Gadgets Philippines – July 2019

http://www.gadgetsmagazine.com.ph july 2019 39

VALUE

At just about PHP 1.6 million, is the 2019 Forester

2.0i-L worth it? I give that question a wholehearted

Yes. Great performance, plenty of space, and more

creature comforts than I could even fit into this

review (that multi-info display is SO handy!), make

for an SUV that fills the needs of small families, and

people who look forward to having a car that’s fun

to drive. Now to try and convince my wife that we

need a new vehicle...

What’s Hot:

-Superb performance

-Loads of cargo space

-Eyesight is actually useful

What’s Not:

-Fuel efficiency takes a hit

BottomLINE:

It might be the most fun crossover SUV

out there now.

One of the great extras included in our review

vehicle is Subaru’s revolutionary Eyesight

technology, which allows for a whole host of

driver aids. This is one of the 2019 Forester’s

greatest features, and something I personally

enjoyed using a lot, but I’ll get into that in the

meat of the review.

USER EXPERIENCE

I had been looking forward to reviewing the new

Forester since I first got to spend some time with it

at the launch. Thanks to our friends at Subaru, I was

able to reserve a slot to test one just in time for a

trip to Lake Caliraya at the start of last month. This

was the perfect opportunity to take R5, and see

what the Forester could do on a mix of roads and

elevation changes.

Being a major outing with about 15 of our friends

participating, so there was a lot of cargo. Being

one of the larger vehicles, my wife and I agreed

to take two passengers, along with their luggage,

a cooler, and a sizeable amount of supplies. Even

without dropping the rear seats, the Forester had

room enough for a large cooler, five bags, several

bags of groceries, and a crate each of eggs and

bottles. It may not look it, but the Forester can hold

a staggering amount of cargo. And it all managed

to fit under the tonneau cover. This extra space also

translated into more room in the cabin. I’m not sure

how they managed it, but it really does seem bigger

on the inside. With passengers and cargo loaded

up, we left Katipunan at about 3 p.m., to try and get

ahead of the traffic.

We were unsuccessful.

Construction just before SM Marikina had us driving

through what felt like rush hour traffic. Taking the

opportunity to keep my gas foot rested, I enlisted

the help of Subaru’s Eyesight technology and

engaged Active Cruise control. It works best with

slow, crawling traffic, the likes of which we were

facing at the start of our journey. I am happy to

report that it worked great. It accurately determined

the speed of the vehicle before us, and even

through changing speeds, it kept a consistent

distance, requiring no additional input from me.

One thing I did find though, was that it doesn’t

take into account just how aggressive we Filipino

drivers can be, so the very safe distance it kept from

the car it was following would sometimes create

large enough gaps for jeeps to force themselves

into. Still, it was more than worth it for the

convenience of literally just having to steer for

the entire span of traffic.

Finally having left the traffic behind, we began

the ascent through Antipolo. The current

Forester might not pack as much grunt as the

previous XT model, but it was plenty adequate,

thanks to the responsive paddle shifters.

Overtaking on an uphill, fully loaded with

people and cargo is quite an ask, and looking at

it, you might think the size of the Forester might

make that a problem. A quick drop down a gear

or two, along with a generous application of the

accelerator made this a non-issue. It’s very quick

to respond to throttle input, with the boxer

engine growling into action and pushing you

back and down into your seat.

Handling is not the first thing you think a

crossover SUV would take to well, but the

Forester defies the norm. As anyone who has

taken R5 can attest, it’s a twisty, perilous road.

The Forester is much more agile than it has

a right to be, easily taking tight turns, and

changing direction without missing a beat. I

was pushing quite hard, with little regard for

my passengers, and it felt like they would tap

out far before the Forester would. The steering

was responsive, and driving through corners,

accelerating on the way out put a smile on my

face every time.

Taking the trip as fast as safety would allow,

I also appreciated the sure-footedness the

Forester provided. Traction control and AWD

made even the trickiest segments fun to blast

through. While my passengers did tend to

move around a bit in their seats, they couldn’t

complain about comfort, as the plush leather,

great cushioning, and snug seats kept them in

place nicely.

The Forester kept pace with my driving, and it

never left me feeling like I needed more than

it could deliver. This came at a bit of a price

though. By the end of our roughly two hour,

15 minute journey, I found our fuel

consumption to be about 8km/L. This wasn’t

terrible, as we did make quite an ascent, and I

was driving with no regard for fuel economy,

but numbers like that can burn through the

tank’s 63 liter capacity quite quickly.