Subaru Forester 2019 (Pt.1) Detailed Review - More Power, More Torque, and Loaded with Eyesight.

The Subaru Forester is all new, with a new Direct Injection engine providing more power and much needed additional torque. The fully - loaded version with Eyesight makes a great package and if you are looking for real value this is it.
Also, Subaru's Symmetrical AWD is something else. X Mode makes it a real off road vehicle, and the ground clearance of 220 mm literally lifts the Forester above the rest.

[@johnnycage558]

My previous version of forester drives and overtakes like a sedan. The pleasure of driving is priceless.

[@adeebjalaludin8718]

True rally drivers only refer to their side passenger as co driver! Very informative video. Tq YS. Can’t wait to get my Forester soon!

[@selespeed3]

this is one quality car. i have driven the previous version and the suspension feel is simply superb.

[@YSKhongDriving]

I notice there is a following.

[@harvard_lee]

Look forward to Genting run with this car.

[@ooiban0916]

My Cctv going off tomorrow for il GT lite version…hope to ride and enjoy it asap

[@ooiban0916]

Very nice car

[@fastenerhouse]

A good SUV but under appreciated here. I have the last generation XV and love the AWD. Am contemplating to trade it for the Forester.

[@YSKhongDriving]

The Forester would have more space and the new engine has a bit more oomph.

[@nss7565]

High end cars nowadays are fitted with more and more switches and control buttons. Driving one is piloting an aircraft.

[@Channel084]

Very nice review, love the departure from the typical review and showcase the details of things like engine and parts, would like more details on the glovebox and center console storage thou, just wondering does it comes with lane keeping assist like peugeot or honda?

[@YSKhongDriving]

It only has lane departure warning. No lane keep.

[@Channel084]

@@YSKhongDriving Thanks, hope to see more review from you

[@YSKhongDriving]

Sure, we have more than 300 videos up. After MCO we should be doing some more

[@zDestinyx]

Good day Uncle Khong. Awesome and detail review as usual, really enjoy your video much. Just I would like to double confirm, is the latest Forester change the rear suspension system to conventional multilink system or retaining the double wishbone set up?

[@YSKhongDriving]

Oops. Have to check that one out. From the visual, it looked like a multilink. Will re confirm

[@YSKhongDriving]

It is a double wishbone for the rear.

[@zDestinyx]

@@YSKhongDriving Thanks for the input and update, Uncle Khong.

[@dronepilot1333]

@@YSKhongDriving which suspension system is better?

[@Red-xz1gk]

Good and thorough review. My experience told me that the back seats are more comfortable than the front as always. The back seats offer ample of leg room and head room. However, it is a little lack of appropriate shoulder room if you need to sit five regular size adults. It has quality look cabin and it’s equipped with quite a lot of useful tech and safety features. The big sunroof is good but it’s not really panoramic all the way to cover the entire second row. There is no heated seat for the second row. I think this is something Subaru should have made it standard for limited and touring trims. However the layout of the buttons, the interior console, and the information screens is messy and randomly placed. The set up makes no sense to me. I never had a car this disorganized in term of the buttons and info panel layouts. Really bad!! Also lack of front sensors and front camera for parking and objects detection is a wrong decision. eyesight works okay in most situation but be warned, if it’s raining really hard or snow really hard and the windshield portion of your eyesight cameras got covered, your eyesight will temporarily stop working. And think about that it may be the time you need to have the eyesights to protect you given the weather condition you are in. This made me think of I made a wrong decision to get the Subaru Forester instead of other competitor’s offers as safety was the top reason of getting this. Drive dynamic is okay and handling is somewhat letdown. The steering is a little laggy and road communication it offers left a lot of room for improvement. Acceleration is slow as the transmission is a CVT. The shifts are somewhat acceptable comparing to other CVT I drove but it is still a CVT... combined with the underpowered engine, the engine sound during harder acceleration was still quite loud. Radio had problem to save channels. I think they offer a fix but I was too busy to drop it off to get it done. It’s annoying as this is a new car and the radio did not function right out of the gate and now I have to waste time to bring it back to get it fixed. I also experience random behaviors of the driver side window. Sometimes the window just moves up and down itself or it refuses to move up. This happened a few times while I was driving. Weird thing and I’ve never seen this in other cars I had. Again very annoying! Overall, it is a good SUV and it gives AWD without extra costs. Nice cabin quality and a lot of interior space. Quiet interior in the class. Very comfortable second row and it offers a lot of legroom and head room. It also has great ground clearance to handle many off road situations. It equipped good amount of tech and safety features but it may be still a little behind the competition. The front seats are a little uncomfortable for long drive to me and the steering wheel is not the best one to hold for sure. The front Seat’s back support is very average. Recommendable but if I could redo it, I might go with other brand.

[@YSKhongDriving]

Wow! That was a full review! Impressive!

[@Advancedworldbutchaotic]

Thanks for your review, uncomfortable front seats and steering for long drive. Its now out if my shortlist.

[@shauntan4081]

Which brand u wld go for?

[@keeweemo7609]

Glad u mentioned IKEA, now i can plan

[@YSKhongDriving]

Hahaha.

[@leebh8715]

Good car

[@NA-pv7yw]

Uncle Khong, have always wondered if the CX-5 or the Forester drives better in corners ;)

[@YSKhongDriving]

Depends on which CX5. The AWD version is probably just as good, but the SAWD on the Subaru is really good too.

[@CheeMeng-xu5qq]

Uncle Khong, which one would u pick if were to choose from this Subaru Forester and the latest Mazda CX5 2.5T ? Thanks

[@daniellai3535]

he will nvr give u any answer on this cos this is against his professional.... make ur own decision or join both fb page..lol

[@osmanjailani447]

have u test drive tiguan?

[@alvinsaches3989]

Hi Uncle Khong,As an ex rally driver,in your opinion Which one performs better on mild offroad? Mitsubishi Outlander 4wd or Subaru Forester symmetrical All wheel drive?I’m looking at these 2 car now.mainly for family hauler and light outing such as going to beach and durian orchard.thank you.

[@YSKhongDriving]

Forester will probably be more fuel efficient, as it is a newer designed engine with direct injection.

[@pyromania123]

Sir, you miss 1 airbag, which is located at driver's knee. So makes it total of 7 airbags.

[@YSKhongDriving]

Thank you. Didn't look close enough.

[@itzzyhop8335]

It’s 2019 yet no Android Auto/Apple CarPlay? Also, big mistake not having an XT version this generation.

[@pyromania123]

Only Malaysia spec doesn't have android auto & apple car play. Oversea spec for example US, Eu.. Is using different head unit with android auto & apple car play.

[@dornierserctajon8094]

sir khong, is the mazda 3s bonnet aluminum too? sorry for my question

[@YSKhongDriving]

I don't think so.

[@fadhlurghazali4844]

Wow. Idling rpm at 1.2k rpm? Considering awd & that high rpm, hows fuel consumption compared to the competitors?

[@zero5177]

Probably engine wasn't warm enough... previous gen rests at around 600-650 rpm and have a fuel consumption of somewhere around a 1.3 Proton Iswara. Pretty impressive I would say.

[@YSKhongDriving]

The idle compensates for the AC running.

[@mohdshafiquemohdseth]

Sorry about the tire..forgot to polish..🙂🙂

[@441meatloaf]

I think in North America the engines have more power than asian models. Forestor in here in Canada has 182 HP and 176 lbs of torque, previous XT (turbo) models had 250hp with ~ 240 lbs of torque.

[@YSKhongDriving]

Thanks for the inout. The XT used to be sold here but was discontinued due ti lack of demand, due to the higher cost. Now there are no turbo models available here.

[@441meatloaf]

@@YSKhongDriving you should review the 2021 crosstrek with the 2.5L engine. They moved the forestor engine into it so it now has 182hp. Smaller, lighter, and much better

[@khfionang]

Between current model xv and forester which be a better choice?? Which have a better drive and also better for passenger? Tx tx

[@YSKhongDriving]

The Forester is a slightly bigger vehicle so if you need the space, go for it. Both drive well, but I suggest you go try both.

[@khfionang]

@@YSKhongDriving Tx! Just your opinion what if purely from driving aspect which would be better?

[@Mrhukaka88]

This car feel much bigger then last generation,but the down side for my own opinion will be the 2.0 liter engine.if possible 2.5 will be much better. The head unit it's another down side,low resolution and without all round view cam,sunroof it's not important for me,but there it's another system called driving monitor system integrated with face recognize and driver warning also cut off. Hope Subaru Asia can say my massage.

[@YSKhongDriving]

Yes, they do monitor.

[@Rndmaniacs]

My only criticism of this car in Malaysian spec (the JP and US versions are ridiculously loaded) is that horrendous infotainment system/ screen (it may be coming from a Toyota supplier because they are equally bad unless it's a Lexus or luxury model) and the engine. Even if the 2.0 Turbo is too expensive for the price point they could have done the 1.6 T from the levrog with some tuning for an SUV. The car doesn't need WRX/ STI performance but the torque of a turbo engine would do wonders for in gear acceleration for safer over taking and more comfortable highway speeds.

[@YSKhongDriving]

I know what you mean. This applies to more than this brand, but going turbo also has its own set of issues, and I supposed we some companies are cautious. Anyway, there is a 2.0 turbo version available, although it is not on the import list here.

[@bobbyllobrera8446]

i like this,sir may i know what color of this forester?

[@YSKhongDriving]

I don't know the actual name, but it's silver.

[@bobbyllobrera8446]

@@YSKhongDriving i am planning to buy one but am afraid because my place road is like climbing in genting. sir can this forester can climb with full load?

[@pokoktelurungu]

Its a bronze

[@Willy-vh2os]

is it the angle of the camera? the resolution of the infotainment looks awful.. looks quite alot of features inside, bulky car with an underpowered engine

[@talpolano4549]

Genting please! :)

[@nickloong]

There's one thing I hate about these new models are their ever growing size! Don't the car producers see the need for more compact dimension cars in an over congested situation on public roads? Some times they even cannibalise their own higher segment cars in the process???

[@patrickfrancis7558]

This are SUV's...compact cars and suvs don't go together..if u r looking for compact cars u should be looking else where

[@nickloong]

@@patrickfrancis7558 I think you got me wrong. I was referring to maintaining the size of their SUVs as per their 1st original model, and not keep growing in size to the extent it cannibalise its own higher segment SUVs.

[@nss7565]

@@nickloong Totally agreed. Some SUVs are as big as if not bigger than mini buses,. Many parking lots are too short for such vehicles.

[@rbt4196]

i this subaru easy to maintain?

[@YSKhongDriving]

Should be. Nothing complicated.

[@mynicholas9999]

1000rpm when idle?🤔

[@daniellai3535]

more than 1k, this is abnornal.

[@Amarjeet1970]

Hello, any idea what's the fuel consumption for this? The fact the Subaru never even gave you the brief for that is cause for concern for me.

[@YSKhongDriving]

Around 10 lit/100 km

[@Amarjeet1970]

@@YSKhongDriving Thanks for the prompt reply but that seems high. My 2016 Forester w 120K km drinks it at 8.4L/100km. (I don't want to put down any car but sharing for comparison.)

[@YSKhongDriving]

8.4 l/100 is highly possible but you have to be really gentle. The range would be from 8 to 12, and 10 would be an average. If you can consistently get 8+, it is good.

[@pyromania123]

I drove the previous model i fill up full tank, enough to drive from KL to Sg. Petani & back to KL around 900KM journey 1 full tank, which is really really impressive. My average was 7.2L/100KM. But i drove 110kmh the whole journey la.. And very gentle on the acceleration.

[@Amarjeet1970]

@@pyromania123 7.2 is very impressive. Must have been smooth traffic. AC on or off?

[@mohdsyahir4597]

Actually,its come 7 airbag, knee airbag for the driver

[@YSKhongDriving]

Ah, thanks for the input. I was wondering about whether they had a kneebag- not many cars come with it

[@bossjxck]

please review mazda 6 skyactiv diesel,

[@YSKhongDriving]

It's already in our library.

[@yokechanchan3892]

I dont really like the rear light design sir. 🤭

[@YSKhongDriving]

It's also a C

[@ernestgogogo]

Only 1 point... I didn't choose... Forester... Why no APPLE ANDROID Car play? 😖😖😖

[@arthurd6495]

Can't speak for other countries, but my Forester 2020 premium has both.

[@Glajdar]

How much you get paid to give the car A good review???

[@YSKhongDriving]

Actually, nothing. You should try driving it.

[@flowerhorn3]

Too bad no turbo from subaru

[@YSKhongDriving]

They have but people are not buying, so they don't bring it in. You want?

[@flowerhorn3]

YS Khong Driving when I think Subaru, i think boxer, turbo 😁 cvt hmm. But you are right. It’s not for me 😆