- The chord dangling from the front like a limp richard is the chord for the block heater, in case you're wondering.

Automotive Impressions: Subaru Forester XT

Taking my car in for its protective coating and this is the rental they gave me. After a day and a night of driving, this is what I think of it

3y ago
6K

I didn’t like it.

That first line got you interested? Good, I’ll continue.

My story begins not with the Subaru Forester but with my recently purchased, used 2017 BRZ. I was bringing it to the dealership so that it could receive its paint and rust protection coatings and it had to stay overnight. Since this was a condition of my purchasing the car, the dealership provided a courtesy vehicle, which is how we arrive at the Forester; although, I had been hoping for a Legacy or an Impreza instead.

In stark contrast to my Crystal Black Silica BRZ, this brand new Forester XT was Crystal White Pearl. I don’t care what fancy name you give white paint, it’s probably the most boring colour choice at the moment. Half the cars I see in the parking lot are white. Even the beige colours that were popular in the 90s and 2000s seem less boring now. Rather embarrassingly, my previous car was white too, but I digress.

It looks smaller on the outside than it feels to drive.

It looks smaller on the outside than it feels to drive.

After storing my briefcase and lunch kit in the back seat, I and the service representative walked around the vehicle checking for dents and paint chips. Found a particularly big one on the passenger side rear door. Once that was done, and I signed my name a few more times, I was handed the key, and that’s where my disappointment with this vehicle begins.

If you had a car from the late 90s or early 2000s, might have had something similar to the key I was handed. It is a physical key rather than a keyless fob, which is a bit surprising considering the XT is otherwise pretty well loaded with gadgets. I can’t even remember the last time I had to turn a key to start a vehicle. That wasn’t really what bothered me though, because once the key is in the ignition and the vehicle is running, its forgotten. The real problem comes when you try to operate the buttons.

There are three buttons on the key, no, not on a seperate, easy to handle fob, they are on the physical key itself and they are tiny. Pushing them wasn’t such a big issue for me since I have fingers like cocktail sticks, but for someone like my father with thick, calloused fingers from years of hard physical work and playing guitar, he would get quite frustrated. Worse though, was the big metal part of the key that goes into the ignition. It seemed to get in the way every time I tried to operate the buttons. The whole thing just felt clumsy in my hand.

Wow, two big paragraphs just on the key and I haven’t even driven it yet. Well there are still a few more things to cover before we get that far.

As soon as I put the key in the ignition, I nearly became deaf. The previous user had cranked the stereo up so high it nearly blew out the windows and my poor eardrums. From there I had to figure out the climate controls, which wasn’t difficult. The dials are nice and big and have little studs on them that give you plenty of confident grip. This is in shocking contrast to the volume knob for the entertainment system which seems tiny and is so smooth that my fingers would slip across its surface when I tried to operate it. That all sorted, I plugged in my iPod Classic (yeah, I still have one of those), and gently eased out of the parking space.

The gauges and steering controls are pretty easy to use. I never used the shift paddles though. Never saw any point

The gauges and steering controls are pretty easy to use. I never used the shift paddles though. Never saw any point

The steering felt pretty light and numb, what one probably expects from an SUV, but coming right out of my BRZ it was something I had to adjust to, and most people wouldn’t want weighty steering at low speeds in a parking lot anyway.

Driving out onto the road I hit the gas and got a decent bit of acceleration out of the Forester. It seemed even faster in a straight line than my BRZ, at least in a city traffic situation, but during my time with it I sometimes found that the acceleration didn’t always come as immediately as I’d like, nor with as much urgency as I’d like. Despite all the power it had, fifty more than my BRZ, I didn’t feel like I could count on having it when I needed it.

As I went from the dealership to pick something up on the way home, the Forester’s infotainment system and my iPod had some kind of disagreement. My trusty old Classic must have lost the argument because it stopped playing music and when I tired to operate it directly (I was pulled over for this part of course) it wouldn’t even turn on. I tried plugging it in and out again but nothing happened, and so I had to rely on the radio to entertain me and that meant changing the previous owners preset radio stations to my own. Unfortunately, the tracking controls are on the passenger’s side of the screen, so I had to really reach over to operate them. This was clearly an operation meant to be done while stopped or by the passenger.

By the time the Forester was configured more to my liking, I had gotten used to driving it, with a mix of stop and go traffic and in-city highway driving. Frankly, I found it drove like a much bigger vehicle, more akin to my parent’s 1st gen Buick Enclave than a compact SUV, but the upside was that it rode like such a large vehicle too. This thing floated over bumps like an old Cadillac. I started to wonder if it was painted white because it was actually a cloud with wheels. Throughout my entire time with the Forester the suspension smoothed out the bumps and steps in the road (of which there are a great many in my city during construction season), and I thought it was the smoothest riding vehicle I’d ever driven or ridden in. Unfortunately, during all this driving was when I found out another thing I didn’t like about the Forester.

The kink in the floor mat helps you see the little bit sticking out of the middle that always got in the way of my foot.

The kink in the floor mat helps you see the little bit sticking out of the middle that always got in the way of my foot.

One of the most difficult things I wrestled with while driving this little SUV that felt like a bigger SUV, was the ergonomics. I couldn’t figure out where or how to place my feet. The footrest for my left foot just didn’t seem to work. I could put my foot there but it didn’t seem to have enough room to rest flat and I have average sized feet. Worse though, was my right foot, which seemed to have no place of its own at all. When my foot was on the gas it was fine, but once on the highway and I could let my foot rest, this odd bulge coming out of the centre, almost like a bell housing, took the place of where my foot naturally wanted to rest, forcing it left and making me sit slightly skewed. I tried adjusting my seat position to mitigate these issues but they didn’t work.

After having the Forester overnight, driving it to work the next morning and then driving it back to the dealership to pick up my BRZ, I felt I had spent enough time with the Forester to say, without question, that I didn’t want one. Does that mean the Forester is bad? No, it just isn’t for me. As long as you are not affected by the disagreeable ergonomics and you aren’t doing anything more arduous than a kayaking trip, it should be fine. If you were looking for AWD and a smooth ride, I’d definitely mention it to you.

Join In

Comments (3)

  • Welcome to Drivetribe William!

      3 years ago
    • Thank you very much. I look forward to having much fun and many interactions on DRIVETRIBE

        3 years ago
  • They killed the xt after 2009 it became a soft lil bitch. My 04 xt even if I blew it up once and am rebuilding it now is absolutely a blast. 350hp with light mods and tunes, sits higher than a jeep lifted. It's all about smiles per gallon #gititgarage

      2 years ago
3