Compare New Subaru Forester With Competition’s MPG And Cargo Room

The 2019 Subaru Forester gets the new Subaru Global Platform with more interior room and a newly-upgraded 2.5-liter engine with improved fuel mileage. How does it compare with the competition?

The new 2.5-liter boxer power plant comes with direct injection, higher compression, along with the active valve control system (AVCS) on the exhaust side. The new engine gets an increase in power too and now produces 182 hp and 176 lb-ft of torque, versus 170 hp and 174 lb-ft in the previous-generation Forester. 

Even with more power, Forester gets more fuel efficient for the 2019 model year. EPA estimates crept up to 26/33 city/highway mpg, and 29 combined mpg, vs 26/32/28 for the outgoing model, giving the 2019 Forester a one mpg improvement highway and combined.

Small AWD SUV fuel mileage

Forester ties for the top spot with the Honda CR-V w/AWD getting 27/33 city/highway mpg and 29 combined with the 1.5-liter turbo model. Here’s a list of the other small SUVs with AWD including the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid model.

The Toyota RAV4 AWD gets 22/28/24 city/highway/combined mpg; Toyota RAV4 Hybrid AWD gets 34/30/32 city/highway/combined mpg; Ford Escape 4WD 22/28/24 city/highway/combined mpg; Mazda CX-5 AWD 27/30/28 city/highway/combined mpg; GMC Terrain AWD 24/28/26 city/highway/combined mpg; Chevrolet Equinox AWD 24/30/26 city/highway/combined mpg; Hyundai Tucson AWD 24/28/25 city/highway/combined mpg; Jeep Cherokee 4WD gets an EPA estimated 21/28/23 city/highway/combined mpg.

What about cargo room?

When you need to carry passengers and cargo, you’ll need as much room in the back as possible for your gear. The 2019 Subaru Forester comes with 35.4 cubic feet of cargo-carrying room behind the rear seats. How does it compare with other small SUVs? The 2018 Hyundai Tucson comes with 31 cubes, 2018 Jeep Cherokee Latitude has 24.6 cu.ft., and the Mazda CX-5 features 30.9 cu ft. of cargo-carrying ability. Ford Escape comes with 34 cubic feet, GMC Terrain 31.6 cubic feet, and the Toyota RAV4 comes with 38.4 cubes and total volume with a cargo capacity of 73.4 cubic feet. The Honda CR-V is the winner with 39.2 cubic feet of space behind the second-row seats. Maximum CR-V cargo space measures 75.8 cubic feet.

Because the fifth-generation Forester rides on the new Subaru Global Platform, the architecture increases total cargo space to 76.1 cu. ft. with the 60:40 split rear seatbacks lowered, a gain of 1.4 cu. ft. The load floor sits flatter, and the cargo area’s squared-off shape has been further optimized for ease of carrying large objects.

Another Forester improvement increased the maximum width for the rear gate opening to 51.2 inches wide, a 5.3-inch increase over the outgoing model, and the new 2019 Subaru Forester is up to 8-inch wider than on some competitive SUVs.

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Photo credit: Subaru USA