New Forester just introduced today

2019 Subaru Forester adds tech, loses turbo "Sadly, Subaru will no longer offer a turbocharged Forester XT." 2018 Forester: 170 HP (250 HP w/turbo) 2019 Forester: 182 HP

2019 models lose the turbo option. So you lose the horsepower maximum option with 2019 models. The no-turbo-option 2019 adds 12 HP over the non-turbo 2018 but loses 68 HP compared to the turbo Forester XT 2018. Subaru is going for glitz and safety over power. Get some, lose some.

Never felt my Foresters were under-powered but I'm at the age where there is no need for speed and safety becomes more important. Curious to see pricing. We are not in the market for a new one and my wife is perfectly content with her '08 but does not like my '16 as it seems too big.

I never mentioned speed. Besides, more power affects acceleration time. Also, what if someone, especially with a SUV, wanted to *tow* something, like a boat+trailer when trying to haul out at the ramp or getting *up* to speed (but boost goes off once speed is reached)? People tend to imagine the car+trailer on a nice level road and forget that ramps to get boats into and out of lakes are at an angle. What if you live in a really hilly region? I remember driving through, I think, Pennsylvania and thinking all I was doing was driving up and down huge long hills and no wonder the truck lanes are so long. Probably even worse if you're driving through the Rocky Mountains. Besides, having a turbo isn't about speed but how fast to get up to speed. Sure handy to have a turbo in an econobox when coming down an entrance ramp to smoothly merge into highway traffic *at speed*. Some SUV owners actually use them as SUVs, not just fake-muscled-looking status cars used only for commuting. If I'm spending that much money on a SUV, it better handle more than flat roads and city traffic capably handled by much cheaper cars. For a commuter car, yeah, the Subies are sufficient but overpriced.

Subarus get bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier but many components such as front and rear differentials stay the same size.

The rear differential in my 2000 Impreza L with 2.2 liter N/A engine is the same size as in my 2013 turbo Forester. The 2014-18 models appear to also share the same part. The even bigger and heavier 2019 Forester will probably have exact same diffs.

I wonder when will this become a problem.

Subaru seems to push things until they become problematic, e.g. engine bored to 2.5 liters as to produce headgasket failures.

Basia

ps. did they fix the oil consumption issues present im many newer engines?

Just saw this in am:

I had traded in my '03 Forester for my '16 because of the head gasket. It had first failed at 40,000 miles but was out of warranty although Subaru did give me about 1/3 back on the repair. It was starting to go again at 65,000 miles so I decided to trade in 13 year old car rather than repair again. Trade in value was good even though dealer knew of problem and I did not pay high retail but under invoice.

I never towed anything but used to hunt friends camp in central PA and had no problem with hills and could drive places on the camp where my friend could not venture with his pickup. We also live a a short but steep hill and would have nothing but AWD.

Older now we do not get the usage but as Consumer Reports states the Forester has easy access to drive. My wife loves her '08 but thinks my '16 is too big for her.