It's hard to fault the new fantastic family Forester!
By Tace Clifford
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BabyDrive Verdict
The long-awaited all-new Subaru Forester is here and I get to test it for its family friendliness for BabyDrive! I am a Forester owner and IÂ didn't find too much to fault in the previous generation Forester, so without bias lets see how good this new one is as a BabyDrive!!
I am always VERY eager to test each new Subaru Forester for BabyDrive as we have one as our family car!! It's not as clean and modern as the shiny showroom car tested here though!! Ours, Gump, is old and battered and has carried us and our memories around Australia a few times since we bought him eight years ago!
Our pre-baby selves have cheered him over sand dunes, held our breath down slippery liquid dirt roads and slept on top of him in our roof tent in some of the most remote and beautiful locations!! He is also the one we brought our baby girl home in and the one she has peed all over the seats of during toilet training, has squished monster crackers into the seats and she also fondly calls him Gump too! Heart melt!!
Oh! Enough of the reminiscing!!!! Let's see how the all-new generation Forester holds up as a BabyDrive!!
Hang on a minute… they said it's all-new but apart from saying Forester in the headlights it looks pretty much the same as the old one … on the outside!! It's on the inside that you can see the Forester has really had the update.
Using the new facial recognition technology you can register a few drivers so that the car will scan your face each time you get in and remember where you had your seat, mirrors, aircon and digital display preferences and of course gives you a welcome greeting!! It is quite impressive when it works! I found probably 8/10 times it would recognise me and when it doesn't recognise your face it doesn't change anything.
This is the gimmick but it is actually used for safety too. It scans your face for drowsiness and attention too and if I turned or tilted my head to see my little rear passenger then I got a “keep your eyes on the road” warning! Which is of course great technology but how about pop a conversation mirror in so I can see my rear passengers and I wouldn't have to turn my head??! Just saying!!
So onto those rear passengers… Subaru hasn't really changed much there, the previous Forester stacked up as a pretty good BabyDrive in that sense and fitted three child seats easily in the back seats: The Britax Maxi Guard Pro in the central seat, with the rear-facing Britax Graphene on one side and Britax Unity infant capsule on the other side.
There are three top tethers in the seat backs that are easily accessible through the boot and within clearly labelled, plastic guides. The ISOFix are in the two outer rear seats, and although they are not within plastic guides I still found them easy to connect to. The ISOFix points are concealed behind flaps of seat fabric, stuck down with velcro which for me is the weakest link in the whole car! I think over time the velcro will collect dust, fluff and food and will also easily get caught on clothes and ruin them
With rear-facing child seats installed, the legroom was still really good in the front and a 184cm passenger could still sit in front of them.
Storage was quite good inside the Subaru Forester and hasn't really changed; the door bins were all well-sized to hold a large refillable water bottle, the cup holders in the back held 600ml and smaller vessels well too, but the front ones were not so practical and disposable and reusable coffee cups both rattled around as they weren't held securely.
There was a convenient well in front of the gear lever that I found good for a phone and there is a glasses case in the ceiling although the glove box was not enormous. The central console storage box had a phone and coin tray in the top, the same as the previous models, but it wouldn't hold phones bigger than my old iPhone SE!
The first improvement over the previous Forester I noticed about the boot was the floor was flat and there was no big slope at the edge. The new Forester boot fitted 15 shopping bags when empty, which was two more than the previous Forester. It also held all three Mountain Buggy strollers and the Britax tandem stroller with differing amounts of shopping bags alongside them.
The boot floor was nice and flat, suitable for an emergency nappy change and there are shopping bag hooks on both sides of the boot.
The media system is where I noticed the most change in the Forester, it is a nice and more modern system to use, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio. The sat-nav is easily navigated and the announcements easily muted too.
The reversing cameras are much better and not only do you get the large main screen image but two extra views on the screen above as well, which you could change using a button down in the central console. The old Forester had this second screen too, I am glad they kept it as I found the left-hand kerb image very useful.
There were rear parking sensors in the new Forester, which the old ones didn't have. I couldn't find a way to turn them off, just within the screen in front of the steering wheel you could adjust the volume to max, mid or min.
The new Eyesight system in the Forester is constantly scanning the road ahead for cars moving in and out of your lane and around you, scanning your face and it all felt a little over the top and all kept beeping and lights flashing, I felt a bit like an 80's tech movie!! I wasn't sure how much of it is just the same technology that is in all cars but just with flashing green lights added so that you know it is there?!
I found the new Forester a great car to drive, it is smooth, comfortable and responsive at lower speeds. I am glad they have not messed around with the comfort and drive of the Forester because I still love getting in Gump after driving all these test cars!
Overall the new Forester was a great BabyDrive, the only real dislike I have is the velcro patches used to cover the ISOFix, they look really makeshift and will definitely catch on your clothes and get fluff etc trapped in them over time!!
The previous Subaru Forester scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2013 and has seven airbags as standard, but the new Forester is yet to be rated.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
So… How big is the boot of the New Subaru Forester?
When it is empty I could fit 15 shopping bags in the boot, which is two more than the old model Forester.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted with six shopping bags beside it, that's four more than the old Forester.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with seven shopping bags beside it.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with seven shopping bags beside it, two more than the old Forester.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with 12 shopping bags beside it, two more than in the old Forester.
Or you could fit a medium sized dog in there!
One of the main improvements I think is that the boot floor is now nice and flat and carpeted so it's good for an emergency nappy change. The retractable roller blind has the flap of fabric covering the gap between the seats and the bar which I am not a fan of but there are now little ledges on either side of the boot that help prevent it falling down into the boot.
Storage in the cabin was okay. The front door bins are still nice and large and will hold a large refillable water bottle, a 600ml bottle and my wallet.
There are two cup holders in the central console, they held a reusable and disposable coffee cup.
Behind them was a little ledge I sometimes popped my glasses or phone in and the central console storage box is not a bad size; it is square and deep and has two USBs, a 12V socket and AUX inside it too. There is a tray at the top which would hold a phone but only one of the smaller ones and there are some coin holders there too.
In front of the gear lever is a rubber-lined well that would hold my phone and the 12V, AUX and USB sockets are in here too.
The glove box is not enormous in the Subaru Forester. It would hold my wallet and iPad, but with the manual in there too but it only just closed!
The doors all have big storage wells in them where the handles are, which is a great BabyDrive feature. I find them really useful for putting keys or whatever my daughter has in her hands when I am loading her into the car.
In the back of the Subaru Forester's front seats, there are fancy map pockets with three compartments that will hold an iPad and phone but not conceal them.
In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two good sized cup holders. They would hold a re-usable or disposable coffee cup and they have rubber flaps in them that help to grip a smaller 600ml or baby bottle.
The door bins in the back are not as big as in the front but they will hold a large refillable water bottle.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
So… How noisy is the new Subaru Forester?
All this new technology and media system update comes with plenty of beeping!! The Eyesight technology is constantly scanning with red, amber and green lights, beeping when someone changes lane in front or around you, or when the road lines aren't readable or when I move my head so I feel like the car is constantly scanning, assessing and beeping it's like being in an 80's tech movie! I am not sure how necessary all the theatre is, because other cars have similar types of technology just without all the lights and beeps. It's just more irritation for the frazzled parent driver and disturbing for their sleeping child in the back!
I thought based on the screen image when reversing that you could press the bottom right of the screen to turn the parking sensors off but you can't! I could only find a way to lower the volume within a menu in the screen in front of the steering wheel. I didn't find a way to actually turn off the sensors.
The camera image is larger than in the old Forester, the image is quite clear too and you also get two more camera angles on the little screen up on the dashboard.
I found you could alter these camera views using a button down in the central console.
There is lane departure warning in the new Forester which seems to beep constantly, I presume to alert you every time the road markings are not sufficient for it to read them. I found it a bit much, to be honest, and didn't want to be being constantly told! You could turn it off on a button on the right of the steering wheel.
The indicators are nice and quiet in the new Forester.
The Sat-Nav voice can be easily muted on the map screen by pressing the icon on the right-hand side, which is a nice and easy action while driving.
The media screen beeps each time you touch it, but you can turn that this off within the screen's settings.
The Forester media system is so much more up to date and easy to navigate, it now has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is fantastic and makes it so much easier to connect to and use.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The windows of the Forester have quite a noisy mechanism and they close with a loud thud. The doors feel quite stiff and do close with a bit of a thud but are fairly quiet to open. The doors and windows can both be locked from the driver's door control panel. I found you can come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the car without sounding any alarms.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!! SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The auto engine cut out button is by your right knee, to stop the engine turning on and off at lights and junctions when you come to a stop.
I find this function really disturbing for sleeping babies, you have just got your baby to sleep in the car and you stop at lights and the engine turns off sometimes they will stay asleep but when the engine shudders to a start again it shakes baby awake and all your efforts are ruined!! Even coming to a stop at lights with the engine running can be enough to wake a sleeping child so turning the engine off and on again will definitely do it! I have driven routes I know have roundabouts rather than lights just to avoid coming to a stop for any length of time!!
The seatbelt removal alarm makes a ‘gling, gling' sound and a light alerts you on the dashboard too.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
So… How many child seats fit on the new Subaru Forester?
There are three top tether points across the rear seat backrests of the Forester, easily accessible through the boot. They are within plastic guides that are clearly marked and which I found easy to connect to.
The two outer rear seats have ISOFix points behind seat fabric flaps between the base and seat backs, that are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to connect to when installing the child seats. The fabric flaps are held down with velcro, which looks really bad and I am sure will catch on clothes and fill with child crumbs, fluff and spills. This is my one real complaint about the whole car!!
I managed to fit three child seats into the Forester really nicely: The rear-facing Britax Unity infant capsule and rear-facing Britax Graphene in the two outer seats and the forward facing Maxi Guard Pro in the central seat. I did have to use the seatbelts for all three seats rather than the ISOFix in order to move the child seats out to the edges of the seat base. The central seatbelt comes from the ceiling which is a little trickier and obstructs visibility ore out of the rear window.
Posting bub into their child seat from inside and outside the car is really nice and easy in the Forester. The ceiling is high, making it easy from inside and there are lovely big open doorways that give you plenty of room for posting bub in from outside.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed. The seats are upholstered with woven fabric which would be hard to wipe clean than leather.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
So… How comfortable is the new Subaru Forester? And How good is the Subaru Forester to drive?
In the front of the Forester, the seats are nice and comfortable and I can have a ponytail in the front seat because the headrests are adjustable which is fantastic!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable and there is ample headroom. The central seat is slightly raised and there is a small hump in the footwell in the middle but it was not too bad to rest your feet on or to straddle. The seats are comfortable but you can feel the hard central backrest because of the fold-down armrest with cup holders.
For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and one at either end.
There are rear air vents in the back of the central console box that are reachable from the front while driving and two USB charging points for rear passengers too.
The controls for the aircon are three large dials on the central dashboard, which I found nice and easy to locate and use whilst driving.
There are lit vanity mirrors in both visors in the front and the visors are extendable too. There is also a glasses case in the ceiling.
The interior lights in the rear are in the ceiling centrally above the backrests of the front seats which are not too far back so I can reach them from the driver's seat while driving!
I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
Visibility in the Forester is excellent for both driver and passengers, the windows are enormous! The wing mirrors have been moved back slightly and a little triangular window put in front in each side to give extra visibility too.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Forester was simple to park as the visibility and cameras was so good!
There are handles above both rear doors which are well positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers.
The door panels in the new Forester are woven fabric as well as the seats so they would not be easily wiped clean and would get child spills and crumbs ingrained quite quickly.
There were branded carpet floor mats in the model I tested.
The Forester has keyless entry and a powered tailgate which has a silent opening and closing and a lock press button function too.
Scoring 94% for Adult Occupancy Protection and 86% for Child Occupancy Protection.
Seven airbags come as standard; there is a driver’s knee airbag as well as dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side curtain airbags for the front and the rear side passengers.
As standard all models of the new Subaru Forester come with all-wheel drive (AWD), electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), brake assist, traction control system (TCS), active torque vectoring system, 4-wheel disc brakes, auto vehicle hold (AVH), electronic parking brake, rear view reverse camera, blind spot monitor (BSM), lane change assist (LCA), rear cross traffic alert (RCTA), seat belt warning lights for all seats.
All models of the new Subaru Forester also come with EyeSight® Driver Assist system as standard, which consists of adaptive cruise control, emergency lane keep assist, lane departure warning, lane sway warning, lane keep assist, lead vehicle start alert, pre-collision braking system, pre-collision brake assist, pre-collision throttle management, brake light recognition, speed limiter, electronic throttle control system (ETC), X-Mode and tyre pressure monitoring system.
The 2.5i-L and 2.5i Premium models come with a driver monitoring system called Driver Focus that includes drowsiness warning, distraction warning and facial recognition.
These two models also have adaptive driving beam (ADB), front view monitor (FVM), reverse automatic braking (RAB) and side view monitor (SVM).
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
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19 Comments
We are very interested in the 2019 Forester- would you recommend that over the 2019 Outback? We have had a Subaru in the past and loved it. We now have two children(maybe three in the future) and want this car to be our family car for the next 10 plus years. Would love to hear your opinion- or any other cars you would recommend-thanks in advance
Hi Halina, I think they are both great cars and they both fit three child seats. I would say if you are looking at buying a new car then the Forester is the more modern out of the two. 🙂
Hi Thanks for your reviews dedicated towards family orientated vehicles.
We are currently shopping around and trying to decide between the Mazda 6 wagon,Outback or new forester.
The thing we like about the forester and Outback is the internal space and also tech in new forester seems v good,looks like you were able to get 3 child seats in we only have 2 children 1 baby and 1 toddler was thinking looks like you might be bale to squeeze a small person in back seat with two child seats in both the Forester and Outback for small trips?
Thanks again for all of your reviews..
Thank you Anthony I am glad you are finding my reviews useful 🙂 You would be able to squeeze a middle passenger in between the child seats in the Outback and Forester.
Hi, Could you please tell me if you could fit 3 forward facing seats in the Forester? We’re trying to choose between the new Rav4 or the Forester. Thanks 🙂
We have a 2016 forester and we love it but we were only just able to squeeze three car seats across the back and I was told by the installer that as soon as I need to turn the baby FF (which will be sooner rather than later as both adult passengers are very tall) then we won’t be able to fit three car seats across FF.
Do you know if the 2019 is different and can fit three FF fully harnessed seats?
Hi Ursula,
Space across the back was similar in the latest one, In both versions I had to use the seatbelts rather than Isofix to squeeze the three seats in
Hi there, my husband and i are looking to upgrade my car as we are expecting. What are the servicing costs and petrol consumption like on the Forester? I drive about an hr each way to work abd love the forester but also conscious of the petrol costs etc?
This Forester averaged 9.0L/100km during our week with it, so pretty average but on long motorway trips it was super efficient, even with the aircon blasting during a heatwave: 5.6L/100km. Amazing!
Servicing on this model is every year or 12,500km. Last time I checked, Subaru sold a pre-paid servicing plan for about $1300 for the first three years ($430-ish per year) or $2400 for five years (it works out more per year because the 48 months/50,000km service is a big one).
Hello! I have 6 year old twins that are in Britax Kidfix III seat, and one baby on the Britax Dualfix M i size and wondered if they fit in the Forester ok? Using 2 isofix and one without it.
I have this car and love it. Expecting my first baby soon. Do I need to turn off the side airbags if I put the car seat on the side? Images show the side airbags do extend to the back seats but I can’t tell if they open out a lot or if I can even turn them off. Thanks!
Was there a response to this? Would love to know if it can fit x3 FF, whilst initially I will have x1 rear facing eventually all will be forward facing and I don’t want to have to keep changing cars!
We are very interested in the 2019 Forester- would you recommend that over the 2019 Outback? We have had a Subaru in the past and loved it. We now have two children(maybe three in the future) and want this car to be our family car for the next 10 plus years. Would love to hear your opinion- or any other cars you would recommend-thanks in advance
Hi Halina, I think they are both great cars and they both fit three child seats. I would say if you are looking at buying a new car then the Forester is the more modern out of the two. 🙂
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I have enjoyed reading many of your reviews 😊
Hi Thanks for your reviews dedicated towards family orientated vehicles.
We are currently shopping around and trying to decide between the Mazda 6 wagon,Outback or new forester.
The thing we like about the forester and Outback is the internal space and also tech in new forester seems v good,looks like you were able to get 3 child seats in we only have 2 children 1 baby and 1 toddler was thinking looks like you might be bale to squeeze a small person in back seat with two child seats in both the Forester and Outback for small trips?
Thanks again for all of your reviews..
Thank you Anthony I am glad you are finding my reviews useful 🙂 You would be able to squeeze a middle passenger in between the child seats in the Outback and Forester.
Hi, Could you please tell me if you could fit 3 forward facing seats in the Forester? We’re trying to choose between the new Rav4 or the Forester. Thanks 🙂
We have a 2016 forester and we love it but we were only just able to squeeze three car seats across the back and I was told by the installer that as soon as I need to turn the baby FF (which will be sooner rather than later as both adult passengers are very tall) then we won’t be able to fit three car seats across FF.
Do you know if the 2019 is different and can fit three FF fully harnessed seats?
Hi Ursula,
Space across the back was similar in the latest one, In both versions I had to use the seatbelts rather than Isofix to squeeze the three seats in
Please also check our review of the 2018 Forester and see if it helps
https://babydrive.com.au/reviews/suvs/2018-subaru-forester/
Hi there, my husband and i are looking to upgrade my car as we are expecting. What are the servicing costs and petrol consumption like on the Forester? I drive about an hr each way to work abd love the forester but also conscious of the petrol costs etc?
This Forester averaged 9.0L/100km during our week with it, so pretty average but on long motorway trips it was super efficient, even with the aircon blasting during a heatwave: 5.6L/100km. Amazing!
Servicing on this model is every year or 12,500km. Last time I checked, Subaru sold a pre-paid servicing plan for about $1300 for the first three years ($430-ish per year) or $2400 for five years (it works out more per year because the 48 months/50,000km service is a big one).
Hello! I have 6 year old twins that are in Britax Kidfix III seat, and one baby on the Britax Dualfix M i size and wondered if they fit in the Forester ok? Using 2 isofix and one without it.
Thanks!
Camila
Hi Camila, I’m afraid I have no experience with these two child seats but you can compare their dimensions to the child seats I have fitted. This will help you- https://babydrive.com.au/articles/will-my-child-seats-fit-in-my-car/
Hi. I am looking to buy this car but was wondering which version you tested? Was it the top of the line S? Or L model? Thanks, Sally.
Premium
I have this car and love it. Expecting my first baby soon. Do I need to turn off the side airbags if I put the car seat on the side? Images show the side airbags do extend to the back seats but I can’t tell if they open out a lot or if I can even turn them off. Thanks!
In the forester 2020 can you fit three car seats FF? Brutal graphene and 2x britax maxi guard pro?
I’d love to know this too!
I would love to know this too. Looking at getting 2x Britax Maxi Guard Pro FF and 1x Britax Graphene across the backseat of the 2020 Forester.
Was there a response to this? Would love to know if it can fit x3 FF, whilst initially I will have x1 rear facing eventually all will be forward facing and I don’t want to have to keep changing cars!