Forester vs. Outback Wagon

I had the same dilemma a year ago and I ended up buying Forester (new). Reasons:

- it felt "better" in test drive;

- I had reservations about quality of Indiana-assemled Outbacks;

- Forester was cheaper;

- seat position is more suitable for my weak back.

DK

I'm looking for a new-to-me practical car. Hopefully a little fun too. I've thought about both of these, but haven't yet gone shopping.

Here's the comparison as I see it. A lot of this could be wrong. Engines: OBWs have avaliable 6 cyl. I've gotten the impression that Sube 6s are better than their 4s. I don't see any used ones with a 6 though, and I don't even know if they offered a 6 with a manual transmission.

Bikes: Forrester can fit bikes in the back, upright, front wheel off, I think without lowering the seat. I think they might fit in an OBW, but with the seat lowered.

Roof: Forrester has available a large sliding moonroof. For OBW, I don't think the roof above the driver slides (it includes the hump).

VDC available on OBW, not Forester.

LS rear diff standard on new Forresters. Not sure about finding it on used ones, or on OBWs. Don't recall the VDCdetails, but it may be a better setup. Good luck finding a used OBW though with VDC though.

Sleeping in the back: more room for it in an OBW.

Ground clearance: OBW.

Handling: OBW.

Limited-slip rear differentials are standard on the 2003+ Forester XS, but not on the Forester X.

-R.

The Outback always give better gas. Not sure why but that was a big complaint on the Forester drivers. Like my outback. The Foresters at the time ('02) looked wimpy and little comfort controls (heated seats and stuff).

Well, I can see why gas mileage would be a factor. But we chose the Forester over the OB because of the more comfortable drive, the roomier feel inside, and we really liked the handling the way the Forester handled. Maybe just a biased personal feeling, but that was our reason for buying Forester. But ours has heated seats, wiper defrosters, outside mirror-defoggers, all that "essential" stuff.

Actually, we didn't really want or need that stuff in our climate, but we insisted on a car that was ALL WHITE. The only way we could get that in the Forester was in the Premium XS so that's what we bought. But they did deal on the price!

Also, with less than 5,000 miles on it, we just got an average of 27.8 on a 4,200 mile trip through the cold northwest! I think that is about as good as the Outback would do. (But, did I forget to mention that we blew a darn Yokohama tire?)

You're one of the first people I've seen posts from here who agree with me: the Forester seems (and, I think is) roomier than the OB.

I did have to give up a few things I'd become accustomed to: lighted vanity mirrors (joking on that one--never used them!), audio controls on the steering wheel, and HomeLink (nice having those built-in buttons rather than a garage door remote clipped to the visor). But, hey, now I have those heated mirrors, seats, etc.--those things I won't use in this climate, either! But, maybe opportunity will arise some day.

HW

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Hey, my opportunity has already arisen! The trip I mentioned was to the cold north country, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, during the past two weeks. I found more than one chance to turn on the seat warmer! :-) And I enjoyed it briefly, before it really got HOT! SO off it went, but it did it's job! And, the Forester was quite fun to drive and did a great job for it on the trip! Snow, ice, cold weather and all!

It's an old post, but I just looked this stuff up, so I'll post a reply. In the Consumer Reports 2003 Auto Issue, the Forrester wins the interior dimension comparison. Bigger in cargo area, and in the listed passanger dimensions, except rear leg room, where OB wins by 1/2 inch.

It's also 500lbs lighter, and has a shorter wheelbase, and a two foot shorter turning circle. Why didn't it feel more agile to me? Maybe I need to try doing a little more spirited driving with one. And why doesn't it get as good gas mileage (or so I gather from a.a.s.)? I'd have to guess the height & aerodynamics work against it.