So I have had my ’09 Foz for a week, and 2,000 kms later here is what I can report:
It had 6 kms when I took it for a test drive, and 3 hours later I was driving it home. It’s a green Forester X, Touring Edition with the automatic.
I drove it for work to Fort St James, hence the amount of kms in a week. A good way to break it in and find all the faults
Here, in no real order, are the pros and cons I have noted so far:
ProAwesome motor. Loves to rev, nice sound, but a bit lumpy at idle.
Good transmission functions. The econo, sport and manual shift modes all work really well. The sport mode is quite nice, with quick downshifts and it will hold those downshifts longer than econo mode.
Nice cabin. Good placement of most controls, good quality and fit of materials.
Very good dirt/gravel road behaviour. Hardly noticed the uphill washboard despite having it in second gear at 4,000 rpm
Fuel economy is what I was hoping for. I did the same trip in the Pathy a month ago and I used 55 l less fuel but traveled 300 km more with the Foz. I reduced my fuel cost by about 40% overall based on today’s prices. And the on-board fuel consumption meter is accurate. Best I have seen so far 8.0 l/100 km. And it still needs to be fully broken in
ConsTransmission. Why no 5th gear? How much better would it be with a 5th gear?
Seats: Passenger seat is way too low. I will have to get a cushion for it; even the dealer was complaining about it. The drivers seat is OK but the material is slippery and its tough not to slide down.
Some controls are mounted poorly: the door mounted window/locks are too far back on the arm rest and the cup holders are also too far back. They should also have a cut-out for the handle to go sideways, rather than having to twist it around while taking it out.
Overall, I am very happy. It is fun to drive, and has made driving enjoyable again. Some photos:
At the Fort:
On the way to get Soda Creek sweet corn:
I will post pictures of it clean when all the accessories are installed.
