11 Things You Want In The New Subaru Forester, Outback And Ascent To Make Them The Best

I would suggest two things. A volume adjustment for the sub and an improved equalizer for the audio system. I had a Bose system on my old car. I was floored to not see any adjustment for volume to the subwoofer. Also, the mid-range is very good but the bottom sound is too light. This can be handled with an improved EQ.

My 2020 Forester has two annoying features. First, the drivers seat belt is ALWAYS
caught between the side of the seat back and the "B" pillar. Very annoying and may just be a design flaw. Second, the finger notch for lowering the back hatch is on the inside of the hatch where it will contact the back of you hand when closing. It needs to be on the bottom edge so your hand will be moving AWAY as you close the hatch. Little, easily corrected things but so annoying. VW had their had done right way back in 2002. ARE YOU LISTENING SUBARU. Also, I DON"t MISS THE TURBO as much as I thought. Just come up with another 30 or 40 HP.

I agree with your statement about getting better reliability comes using now it's from Toyota I have 2017 forester XT touring with 30000 little over 30000 miles it's now a new shop does saying it needs a new distributor I don't understand why a car so new needs to have that replaced attack told me that it's been putting out too much power would give a false reading which put on the check engine light to read so in the 3 miss fire I feel Subaru need to have better quality control on the products that they're putting out do you agree

I'd love to see the Baja (small truck) make a comeback again. A small pickup that's great on gas and fun to drive too! Perfect for hauling stuff for smaller projects around the house.

Love to see some other exterior colors, lighter or more neutral tones, for all of the Subaru vehicles. Lighter interior colors also. Owning a dark colored vehicle with dark interior in the southeast in the summer is miserable! It won't happen to me again

I currently have a 2016 dark gray Forester & I love it. I would be interested with a new WHITE Forester, but the all white color is just too BLAH. Subaru needs to add more BLACK trimming. Just a suggestion.

Leased a Crosstrek and then an Outback which I currently have. Love both but really desire to go back to a Crosstrek. One problem: I HATE the orange interior stitching. Maybe offer only on the orange model? I won’t buy a Crosstrek until the interior changes. Otherwise, love my Subaru’s And will remain brand loyal!

Outback definitely needs a better speaker system for the radio in the lower price trims.

You make a great "mountain" car. Please add "elevation" to the info display. Copy Audi if necessary.

Subaru needs to up the extended warranty to 10 years/100,000 from 7 years/100,000. If 97-98% of all Subarus are still on the road 10 years later as advertised, why not up it? Stand behind your product!!!!

Change the "Auto Start-Stop System" to allow the owner to manually turn it off permanently. Right now you "must" push a switch every time you start the engine. It is a pain to worry about that when city driving. It reminds me of driving a golf cart that shuts off everytime you stop. I just purchased a new 2020 Forester and live the car, but something has to be done with this none option. Thanks.

I purchased a 2019 Outback just before the 2020 models were revealed and scored a good deal. We love our Subie but worth about the reliability of both the CVT transmission and the 2.5 engine long term reliability. Truth be told my Jeep Wrangler JL had had few issues that required times in three service department than our Subie. Spending this much money on a car one would hope that the radio would work when you want it to. You would like to know that the windshield isn't going to develop another no impact related crack. That three service department wouldn't put an extra half quart of oil in the crankcase every time you bring it in for an oil change. That the safety features would work as advertised and not require trips to service department to fix. I.e. blind spot monitoring not working, back up camera not working and auto braking when backing up to prevent hitting someone. Love our Subie but won't be back to buy again unless quality improves drastically and reliability of rubber band transmission and more reliable engine offerings

Start adding plug in hybrids, and more storage. Splitting the rear floor cover so there is a small access hinged close to the tail gate would help. If you carry a lot like I do, the under floor storage is useless, but a smaller access closet to the tailgate with a storage box under it would be better than one big section of the floor having to be raised when all of your gear is covering it

Manual transmission that doesn't suck!!!!

I would really love more tow capacity. This is the main reason I'll be trading in my Subi for a Tacoma later this year. I like the idea of the high-brid Ascent..I would trade in the Tacoma for one!

I basically agree with the turbo, but not the engine. The stock engine can easily handle 10PSI boost, but if you would only add 7PSI boost, it would increase from ~180HP //Tq, to about 225HP, and would be noticeable.
You only need a new engine (or at least adjusted pistons and camshaft) beyond ~10PSI.
At 14PSI, you'd get a respectable 270HP, which is preferably powered by a small turbo with good wastage, resulting in low lag (especially important for the cvt versions, as they already have cvt lag), and high torque at preferably 2k RPM or below.

There already is a turbo included in the high end 2021 version .

I would love to see a factory racing stripe option for Crosstrek and Forester.

Bring back a 6 cylinder engine on Outback and/or ascent.

definitely oil issue needs to be improved. I have literally 8 subarus on my driveway right now.

To me the most important item you had mentioned is the number 6. "Put a new turbocharged engine in Forester"
I have a Foster 2015 XT (the precious) and I will no change that car till Subaru gives me another option like that Foster. Well, unless I have to go to another manufacturer.....
I will wait a little more for Subaru. Hope they are reading your magazine.

Offer the Ascent touring model with 8 seats.
Offer front camera and ventilated seats in 8 seat models.

I love my Outback!! This is my second Outback, but you guys must heat the WHOLE steering wheel as the portion that is not heated is freezing in the winter, silly to not do whole wheel.
As well, when the sun shines onto the screen it reflects into the face of the driver, I suggest making a small change to the finish of the screen so that it DOES NOT distract the driver.
I have the 2019 Premier and love the car!!!

Mostly love my 2020 Forester but there are a few annoyances. As mentioned in the article there is no heated steering wheel available on most trim levels, and remote start is only available as an expensive dealer installed option even on top trim levels. Honda has remote start and push button ignition included in every trim level of CR-V. Given the popularity of Subarus in cold climates these oversights are not logical. Another annoyance is the lack of standard interior protection such as all-weather mats and a cargo liner. These should be included in every Subaru given the brands rugged, outdoorsy image instead of being expensive dealer installed options. I mostly like the EyeSight safety system but if you are going to include this on every model then don't leave out the blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert features on the lower trim levels. I would sooner have those features than lane keep assist which I usually turn off anyway. Mostly a great sales experience with the dealership except for a pushy finance manager that tried to sell expensive extra undercoating and extended warranties. I thought those scams ended back in the 90s. Speaking of warranties, why can Kia and Hyundai offer much longer coverage at no extra charge? I was seriously considering getting a Kia Seltos for that reason and because of Kia's excellent reliability ratings, but the wait time to get a Seltos was several weeks due to the popularity of this new model and the lack of inventory.

The heads up display, yes, but you missed some fundamental safety and convenience things that are available on vehicles competitive with my 2020 Forester Touring . Like a 360 degree camera and front camera, kick opening of the tailgate, and electronic opening and closing of the moonroof cover so it can be opened all the way without tearing your shoulder. Other
wise, a close to perfect vehicle for its intended use.

The Outback could feel more spacious for the driver and passenger. A wider backseat as well. It could also use a more powerful engine.

Make a second option Asent with out the 3rd row. Small families with only 1 or 2 children don't necessarily need a 3rd row, but could use extra cargo space. Also a more powerful engine. I enjoy a vehicle that is peppy

My MY 2014 Forester XT has been running flawlessly. I don't know if it's worthwhile waiting for a new Forester XT, that might show up in 2 years, or, just skip the turbo and go for the real deal, a 280 HP , all-electric Forester that is expected within in 3 to 4 years.

2020 Forester owner in Canada. I had previously owned the first two generations of Legacy back in the 1990s and despite admiring the great AWD system in these cars I simply got tired of the poor quality, especially in the second gen car that seemed to always have something going wrong. When the fuel gauge stopped working in my 3 year old 95 Legacy, just after the bumper-to-bumper warranty expired, that was the last straw. I switched to Toyota and never went back, until now. Not a fan of the current styling of the Toyota products and especially hate the interiors with the ugly infotainment screen that sticks up like an afterthought tacked onto the dash. I decided to test drive a new Forester and loved the interior and smooth, solid feeling on the road. After living with the Forester for a few months there are a few things I would like to see added. (1)Give the driver the ability to permanently shut off the engine auto start-stop feature. This system is random and crude in its operation. When I remember to do so, I turn it off every time I drive. (2)Offer an around-view camera system as an option, or even better, include in in all trim levels. Nissan has had this in their SUVs for several years. It's even available in the lowly Kicks. Having driven vehicles with this type of system I think it is a very useful safety feature. It's something that you appreciate every time you are pulling away from a parking place. This is especially useful for people who have young children who leave bikes, toys, etc anywhere they feel like, and people who live in or visit rural areas where pets are not always on a leash. I would gladly trade lane assist for a 360 camera display. (3)Reduce/simplify the trim levels. Here in Canada there are six different trim levels of Forester. Is this really necessary? Despite all of these trim levels you can't get either of the top two trims without leather seats. Not everyone is a fan of leather. Why should I be forced to accept leather seats in order to get all of the other features that are only available in the top trims such as a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, and an upgraded stereo. Three trim levels would be plenty - Base, Mid-level, and Luxury. Offer leather as an option - not mandatory. Do away with the Sport and just offer a blacked-out wheels and exterior details appearance package on any trim level and on any body colour. The orange interior and exterior accents of the Sport look silly. Offer colour accent pieces as dealer installed options for people who are into that sort of thing. (4)The exterior styling could be spiced up a bit. Pretty bland on the sides. Add a character line just below the door handles perhaps. The rear side windows on the cargo area look odd - their curved shape doesn't come together well with the angle of the rear hatch. The more squared-off design of these windows on the previous generation looked better. I'm thinking that they went to the curved design just to differentiate the new model, even though it looks worse than before. The high ground clearance is wonderful but it makes the Forester look like it was the victim of a lift kit, with its tiny-looking wheels unable to fill the vertical open space left in the wheel wells. Not sure how to fix that other than offer larger rims as an option. I put after-market black alloys on mine for summer tires and that helped somewhat, but I'll have to put the stock rims back on for the winter tire season from October to April, so it's only a partial remedy.
These things are mostly minor quibbles. Overall I love my new Forester. Hopefully Subaru addresses some of these minor issues in the next redesign, and hopefully the quality and reliability has improved since my previous experience with Subaru's back in the 90s. So far so good.

I had a 1996 Outback and currently have a 2011 Outback. I would like to replace it soon but find the Forester is better size for us and has better approach and departure angles. However the Forester needs more towing capacity, at least 2000 lbs. A slight bump in torque and mileage would be nice as well, likely with a small turbo, 1.8 L ? A small bump in ground clearance to 9 inches would improve off road capability and give it more bragging rights over the new bronco sport and Rav4.

I have written to Subaru a couple times about adding Orange to color lineup for Outback’s as their color’s are so boring! I have even offered my dealership extra to paint my Outbacks in crostrek Orange. Which I hear they are taking off market which is such a stupid move when they have so many Orange Crosstrek groups and followers! We need Hot colors like orange for our Outbacks and options like Orange grills, wheel covers, etc. I would take my Outback in and trade it immediately if I could get Orange options.

There are bunch of extra features I’d love to see on Outback, at least in upper trims:
1) Panoramic sunroof
2) Dual chrome exhaust tips
3) Infra-red night vision for detection of pedestrians and animals
4) Rain-sensing wipers
5) Seat massage