I bet you weren’t expecting these RESULTS! New Subaru Forester petrol AWD review Australia

25 thoughts on “I bet you weren’t expecting these RESULTS! New Subaru Forester petrol AWD review Australia”

1. Older subarus are serious gas guzzlers.

2. I have a petrol 2020 Forester used mainly for rural running at the posted speed limits. I get a consistent 6.8-6.9 L/100km recorded over years. Published road tests of Foresters get high 7s to high 8s on rural running. Which shows, I believe, that road testers think they are Clarkson and Hammond. They drive cars hard. The Grand Tour duo are testing performance car and itis how to test such cars. It is not the way to test cars that exist simply to provide transport. They should be tested for the roles they are intended to fulfil. When I was looking for a new SUV, the Forester's slower 0-60 times were irrelevant. It was not going to be used for drag racing and it is more than adequate to keep up with suburban traffic and for safe rural overtaking. Better that any of its dozen predecessors. Try overtaking in a 2002 1.2L Polo with two up and the air con on. You will want an empty road to the horizon for that manoeuvre.

3. As a current satisfied long term Subaru owner, I will buy the hybrid mainly for the change over to the Atkinson cycle. That is for the possible long term benefits and reliability that the hybrid has over the non hybrid. Less fuel is a bonus but not as important to me as some. Spare tyre is a pain though, we will just throw a space saver in the back. I like the Subaru hybrid drive train configuration better than the Rav 4 as well.

4. Call me a sucker for punishment, but I only own Subis and Alfas (two of each at the moment – and total of five Subis and 4 Alfas since 2012). Ignore the haters, Subis just do what they say on the tin. After three Fozzies, the wife now drives a '25 Crosstrek, and my daily is a lifted '02 Outback 2.5 manual with almost 280,000km on the clock which still gets 9L/100km. Plus it'll go anywhere I need it to go (it's got hi-lo dual range trans too), I can service it in my driveway, everything comes apart and goes back together again logically, and everything still works like new – even the AC and electrics. We would have got the new Fozz, but the reality is we no longer need its extra size anymore (boy have they grown since our first MY'12) and the Crosstrek is much better suited to the wife's needs. Oh yeah – and they are all built like brick s..houses (confirmed by personal experience in a very major accident). Safest things on the road.

5. Every Subaru I’ve ever driven drives like a brick and is about as tolerable to look at as my ex mother in law.

6. Bag hooks on the ceiling? They’re child seat anchor points 😂. Auto steering? It’s the lane keep assist.

7. Comparing a Subaru Forester with a Jay who? Good luck with resale of any Chinese brand which probably won’t exist in Australia in 5 years time let alone warranty support, ask a few BYD owners how they’re going with parts and insurance 😂

8. I think the petrol only option is the right one. The Forester is a good prospect for a new car, it does have off-road chops, far more than its class competition.

9. Subaru’s lost their way with the styling of this car. It has a BOXER engine, so why is the front so chunky and tall? Clearly, like so many other manufacturers, they are pandering to the American craze for bulk. It’s so disappointing that Sbuaru threw away the opportunity to create a slimmer, more aerodynamic profile just to follow a styling trend that will prove a dead end. For those that don’t know what a boxer engine is, it has the cylinders horizontal with two cylinders lying flat on one side of the crank shaft and two opposite them on the other side of the crank shaft. There is NO NEED to use all this vertical height. if you don’t believe me, Google the Volkswagen Variant 1600 (1960-1973) or even the Chevrolet Corvair Wagon of 1961-1962; they both had boxer engines BLOW a decent size rear trunk. It can be done, and Subaru is selling us short with this weird front styling that increases air resistance and therefore increases fuel consumption. Side note, I am a Subaru fan, but not of this car’s styling.

10. To me that's a Wagon not an SUV

11. Not in the same class I know, but my Corolla Cross hybrid gives me 4.4litres per hundred k's per tank. Thats good.

12. you'll save about $400 a year on fuel for this car (hybrid vs petrol). i havent looked at pricing, but i wonder if the purchase price difference, sale price difference, finance payments, and insurance costs, end up making any sense?

13. That consumption is a joke – I’m regularly achieving 7.5 – 8.5 country driving in my 350k 2010 Discovery 4.

14. Looks old😂 in 2026

15. Great channel with quality reviews. Thank you.

16. Gutless wonder. Subaru engine tech is 10 years out of date

17. No full sized spare, or any spare, in most of the hybrids from what I've seen as well as all the extra complexity means a pass on them.

18. Still most underrated car in this market segment

19. Looks like someone on job exchange from the KIA Tasman team had a hand in the styling.

20. 13:23 is that an incandescent bulb for the vanity mirror? in this day and age, how is that still a cheaper options?

21. 5:23 Fist – is it ugly – especially from the side? The excessive claddings on the wheel arch make the wheel arches look bigger then they are, which in contrast make the wheels look too small. The proportion is also obviously out.

22. We own a 19 year old SG Forester with only 150k on it. In that time, apart from a few front CV joints about every 5yrs, the only mechanical repairs are a radiator at about 15 yrs and a starter motor only last week. The 2.5 petrol, properly serviced, has great reliability and dependability. Fuel consumption is not class leading but the Hybrid is an unknown for me. If you are going to flip it within the warranty period then fine, but if you intend to keep it long term who knows what sort of gremlins will show there head after 5 years and will you still get parts after 10, 15 years and at what cost. I just don't know. I love Subarus. I've owned 5 of them but I would be leaning towards the diesel Kia personally.

23. Using the figures you gave the hybrid saved more fuel as a percentage than the petrol over the official figures, It still doesn't mean it's worth the cost, just pointing it out.

24. Who are you kidding? 9.3l /100kph combined is rubbish. Around town, where most people do their driving, it must be in the low double digits.

25. I have the previous (SK) Forester. My long term average fuel consumption is 7.8l/100km. So pretty good!

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