I did a 480~ mile trip before in my 2020 Forester, averaged 36.1 mpg and made it in 1 tank of gas. Loaded with 4 people and packed trunk, pretty good for what it is!
I have a 2010, in service to me since 2014. I’ve never achieved better than 22mpg avg city hiway. Still love the car though even at $5 a gallon gas in 2022.
@@rallysauruswrex Thanks. For a while, I was scratching my head, clean air filters, clean fuel injectors etc yet, never even made the EPA listed mpg. Definitely considering one of the newer Forester models for next vehicle. I usually go used.
Just watched your CRV fwd mpg review & immediately searched for this Forester video. I'm glad I ordered the Subaru because its only 1mpg less & still gives me AWD. Very happy & thanks a ton.
We bought a new premium trim Forester in 2020. We also bought anew base trim impreza 5 door in 2018. And we bought a new premium trim Impreza in 2022. And all 3 get virtually the same mpg.
I always calculate my mileage manually and the vehicle's lie-o-meter is ALWAYS optimistic by about 2 mpg in every vehicle I've owned. That said, 32.3 mpg is great for 70 mph.
I have a 2020 Base. My reading is always 2 high too. Wish they allowed the owner to adjust it. I'd just back off 2 mpg and then the display would be very, very accurate.
I find it's impossible to fill/refill to exactly the same point. Driving 400-500 miles will largely wipe out that error, or just run the test in a running average over 3 tanks of gas. Being 1-2 mpg high is really common for the internal MPG meter. Some say there internal MPG meter is always 10-15% high which is pure BS. They can do better than that. I specifically asked Toyota and Subaru how they calculate MPG, and both said it's the number of injector pulses (a precise volume) and travelled mileage. However they said it's also variable due to the temperature of the gas because a "gallon is only a gallon at the standard temperature". So at cold temps, the internal MPG meter is always low.
Interesting MPG experiment -- thanks for doing this. But, I wonder if car manufacturers estiimate their highway MPG at 70 MPH or at a more modest MPH like 65 or 60 MPH? I've never heard/read any car manufacturer specify how fast they drobr when they calculated their highway MPG.
The manufacturers test the cars based on US EPA requirements. I use 70 MPH for my tests as a baseline to replicate a real world driving scenario that most people will probably experience on the highway.
I love my Subaru Forester 2021 but I am disappointed to find out that mine is getting 23.9 miles per gallon on the freeway. I took it to the dealer and they said that's about right because what they advertised it is in ideal conditions, and no car will give you that. The mpg advertised are all lies for all cars. The summer blend of gas lowers the mpg s even more. The service department show me to reset the trips and now the mpg s are going all over the place from 5 to 70. It's too bad that gasoline in Los Angeles CA is almost $7 per gallon and nobody is complaining. If it was the 1960s or 1970s with the gas prices and inflation hitting 9%, there would have been a revolution already.
That 23.9 mpg sounds unusually low for a Forester. I have a 2021 Forester Sport and drove 70 miles last night on the freeway and got 33 mpg. Even doing a long stretch in Wyoming @ 80 mph, with strong winds, I was still getting 27 mpg.
What they told you is bullsh*t. Plenty of Forester owners get 33 mpg on the highway all day. There are no special conditions that would make this vehicle return 10 mpg below its EPA rating. If you are keeping it at 70 or less, not passing every minute, etc, then something else is going on. You need to contact Subaru America.
I consider the Forester to be very comfortable for a long drive, I have driven several different ones on 500+ mile road trips. Here is my POV test drive on this particular car: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UzhKoEEAPyY.html
Any Forester owners having issues with oil burning issues requiring to top oil levels every 1000 miles or so? Thanks. Thinking of purchasing the '22 Limited soon.
I have had six Subarus (one Forester) and haven't experienced that sort of oil consumption with any of them. I made a full video about it recently, you can watch it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vw8A2k9RAg8.html
2018 Forester No. I check the oil every time I get gas (you're sitting there for four minutes waiting, might as well check the fluids). In 85k miles, I have had to add oil maybe three times. 2020 Outback No, but we have only had it for 7k miles.
Im only getting 26mpg with my 2023 forester sport. The computer says 29mpg. My 2019 crosstrek got real 32mpg no matter how i drove it. Not happy with it.
Honest question: in your pursuit of the actual mpg from the cars your drive, have you considered that the gas station might have some margin of error? Also, you are using the car computer to calculate the traveled distance. The tires have some degree of slippage that might return wrong numbers (minimal, but noticeable) and varying diameter depending on the tire wear. A more accurate measurement of the traveled distance would be using several GPS enabled devices and average out their measurements. I think it’s unfair to blame the vehicle’s trip computer every time you get a deviation when you’re assuming the rest of the parameters to be exact.
All of your points are valid, but unfortunately I do have limited resources to do these tests. I pay to rent the cars I review out of my own pocket, and I have limited time with them, and I also pay for the fuel and all of the equipment I have to use (cameras etc). In a perfect world I would use GPS tracking for the miles and do ten runs and average it all out etc, but I do have limited time and resources so I do the best I can with what I have right now.
Thanks for taking the time and money to do this. I wouldn’t be disappointed at doing close to the EPA mpg when you were driving at a much higher maximum and average speed. Anyway, what would be more useful would be a fuel consumption curve by also testing at maximums of 50mph and 60mph on the same route. 80mph would also be useful but probably not feasible where you tested. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States I guess that you keep the distance high so as to average out some sources of variability e.g the volume of fuel used will be much larger than the differences due to imprecise fuel refill levels - of course you could have filled to visual confirmation at some level before overflow except that overfilling is an unsafe practice. I can understand the interest in real world fuel economy tests and comparing them with the manufacturers sticker. People are either pleased or aggrieved about their mpg and like to see their position confirmed. Except that “real world” tests are not capable of proving that the EPA mandated test results are correct or not because such “real world” tests generally don’t even bother to be easily reproducible by controlling conditions. Nor do they come close to matching the precise speed variations in the EPA tests. Looking at the actual EPA Highway test there could be several differences in your controls. So I’ve included the easier to control variables below. In your case they’d be expected to increase fuel consumption by more than the difference you found: fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml Engine startup: EPA warm for max efficiency vs yours unknown. Possibly close to warm as drove to fill up. Highway speed: EPA max 60mph avg 48.3 vs your max 70 avg say 65 or 60 if compensating for speedo overestimate. So using more fuel, say 20% engine efficiency with 50% of that used for higher air resistance would be 15% higher fuel consumption e.g. 33 mpg would reduce to 29mpg. I can check that the average speed is about right because odometer at 9.23pm reads 62 miles. Somewhere after 11.03pm and before 11.22 184.3 miles is competed. If refill and pay takes 5 minutes then 122.3miles travelled in 1h54min at about 64mph. Max acceleration: EPA 3.2mph/s vs yours unknown. So probably about same on default cruise control. Temperature: EPA 68-86F avg 78 vs yours about 65 at start. So out of range but with minimal impact on fuel consumption. Air conditioning: EPA off vs yours unknown but internal temp is set to 68 so probably on. If on would use more fuel. Vehicle heater: EPA off vs yours unknown. If on could use more fuel
Hello Mark, I appreciate you taking a keen interest in my test! I try to do these tests (I have done them with several cars) in a way that controls the variables as much as I can, but admittedly it's an inexact science and it is meant to sort of replicate real-world driving. I use light throttle for acceleration, and most of the cars I test have adaptive cruise control as they are relatively new, so I set that at 70 MPH. I do have the air conditioner on, but it's usually set a temperature that is pretty close to the outside temperature so I don't think it makes a huge difference. As far as doing the tests at different speeds, I live in Southern California so trying to maintain a sustained 50 or even 60 on the freeway just isn't feasible. During the day traffic is too unpredictable, and later at night (when I do these tests) the flow of traffic is moving too fast, you'd get run off the road. I probably could do a test at 80 MPH, but for various reasons I do not. However, I previously did a similar, yet less scientific test on a 2021 Forester where I did maintain higher speeds. Here it is if you're interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IwngLNb-kT8.html
After so many rave reviews from the current Subaru owners and the internet, I decided to finally switch from Toyotas and Hondas. I got my first Forester Limited 2022 model this year. Good: I love the way it drives - smoother than any cars I previously owned. The interior is spacious and the windows/views outside are great. Bad: MPG - gas mileage is bad. I have usually gotten 3-5 miles more than claimed on any cars I have driven. I would like to think I drive efficiently (not pressing the accelerator when not needed, using cruise control where I can, staying around 70 mph on highways, ensuring proper air pressure in tires, etc.). Forester is a HUGE disappointment when it comes to MPG. I get ~22-23 in the city, ~30-31 on highways and ~26 mixed. (For comparison, in my Honda CR-V those numbers would be ~32, 38 and 34.) I did know that Forester is CVT and not modern but these numbers are pathetic. In fact, I have not driven a car in the last 25+ years that gives such a poor MPG. With gas prices being so high, this gets expensive. Every time I fill up gas, I get about the same total mileage as in CR-V but for ~4 gallons more on the Forestor! I thought I would get at least what they mention on the sticker but it's not even there. I have driven ~1600 miles now and every single time it fell short on what they claim on the sticker. Subaru needs to invest on modernizing their engines and come up with fuel-efficient cars. If not, change their MPG claim from city 26, highway 33, mixed 29 to 23-30-26 MPG so buyers are not misled.
It's important to note that Subaru's AWD system is far more capable than Honda, Toyota, etc. Those systems are running in FWD 90% of the time, but Subaru's system is always driving all 4 wheels. This burns a bit more fuel, but is better for traction and safety. Subaru's version of AWD is far better than any of their competition, which is why their customers are so loyal.
City and mixed general driving we always got around 25mpg in our 2019 Forester, but regularly got 34mpg highway only between Texas and Florida. Our 22 Ascent gets around 23mpg city and 25mpg road trips. I miss that giant range in the Forester, but enjoy driving what is essentially a big 3 row WRX CUV much more. Daily mpg is so close that actual gas cost is nearly the same.
I've always had Honda CRVs and concur with your assessment. I think the Subaru auto braking is overly aggressive in cruise mode and you lose advantage of the downhills and then it needs to hit the gas more for the uphills. Very limited experience just what I've noticed so far...
Hi I have watched a few MPG in the UK, and most seem to be around what you recorded, Being a 4-wheel drive what about Tyre ware, Our country roads in the UK are in a shocking state, what's it like in the US country roads, I have not seen any video covering this subject, Seeing that the Forester has the ability to go off-roading, I think this should be considered on general Country terms, Thanks for the video just proves most are on the same lines. Regards welshman2081
Based on my experience (I've had one Forester and my mom has had two) they are not overly hard on tires, so I would say its more down to your specific driving style, the roads/terrain the car is being driven on, and the quality of the tires themselves. My mom's current Forester did suffer a blowout when she hit a particularly nasty pothole, but that was a road issue. The roads in her area (mountainous with a lot of snow and damaged roads) can be of poor quality. Her current car has Falken ZIEX ZE001 A/S tires on it, which is what it had from the factory. They may use a different OEM tire where you are in the UK.
My 2011 Forester Limited (4AT) gets 28-30 on the highway, 24 city. When new, it got 31-33 highway. But those are the trip computer reading, which are inflated by 1-2 mpg.
My friend you are fighting a losing battle when trying to get better fuel economy any where in North America and it's mainly because of you Gasoline quality. Here in the UK/Europe our fuel back in the late 1990's the oil companies were told to remove many of the pollutants and compounds that remained in the gasoline after refining process, the result, better fuel economy, lower emissions and extended oil change intervals as a result of less contaminants in the blow by gases deteriorating the oil. Oil changes here are 8000 to 12000 mile intervals. You guys are getting screwed.
In MN My wifes2022 Limited Forester is Getting 22MPG very disappointing.Called Subaru just have to wait longer then 30 minutes so far unable to connect.What could be the problem and no its not winter it still shouldnt be that low.I have 2017 forester premium with Snow tires and I get 23.3mpg in Winter and its slowly going back up.
My best guess would be that your wife's Forester's engine just needs to break in. They do get better mileage once they have a few thousand miles on them. But its not that far off from your 2017 and I assume both cars are driven in similar conditions, so it should equal out after a while.
@@CarDietrich They said no need to Run Diagnostics.1 they said I bought in End of December to many below -0 days are in the Average mpg ,2 My wifes drives to much in city not enough on Highway .3 Tires where over inflated 40-42 they brought it down 36 all .4 they reset the trips did oil change and said I should drive it because I use Highway offten.To see what AvG mpg is in Early May and they would definitely put it on Diagnostic and get their best Automotive Engineer on it if they couldnt fix it they file a formal complaint to Subaru and assured me no matter what it be a Win for me . I will post again May 😂.Tk cares
So…who is right? The car measures injection cycles so it is a little optimistic. You may be off because you may not have put the exact amount of gas in that equaled what you used. There is always a margin of error.
I am right, or closer to right anyway. I say that because I have personally had six Subarus (2010 Impreza, 2013 Legacy, 2016 Forester XT, 2017 WRX STI, 2020 Impreza, 2021 Legacy XT) and I have done similar measurements multiple times in all of those cars, and on average the car's displayed average is 1.5 MPG higher than what I get from the trip computer and the gas receipt and the division.
@@CarDietrich not trying to start a comment war, but you reply extremely confidently on this question. It would be very easy to assume you’re just making the same consistent errors in every vehicle. I’m not saying you’re wrong in your numbers. But saying there’s always a margin of error is correct for all parties involved
In my experience, the vehicle's lie o meter is ALWAYS off by about 2 mpg. This has been the case with every vehicle I've owned. I could have predicted this result.
