New Forester Coming Soon!!

Gidday Biesel

Biesel said:
the xmode that they are demoing there is only on cvt anyway.
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None of the 2.5L donks come with anything BUT a CVT ... Ugh :surprised: :yell::furious::rolleyes: :exclaim:

In fact, downright f'ugly ...

I recall saying that I would never buy anything but a Subaru, unless they did something incredibly stupid such as forcing one to buy their cars with only a CVT being available ...

Never, NEVER, in my wildest nightmares, did I even contemplate for one instant that they would ever do anything as utterly and irredeemably stupid as this!!
 
It seems like they placed all their chips on the XT with the CVT and the Diesel with the manual...

Feels like the 2.0 N/As are targeted at people that would otherwise buy a 2WD wagon from Korea (i.e. built to a price-point). No Subaru enthusiast will seriously consider them...

The 2.5's are the big disappointment. I am not too fussed with the CVT-only option, but I agree with most here that it seems they lost the plot there...

Pedro.
 
I see the new RAV4 is going to cop a 2L as standard engine also. What is the world coming to? Also will have a diesel option.

That 2L boxer engine in the new Imopreza/XV has already shown itself to be a bit of a slug when compared with even 1.8L competitors. It would have to be a real dog in the heavier Forester. Imagine a loaded one with a small trailer on the back.....

I reckon Subaru will lose many of their traditional buyers. More reason to hold on to what I have. It's always been my favourite Forester version anyway. I'm wondering if there will be manuals of anything by the time I replace it.

The one thing I must say about CVT gearboxes is that the only one I've driven (a 2L Lancer) surprised me that it wasn't as bad as I had expected and was at least super smooth. And the Subaru version seems to be getting fairly positive reports. But I just don't want a bloody auto.
 
guzzla said:
I reckon Subaru will lose many of their traditional buyers. More reason to hold on to what I have. It's always been my favourite Forester version anyway. I'm wondering if there will be manuals of anything by the time I replace it.
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I don't reckon, I'm convinced they will loose many of their faithful.

Put it this way, they HAVE lost me as a potential buyer !!! :yell:
Unless they come to their senses & bring back the XT in a 2.5lt & in a manual.

Now here's an idea :idea: Perhaps I can just tell them I'll buy one as a special order :iconwink:
Just supply the vehicle with no engine & no gearbox. I'll supply my own :eviltoyou:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Gidday Guzzla

guzzla said:
That 2L boxer engine in the new Imopreza/XV has already shown itself to be a bit of a slug when compared with even 1.8L competitors. It would have to be a real dog in the heavier Forester. Imagine a loaded one with a small trailer on the back.....
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Maybe the marketing people don't know the difference between Kw (the ever present headline figure ... ) and torque and the shape of the torque curve (the specs that really, REALLY matter ... )


I reckon Subaru will lose many of their traditional buyers.
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I don't think that the marketing people even start to understand the major reasons most people buy Subaru, instead of something else. IMHO, it is the engineering excellence, safety, and the all-road ability of these vehicles - in Oz, if not elsewhere. Look at how quickly they dropped the 2WD versions. My 1993 model Impreza was about the last model available in any form as 2WD - IIRC.

More reason to hold on to what I have. It's always been my favourite Forester version anyway. I'm wondering if there will be manuals of anything by the time I replace it.
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Me too. Roo2 will most likely be the last car I ever own, assuming it lasts as well as Roo1 did. I am also prepared to spend serious money on Roo2 because it suits me very well. Much as I loved Roo1 for 18 years, in some important ways it didn't ever suit me, so wasn't worth my spending the $5-6K it needed to bring it up to excellent condition once again.

The one thing I must say about CVT gearboxes is that the only one I've driven (a 2L Lancer) surprised me that it wasn't as bad as I had expected and was at least super smooth. And the Subaru version seems to be getting fairly positive reports. But I just don't want a bloody auto.
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Me either :exclaim:

SWMBO loves her auto gearbox, and the one in RonnyRoo seems to be excellent (the sports shift; not the lineartronic CVT ... ). If I were ever forced to have an automatic, it is the sort I would choose. BUT I don't even like her SH as much as my SG ...

May that situation never arise for me.
 
It has been interesting watching this develop and seeing what the new Foz is set to be.....

In the UK today, you can't buy any turbo forester. We used to have the option of a 2litre turbo and a 2.5 turbo. These were only available up until 2008. We have never even had the option of a 2.5 non turbo in a forester, although you get it in the Legacy (liberty)/ outback. I think the reason for stopping them was due to the high road tax bracket were in, which probably put some buyers off.

We have an annual road tax, which used to be a fixed rate for cars. Then it was split by engine size and then they linked it to the Co2 emmisons of the car. These are the current tax costs for foresters

A 2005 Foz 2 litre non turbo = £270/ year
A 2005 Foz 2.5 Turbo = £460/year

2011 2 litre Foz = £195/ year
2012 diesel Foz = £170/ year

Just thought that although the UK is a small market for Subaru, I expect the rest of Europe probably has similar taxing, which may be some of the driver behind the change with the 2.5 turbo.....
 
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So you have to pay more tax because of Co2 emissions so no 2.5 litre- what a joke. However I think ORS rules say we cannot go any further in this direction so I cannot say what I would want to. Which explains another scenario. It seems that as a result of this tax regime, perhaps we too are suffering.
 
That was just my take on it and thought it could play some part in Subarus thinking.

We do still have the 2.5 sti Impreza, 2.5 non turbo legacy and outback in the current line up.

Still gutted about the dual range, as although it would be some time before I could afford a new one, that is one thing I use a lot getting around farms for work.

( thought I should just clarify the tax, probably similar everywhere... Or not ... The tax is meant to go on roads etc and they wanted to target the biggest polluters via the change we had a few years ago. Commercial vehicles are exempt at a flat rate of about £220/ year, so vans, single, double cab pickups ( even if not used commercially). So the pickup market has done pretty well out of it.)
 
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I too will be keeping my '08 as long as it is willing and re engineering it as needed at no financial gain to subaru.

Dark days.
 
So will I with my '97 SF, and when it'll die, I'll buy another SF for peanuts and put all the goodies I have in the "new" one !
 
jf1sf5 said:
So will I with my '97 SF, and when it'll die, I'll buy another SF for peanuts and put all the goodies I have in the "new" one !
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It certainly is looking that way, I'm considering the same. There is still nothing (made by Subaru or anyone else) that ticks all my boxes.

a) I love the SF (and SG) size & body shape.
b) I love the SF kerb weight of 1430kg.
d) I love the power & torque (2.0T with 3" dump straight off the turbo) - it pulls up steep inclines at 1100rpm.
e) I still get 9-10L/100km with about 160-170kw available.

On the freeway I feel like I'm driving a Cayenne but off-road so far it has been unstoppable.

I don't need more weight with more power - what's the point? They just cancel each other out.

The dynamics have also changed. With my car's average clearance of 235mm my roofline is still lower than SH and SJ models which equates to a lower centre of gravity which helps with on-road sportiness and off-road rollover prevention.

The only good attribute on the SJs is the fuel consumption figures.
 
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guzzla said:
What about roomier, quieter, better riding, smoother, better equiped?
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Everyone has different demands of what they want from a car, for me I don't need more room and noise has never been an issue for me.

These other attributes (better riding, smoother) are subjective and haven't been proven until somone actually drives one.

I'm not having a dig at the SJ, I am just saying it doesn't suit my needs.

Interestingly, with most people here having vastly different needs and requirements to each other there still haven't been many people saying it is perfect for them.
 
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guzzla said:
What about roomier, quieter, better riding, smoother, better equiped?
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Better equipped, smoother ride, quieter...great :biggrin:

Roomier means bigger though...quite a bit bigger. Longer, wider & worst of all, taller. Bigger means heavier with a higher centre of gravity, partially negating one of Subaru's greatest acievments...its ultra low COG which gives it such great onroad handling, even for a SUV. The SH is big enough...too big for me. But the new Foz is a behemoth... & with a smaller engine! Why not just get a landcruiser :shake::puke:
 
Missus emailed me this, saw this on the way to work this morning.
 

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That's what I loved with the SF/SG... smaller than typical SUVs, bigger and more capable than cars. The perfect match for the outdoors-loving, city-residing person that I am :) They've lost that with the SH and up. It's not a crossover anymore... it's a boring SUV just like every other on the market. Sure, it has its little things that differ... but it's not unique like the SF/SH were.

From the current Subaru lineup... the XV would probably be the closest to what got me to buy a Forester.
 
Xmode video

Just found this video of the new Foz.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5NuGequOgM&sns=em"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5NuGequOgM&sns=em[/ame]
 
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