Topic: 21 Hrs With A 2016 Forester XT Ltd

[Trainman]

The Subaru dealer in Victoria offers 24 hr road tests, as long as you do it Monday to Friday.  On Saturday they want it back by 10 AM as that is their busy day.  As I was going to be in Victoria for the weekend (having to drop our son at the Victoria airport for his trip back to Meaford) I took as best advantage of this opportunity as I could.

Picked up a silver 2016 Forester 2.0 Ltd with Technology Package at 1 PM, dropped it off at 10 the next day.  Objectives of the test drive:

Seat comfort;
Ergonomics;
Headlights;
Fuel economy.

The results:

In the time I had it I put on 119 kms based on the trip odometer I reset when I got it.  Drove as I would normally, and actually never got it into S or S# (had that fun earlier).  Saw speeds up to 110 on the TC going out to Goldstream Park, but mostly rural/urban driving from the dealer in Colwood out to Sidney, where we stayed the night as it is near the airport.  Took lots of long ways, and visited with friends on the Friday night.

Seats: reviews have noted the seat cushions to be shorter than in the past, and some have found this to be uncomfortable.  I found that indeed they are shorter, but for me it is not an issue.  I dd appreciate the adjustments available with the power drivers seat.  The leather was fine, and not too cold in the morning despite the frost in the air.  This passed my objective.

Ergonomics: no significant changes from my '09.  The heated seat buttons are better situated, but the USB port sucks.  I really appreciate the real knobs for the ventilation controls, as well as the volume/tuning for the stereo.  Did not use the touch screen too much, but found when I did it was fine.  I also was interested to see how the gauges looked at night, and I was happy to see that unlike my '09, that all the gauges and markings can be dimmed consistently.  Another objective passed.

Headlights: another review concern, although seems to be for the "regular" headlights.  This trim has the HID's and I found them to be very good.  The highbeams are excellent.  Fog lights are for show (there was fog in the morning on the 4:45 AM drive to the airport).  Passed.

Fuel economy: based on the computer, I averaged 8.4l/100 kms, which is better than I would have gotten in the '09 (these are roads I have driven for many years so I know what I would get).  The B trip odometer had not been reset since it went into service, and over the 6,400+ kms already on it as a demonstrator/owners ride it had averaged 10l/100 kms which I consider to be rather good for its use.  I am know not concerned about the fuel economy.

Other observations:
The Tech Package includes EyeSight, so this was my first taste of that technology.  The lane departure warning came on several times, mostly on West Saanich Road.  It picked up both the center and fog lines.  The collision warning came one once approaching a 4 way stop, but did not activate the brakes.  When driving directly into the sun for a short bit, it did turn off, but came back on.

I was surprised at the harsh, jiggly ride, especially at low speeds.  On the highway it was fine.  According to the Forester forum, the blame has been put on the crap tires Subaru has chosen to put on this, for them, high end machine with some sporty pretenses.  If I buy one, new tires will be required.

Overall however I was pleased with the time I had in it and I appreciated the dealer having this option.  And a bonus was they washed and vacuumed the '09 for me!

[ArticSteve]

Meaford as is Ontario ?  If so, odd place to go unless you're in the Army.   

[tpl]

Getting from Victoria BC to Meaford Ont  sounds like that Irish thing...if I were going there I wouldn't start from here.   

[sailor723]

Nice review....thanks.  My eldest daughter seriously looked at the XT LTD a couple of years ago. The short seat bases were a big negative for her. That , combined with the fact she found the car noisy/buzzy at highway speeds was enough to take the Sub out of the running.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Meaford as is Ontario ?  If so, odd place to go unless you're in the Army.

That what I was thinking
Since it is in your backyard You could take him home for a good home cooked meal if he is at the base   

[Trainman]

Nice review....thanks.  My eldest daughter seriously looked at the XT LTD a couple of years ago. The short seat bases were a big negative for her. That , combined with the fact she found the car noisy/buzzy at highway speeds was enough to take the Sub out of the running.

I did not note any significant difference in noise from my '09 to be honest, so another negative for sure, but the better stereo will help there  .  Fortunately the CVT was decent, much better than I was expecting.

Meaford as is Ontario ?  If so, odd place to go unless you're in the Army.

Yes, he is in the army.  Finished basic military qualification in St. Jean in November, now into his second round of training before his permanent posting sometime this spring.  Royal pain for him getting from the coast to Meaford, the earliest flight does not arrive in time to get the bus to Meaford, so he has to overnight in Mississauga then get the bus from Yorkdale.  Still does not get in till dinner time on the second day of travel after leaving Victoria at 6:30 AM on the first day.

[quadzilla]

Nice review.

I was checking one of these out at Detroit and it has to be one of the most functional cars on the market. Huge rear hatch, lots of hidden space under the floor and lots of room in the hatch.

Still wish some of the materials/buttons were nicer though.

[EV-Light]

I was surprised at the harsh, jiggly ride, especially at low speeds.

 

[sailor723]

Nice review.

I was checking one of these out at Detroit and it has to be one of the most functional cars on the market. Huge rear hatch, lots of hidden space under the floor and lots of room in the hatch.

Still wish some of the materials/buttons were nicer though.

^ This

I wish they'd up the amount of sound insulation and improve the seats/interior quality. Even if it bumped the price a bit it would be worth it.

[Trainman]

The tires are Bridgestone HL 400, which rank 55 of 57 in Tire Racks ratings.   Pretty shabby for a near $40,000 vehicle.   Pretty much anything else is an improvement.   The dealer is working on a tire upgrade package to Michelin Premier A/S that is no. 1 or 2 at TR depending on the day and has top rated wet ratings, sort of important out here on the Wet Coast. And not shabby snow ratings either for those odd May snow events we get.

[ArticSteve]

Yes, he is in the army.  Finished basic military qualification in St. Jean in November, now into his second round of training before his permanent posting sometime this spring.  Royal pain for him getting from the coast to Meaford, the earliest flight does not arrive in time to get the bus to Meaford, so he has to overnight in Mississauga then get the bus from Yorkdale.  Still does not get in till dinner time on the second day of travel after leaving Victoria at 6:30 AM on the first day.

Here is the good news; it's warm here.  Last year would have been so nasty.

For future reference there is a mini bus service that runs pretty well 24/7 from Owen Sound to Pearson.  The Owen Sound Armoury comes to mind or even the Legion as a pickup location.  Base is 20 minutes from the Armoury.

http://www.greybruceairbus.com/airport.html

[jumpingjump]

Seems like they've got a pretty good program, and you had a pretty nice weekend.

[Julie]

Nice, thanks for the review.

[84im]

I took a 2016 XT limited, with the tech package, for a 45 minute test drive today.  Overall I was impressed with this vehicle and would rank it slightly higher than the 2016 CX-5 GT that I took for a test drive a couple of weeks ago.
Some general comments:
1.  Seats seemed fine to me, but I only drove the vehicle for a short period of time.
2.  Visibility was excellent.  Better than the CX-5 and RAV4 Hybrid.
3.  Power was okay, but I expected more from 250 hp.
4.  My first time driving a vehicle with a CVT transmission and if felt much like a regular auto tranny.
5.  My wife likes all the EyeSight safety features, but after a short drive the beeps were starting to get to me.
6.  I'd rank the interior quality a bit below the CX-5 GT.
7.  The ride and handling seemed okay to me.  Not quite as good as the CX-5s, but about as quiet on the freeway.
8.  This is strictly a personal opinion, but I like the looks of the Forester over the CV-5.

[safristi]

26,280 hours with a Forester XT...................aces......smokes 90% of the vehicles on the road in Summer  99.9% in the Winter...can see out of it with my eyesight no sloped back windows and their "Eyesight" is well
thought out....the stop U in time is amazing (for stoners?) j/k lane wandering beeps are minimal unless yer a Texter no attention wanderered  U know who U R.the adaptive cruise once U learn to trust it is great..Many do not know the hidden value of the BEST CUV ..........

[84im]

For me the Forester XT and Mazda CX-5 are so close it would come down to which dealer would give me the best price.  Presently, Subaru seems more willing to deal.
I may also test drive the new Kia Sportage (turbo model) next week to see how it compares.

[Trainman]

84im, I am going to do an update on mine after a month, hopefully maybe next weekend, so stay tuned!  As for power, did you use the Sport or Sport# mode?  I find that makes a huge difference in how the power is delivered.  In Sport you can really feel the 250 hp, while in the default Intelligent mode it seems sort of weak.

[84im]

The salesman told me about the sport button, but I didn't use it, thinking that it wouldn't make much of a difference.
If I take one for another test drive I'll be sure to put it in 'sport' mode.

[craigq]

The salesman told me about the sport button, but I didn't use it, thinking that it wouldn't make much of a difference.
If I take one for another test drive I'll be sure to put it in 'sport' mode.

Night and day difference in acceleration between i/S/S#
If you think the CX5 and FozXT are close in terms of power you definitely have to try S#.
Sometimes it rev hangs, I prefer S# in manual mode.