2019 Forester

jf1sf5 said:
The new Subarus have lost their soul. If I had to choose a new car today, it would probably be an old Forester (!) or even maybe the new Jimny...but the Jimny is a bit small for a family of 4 !
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I agree that the Forester has lost its soul but the Suzuki would never be a practical daily drive, at least not in Australia where you need to be able to cover 1000Km in a day's drive on occasions.

The reality is that the Forester will eventually be discontinued. I don't know if anyone has noticed but the Forester has gotten softer and the Outback has begun to look more like an off-roader. I think the two will get closer and closer until one becomes redundant and the Outback will survive while the Forester goes the way of the Brumby/Brat, into extinction. If you don't believe me, compare Scalman's Outback which looks like a Liberty Wagon with a bit of a lift to any Outback after 2012.

North America is the key market for Subaru and it is here that the Outback is the up and coming vehicle. My daughter-in-law is from Denver where her parents still live and she said that if you want to be seen as cool in Colorado, you have to drive a Subaru Outback with ski racks and wear a sheep skin vest.

When Subaru was just a division of Fuji Heavy Industries the cars were tougher and more distinctively different. When vehicle production became so dominant as a revenue stream that Fuji Heavy Industries changed its name to Subaru Corporation in May 2016, the individuality (which had been on the wane since 2008) disappeared and Subaru vehicles started to look like everything else.

People who take Subarus off road in the true sense are a very small minority. You only have to compare the number of lowered Foresters to those that are lifted to realise that most people want a sporty on road wagon that performs well in the snow, not a tough off roader. After market parts for the low brigade are far easier to source than bits for off road. Subaru is in it for the money so it should be no shock that they are shifting to accommodate the tastes of the biggest market.

I would never consider buying a new Forester. I'll keep the one I have until it won't go any more and if I need a better car in the mean time I'll probably buy a Lexus. I won't take the lexus off road - that's where the Forester belongs. When the Forester is dead I'll see what's available.
 
I already have plans to sell my Forester one day, and it won’t be with another Forester. Or Subaru for that matter.
 
I've heard about that, [MENTION=15642]Beachworm[/MENTION]. Some rumours say that the Foresters will eventually be discontinued. I won't be surprised, though. It's is going into the Outback size territory and if we need a bigger SUV, the Ascent is there for their biggest market. The Australian market is a significant one and the Forester doesn't sell that much. The NZ market is an insignificant one but their best-selling model here is surprisingly the Outback. Next is the XV.
 
Interestingly when i was in Singapore, Foresters are everywhere. No offroading in Singapore. You need to go to Malaysia for that. Apparently the Foresters were being sold cheaply buy Subaru. My friends in Singapore said that Singaporeans believe Subaru AWD is a a very safe technology so they got snapped up.
 
It's the same thing here. Subaru sales have gone way up and you will see many newer ones on the road nowadays, especially Outbacks, which are the bestsellers here.
 
Welcome to the forum [MENTION=16128]IsaacKel[/MENTION]!



It has gone down, actually. Now, the brand new ones are cheaper by NZD 5,000 to NZD 8,000. Some are saying that it has to do with more efficient engineering and the Subaru Global Platform.

I think the car fits the lifestyle, as well. We have 70% unpaved roads with lots of low-speed corners and there is still the comfort of having a car-like vehicle while doing some muddy paddock/mountain duties with such ground clearance.
 
New Zealand, the Colorado of the Southern Hemisphere. :ebiggrin:
 
Haha. I hadn't thought of that before but now I think that there is some sort of a visual correlation between Colorado and the South Island alpine localities, where the trails are just too many and are open to the public!
 
I found a video which features the SK but on a less-manicured promo course. This one somehow shows some scraping of the bumper cover because of the relatively low approach angle. It's the Kazakhstan launch but we only want to see how the vehicle behaves. The promo courses in the US and Japan are too easy.

This is nothing compared to our obstacles but they have a bit of mud and minor diagonals for the journalists.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEO3iE8OmB8"]????? Subaru Forester ???? ????? - YouTube[/ame]
 
Rally said:
I already have plans to sell my Forester one day, and it won’t be with another Forester. Or Subaru for that matter.
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Subaru lost me when they ditched the MT.


Even though I drive an AT Honda CRV now, I still like an MT. Maybe I am just too old to change.
 
Kevin said:
Yeah, I am too old to change gears as well :lol:
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I'm starting to think that myself.
Not that you're to old to change gears, I mean that's obvious. :poke::lildevil:

I mean that I'm starting to enjoy the ease not having to worry about gears myself. I'm looking forward to getting the SVX on the road. :ebiggrin:
 
Think I’ll hang on to my L and Brumby for as long as possible.

I must say the SH recently caught my eye on the last trip out bush. I might get into one of those some day...

Cheers

Bennie
 
I still have a soft spot for my old SG 2003 XS Forester, it served me well for 13 yrs and nearly 250,000 odd kms. :biggrin:
 
subyroo said:
I still have a soft spot for my old SG 2003 XS Forester, it served me well for 13 yrs and nearly 250,000 odd kms. :biggrin:
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Having an XS on either side on yours couldn't agree more!
Although the auto is nice to drive the 4eat really needed 5 gears. Sadly the 4eat is really a 3 speed plus overdrive.
The manual is just fun to drive and even better with the 4.44 diffs. I thought the SH would be awesome when we bought it but sadly the SG is just better all round except for cabin room.
Whilst the SH has a sports shift auto it's still a 3 speed plus overdrive. The rear suspension is not nearly as strong as the SG. On one trip we had a SH roll and it bent and broke both rear trailing arms.
Sadly in time when I can no longer keep the SGs going I'll not be buying another Subaru.
 
I know a bloke selling one of the finest examples of an SG right now.
 
This thread makes me sad. :cry:
 
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