Subaru Forester or Outback...Which one and why?

[Battle]

Yes the last best Subaru is likely the very last 5spd AT H6 3.6L which was redesigned after the very lousy 3.0H6. The 3.6 was /is an excellent engine.

As a two-time and current 3.0 owner, I feel attacked (joking!) Any reason you'd say that though? I will say, I had ongoing cooling and headgasket issues with my 02 3.0. My 05 has been (knock on wood) an absolute workhorse. I guess the subtle changes Subaru made between those two phases of the EZ30 paid off. I'd own multiple 05-09 3.0 Outbacks if I could. Out of the five Subarus I've owned, this car has objectively been the best one.



I'm also short, so...

 

[calicamper]

As a two-time and current 3.0 owner, I feel attacked (joking!) Any reason you'd say that though? I will say, I had ongoing cooling and headgasket issues with my 02 3.0. My 05 has been (knock on wood) an absolute workhorse. I guess the subtle changes Subaru made between those two phases of the EZ30 paid off. I'd own multiple 05-09 3.0 Outbacks if I could. Out of the five Subarus I've owned, this car has objectively been the best one.

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I'm also short, so...

The 3.6 is a totally different engine than the 3.0. The 3.0 they found it hot spotted under medium to heavy load, the fix was premium fuel only which luckily avoided pre ignition. But it was short on power and thirsty given its displacement. The 3.6 was a huge improvement on fuel consumption only needs regular zero benefit to using premium and power bump.

 

[Battle]

The 3.6 is a totally different engine than the 3.0. The 3.0 they found it hot spotted under medium to heavy load, the fix was premium fuel only which luckily avoided pre ignition. But it was short on power and thirsty given its displacement. The 3.6 was a huge improvement on fuel consumption only needs regular zero benefit to using premium and power bump.

Solid points. I have thought about 3.6 and six-speed swapping mine down the road for all those reasons included.

 

[paroxysym]

I'm 6'4" and the OB is not an option. The roofline is angled down so sharply. I feel like I'm in a Tacoma with the seats too close to the floor. The Forester is much easier for me. The seat bottoms are a bit short for my long legs too.
My friend's CVT 2019 Forester is getting 28 mpg in town and at times 33 mpg freeway.
My other buddy owns a Subaru dealership so I get to test drive with him circumventing the snakes. He sells every every Sube he gets in. In California it's the new eco-friendly vehicle so the young people can feel pc.

At 6’6” the Forster seat bottoms were terrible. I feel like the OB seats give much more adjustability and are tolerable for longer drives. I do like how far off the ground the forester seats are but lack of thigh support makes me wonder how annoying that would be on a long drive

 

[billiebob]

Subarus are absolutely the best AWDs out there. Towing tho I'd only go with a 3.6R Outback. We have had a Forester, Legacy 3.6R and now an all in Crosstrek. I'm not sure I'd tow more than 1 JetSki or Sled with any of them but they are awesome winter vehicles. For mud and forestry roads with a trailer I'd sooner have an Xterra or FourRunner or ......

What are you planning to tow????

Our 3.6R always got better than 30mpg.... never towed with it tho.

I tow lots, almost daily for work, one thing I have learned, no matter what you tow as soon as you hit the highway that incredible EPA fuel mileage rating gets cut in half. I almost bought a new F150 eco thing, then I found out towing 2K# it was no better than my TJR so I saved $30K and still use my TJ for work.

 

[DaveInDenver]

At 6’6” the Forster seat bottoms were terrible. I feel like the OB seats give much more adjustability and are tolerable for longer drives. I do like how far off the ground the forester seats are but lack of thigh support makes me wonder how annoying that would be on a long drive

I think ergonomics are too individual to really say. I'm 6'1" and feel the 2017 2.5i (the most base model) Forester seats are plenty comfortable and the higher trim must surely be better. My comparison is a 2008 Tacoma TRD (those are truly marginal for the highest trim) and a 1991 Toyota truck with SR5 Sport seats from a 1992 4Runner (excellent). We also have a 2002 Jetta and when that car dies the seats from it are going in my Tacoma, they are good. The upside of the tall, boxy interior in the Forester is the sight lines are excellent, low dash, big windows, sloping hood.

 

[MiamiC70]

3.6L OB

 

[calicamper]

At 6’6” the Forster seat bottoms were terrible. I feel like the OB seats give much more adjustability and are tolerable for longer drives. I do like how far off the ground the forester seats are but lack of thigh support makes me wonder how annoying that would be on a long drive

The 2010 and newer OB oddly enough is very popular with tall parents given its one of the rare mid sized vehicles a rear facing kids seat and a 6footer can fit in. I have a few buddies that bought it because it was the only midsized vehicle they tested that they actually fit in.

 

[calicamper]

I think ergonomics are too individual to really say. I'm 6'1" and feel the 2017 2.5i (the most base model) Forester seats are plenty comfortable and the higher trim must surely be better. My comparison is a 2008 Tacoma TRD (those are truly marginal for the highest trim) and a 1991 Toyota truck with SR5 Sport seats from a 1992 4Runner (excellent). We also have a 2002 Jetta and when that car dies the seats from it are going in my Tacoma, they are good. The upside of the tall, boxy interior in the Forester is the sight lines are excellent, low dash, big windows, sloping hood.

Really? I question your seat fit logic that Jetta has super narrow and short seat bases. Even my 5ft 10in 170lb frame I hated our 01 Jetta top trim 1.8T seats. They were terrible for thigh support and narrow at the shoulders.

 

[Rbertalotto]

Wow! Awesome advise! But you Subaru folks love to drive these cars. Trying to find a 2010-2014 with less that 100,000+ miles is a real challenge!

 

[Rbertalotto]

What are you planning to tow????

A small, 1000# camping trailer with a RTT. 15" wheels for low rolling resistance. 200# hitch weight

When towing with my two wheel drive, V6 Toyota Venza, my MPG goes down from 26 to 24 MPG......Should I expect the same with the Subaru?

 

[DaveInDenver]

Really? I question your seat fit logic that Jetta has super narrow and short seat bases. Even my 5ft 10in 170lb frame I hated our 01 Jetta top trim 1.8T seats. They were terrible for thigh support and narrow at the shoulders.

Not sure comfort is a completely logical measurement. I hate the feeling of sliding around in a seat.

You may not be familiar with the 4Runner buckets I use as a high water mark but they had kidney wings that you could snug to your sides, the bottoms tilted up and down. There was of course lower back lumbar support and the head rest tilted. I imagine they might be similar to what you'd find Recaro sports car seats would be plus all the adjustment gave options to change on long road trips. Which since that truck was slow and loud (no A/C, windows down on the Interstate!) at least your perch was comfortable.

My Tacoma seats feel like a mushy split bench seat to me and the Forester seats are better primarily because the foam is supportive. Our Jetta seats in comparison have some side support at least so it doesn't feel like I'm banging left and right. Of course I've never had the Jetta off road so I'm only speculating. They certainly can't be any worse than the Tacoma but they do raise and lower, which would be very useful I think in my Tacoma. The stock seating position is a bit too high for me and too low for my wife.

 

[calicamper]

A small, 1000# camping trailer with a RTT. 15" wheels for low rolling resistance. 200# hitch weight

When towing with my two wheel drive, V6 Toyota Venza, my MPG goes down from 26 to 24 MPG......Should I expect the same with the Subaru?

Pretty much. My 4x6 at about 1300lbs no roof gear on the Subaru ran 21-23mpg trips. Bikes on the roof knocked us down to 18mpg trip averages. Without trailer rare low speed trips 32mpg typical trips 26-28mpg with the 2.5L.

 

[Rbertalotto]

Been looking within 100 miles of where I live......6cy with standard transmission is like finding a Unicorn! Only found one 2010-2014 with under 60,000 miles and it was Brown.......Don't like brown cars, sorry. And nearly everything I'm finding has white interior! For an off road sometimes vehicle, what were they thinking?

Every car over two or three years old has high mileage. Most upwards of 100K.... Cripe, I'm seeing three year old cars with 188K miles! Where is everybody going!

If I could find a 2014, OB, 6cyl, standard, white exterior with black or tan interior and under 60K miles....I'd buy it!

 

[DaveInDenver]

Been looking within 100 miles of where I live......6cy with standard transmission is like finding a Unicorn! Only found one 2010-2014 with under 60,000 miles and it was Brown.......Don't like brown cars, sorry. And nearly everything I'm finding has white interior! For an off road sometimes vehicle, what were they thinking?

Every car over two or three years old has high mileage. Most upwards of 100K.... Cripe, I'm seeing three year old cars with 188K miles! Where is everybody going!

If I could find a 2014, OB, 6cyl, standard, white exterior with black or tan interior and under 60K miles....I'd buy it!

Your dilemma is why we ended up buying ours new. We wanted reasonably low miles (we ended up letting the odometer criteria slide to 100k) and a stick shift. We found so few and even the private party ones were priced ridiculously high. In this case you won't find anything other than WRX from Subaru with a stick anymore so you just have to content yourself to wait and open the search distance probably.