of get you into trouble.
14:37 So, from that point of view, it's one of those cars that you can drive,
14:41 drive fast, slowly, if you get what I mean.
14:45 So, yeah.
14:46 Now, on your other drive modes, you have X mode down here,
14:50 so you have two modes to choose from here.
14:52 So, you can go over to snow and dirt, or to snow and mud,
14:57 and that will basically just vary what the stability control is doing,
15:00 and the amount of intervention it gives you before it actually
15:02 lets the wheels slip a little bit.
15:04 So, it's good to see that they do actually have that,
15:06 it goes back to their roots of this being kind of an off-road focused car.
15:10 You still do have that sort of 220mm of ground clearance,
15:12 so you can do some very light off-roading,
15:14 but I wouldn't expect to climb Mount Everest or something in this.
15:17 Now, Subaru doesn't have an official 0-100 time,
15:20 but we've put it up against our stopwatch, and this is how it went.
15:23 So, let's talk about the ride.
15:35 So, they did make some changes to the ride here with the 2022 version,
15:39 and the ride was always actually pretty good,
15:41 and I think they've just made it better now as well.
15:43 There's enough meat on those tyres to just soften out the ride.
15:46 It is probably softer than some of the competitors in this segment,
15:49 but that's not such a bad thing.
15:50 It's built for comfort, and then when you do load it with passengers,
15:53 it really just soaks in all the bumps beautifully,
15:56 especially for highway driving and country driving.
15:58 It just feels nice and at home on the freeway.
16:00 It can be a little bit noisy though when you are at highway speeds,
16:03 especially on course chip roads, so keep that in mind.
16:06 I wonder if a lot of that has to do with this roof and it being glass.
16:09 They tend to let in a bit more noise than you would normally expect
16:12 with a car that's sort of fully insulated in the roof as well.
16:15 And visibility.
16:16 So, the commanding driving position here is something that I really like
16:20 about the Forester.
16:21 I can see clearly down the front of the car there,
16:23 and it just feels nice and airy inside the cabin.
16:25 I don't feel too claustrophobic.
16:27 I've got the blind spot monitor built into that wing mirror,
16:31 and then in addition to that, I can hit that view button to bring up the camera
16:34 whenever I need to while I'm driving.
16:35 So, you really do have some great visibility around the car.
16:38 Out the back, it's also excellent.
16:40 The window is huge, so it's easy to see exactly where you're going.
16:43 Turning circle is 10.8 metres.
16:45 It's actually really tight.
16:46 When you go full lock, it kind of turns on a dime.
16:49 It's really impressive the way it spins around.
16:51 The steering's nice and light as well.
16:53 It means parking and low-speed manoeuvres are a piece of cake.
16:56 So, the Subaru Forester.
16:59 It may not be as technologically advanced as some of the other competitors in this segment
17:03 with their big screens and all that sort of stuff,
17:05 but it makes up for it in almost every other way.
17:07 There is heaps of room inside.
17:09 I love the fact that it is a proper permanent all-wheel drive.
17:12 And the engine, yeah, it may not be the punchiest thing in the world,
17:15 and it may not have forced induction,
17:16 but it suits the characteristics of the car,
17:19 and more importantly, the gearbox as well.
17:21 So, if you are looking for an SUV that is a little different
17:24 from the standard competitive set on the market,
17:27 you really should be checking this out.
17:29 I think that Subaru will eventually bring in the big screen that you see in the Outback,
17:33 but in the interim, I think this is a great place to be.
17:35 Let me know in the comments section below, have you bought one?
17:37 What's it been like long-term?
17:40 I always love hearing from you guys on your feedback on these cars,
17:43 so let me know what you think.
17:44 If you did enjoy this video, please make sure you share it with your mates,
17:47 and if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon.
17:50 But until next time, take it easy.