- Roomy on the inside
- Compact on the outside
- Full-time all-wheel drive
- Super wide hatch opening
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard
- Standard EyeSight safety suite
- Pricing starts at $24,495 (plus $1,010 destination) | Price yours
The Subaru Forester has once again earned a spot on KBB’s list of 12 Best Family Cars, this time for the 2020 model year. No surprise, really. This 5-seat Subaru is a beautifully built all-wheel drive crossover SUV. It boasts excellent interior room, an impressive standard safety suite, excellent fuel economy and just enough ground clearance (8.7 inches) to allow for some fun weekend exploring on dirt roads. Indeed, this Subaru is a safe and practical family hauler. It’s neither too large nor too small but has a large cargo area and plenty of headroom for taller drivers. Perhaps most significant, the 2.5-liter flat-4 boxer engine has an appealing aural character. That exhaust note separates the Forester from the legions of CR-Vs, Rogues, and RAV4s on the road.
EyeSight Safety
So, what does the 2020 Forester’s standard EyeSight Safety suite include? Lots. EyeSight comes with adaptive cruise control, which takes much of the strain out of highway driving and forward collision mitigation. This is a fancy name describes a system that will apply the brakes automatically if it senses a potential forward collision. In today’s world of distracted driving, this is a good thing, a potential lifesaver and a bit of comfort when your teenager has borrowed the car for the night. EyeSight, which also keeps the Forester centered in its lane, is standard in all 2020 Foresters, so you don’t have to order an upmarket model to get it.
Driving the 2020 Forester
Here’s what we said in our Expert Review of the 2020 Subaru Forester: “Motivated by an adequate 182 horsepower, the 2020 Forester can make it up mountain roads without too much effort. The ride quality is well-calibrated, providing comfort that’s balanced by enough control to keep the Forester from leaning too much through quick curves. That’s impressive, given the almost nine inches of ground clearance.
“Cornering talents are enhanced by a torque-vectoring system that attenuates individual wheel speeds for optimum stability. The electrically assisted steering might seem a little heavy at first. But it only takes a few minutes to become acclimated.
“Although few potential Subaru buyers will be deterred, a CVT is never the transmission of an enthusiast’s dreams. They tend to drone and react slowly. That said, the unit in the new Forester is about as good as a CVT gets. It’s quiet in operation and will shift among its simulated ratios in accordance with throttle action.”
Boxer power
While most families probably aren’t that concerned with the type of engine they have in their vehicle, we suspect Subaru Forester owners take delight in having something that’s different: a horizontally opposed flat-4 powerplant. With 182 horsepower, this 2.5-liter may not overwhelm you with power, but it gets the job done while being mounted low in the chassis for good handling. Moreover, it mates to a CVT that works surprisingly well. The response in Sport mode is particularly sharp. The Sport and Touring versions boast a manual mode with shift paddles that offer seven simulated gears. While this may sound unusual, it works well.
Also in the flat-4’s favor: The 2020 Subaru Forester gets excellent fuel economy. It’s rated by the EPA at 25 mpg City/33 mpg Highway, which makes family weekend trips remarkably easy on the wallet, something we can all get behind.
More 2020 Subaru Forester
Build and price your own 2020 Subaru Forester to see this week’s Fair Purchase Price, 5-Year Cost to Own and more, or check out the see Subaru Forester models for sale near you.
