The redesigned Subaru Forester is bigger, filled with advanced safety features and has a roomier, more luxurious interior than ever before.
Making its world debut last week at the New York auto show, the Forester demonstrates that Subaru Corp. is not afraid to enhance one of its bread-and-butter products.
The Forester, currently the best-selling nameplate for Subaru Canada and second-best seller for Subaru of America, has been crucial to the Japanese brand's sales growth in the North American market since it arrived here in the late 1990s.
The 2019 model redesign mainly focused on its interior and safety equipment. The new version is immediately identifiable as a Forester, given its familiar shape and attributes. But inside are new seats up front, and all Foresters except the base standard trim come with an eight-inch touch-screen infotainment system.
The wheelbase now stands at 2,667 mm (105.1 inches), Subaru says, up from 2,639 mm (103.9 inches), with rear-seat legroom growing by 35.5 mm (1.4 inches). Subaru says the Forester will be more spacious overall, especially when it comes to headroom as well as hip and shoulder room.
The cabin will also be quieter, a result of joining the Subaru Global Platform.
"The interior is really the differentiator for this car," Subaru of America CEO Tom Doll told Automotive News.
The top-of-the-line Touring trim, with a rich shade of brown, is the most visual display of Subaru's new interior. It includes a 10-way power driver's seat, an eight-way power front passenger seat, heated rear seats and a heated steering wheel to round out what the automaker is calling "the most luxurious Forester ever."
DRIVER FOCUS NEW