 What is up you guys, welcome back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I am Gold Pony, I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the new 2021 Subaru Forester courtesy of Apple Subaru in York PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so as I am sitting at this red light, wanted to check this Subaru Forester out today because several changes actually for the 2021 model year. Of course, excellent resale value really with any Subaru in general for that matter. Great reliability. You can check out a Consumer Reports magazine to see that specifically. The Forester has amazing reliability. And of course with Subaru's, you have the very best all wheel drive system in existence and that has been proven. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. So as you can imagine, there are actually several different trim levels for the 2021 Forester. First one being the base setup starting at $24,795, premium for $27,795, sport for $29,395, limited for $31,395, and lastly the touring starting at $34,895. But I will say regardless of trim level that you go with, power plant on the Forester is going to be the same. Powering this beast is going to be a 2.5 liter direct injected, horizontally opposed Subaru boxer engine, putting out 182 horsepower at 5,800 RPM, 176 pound feet of torque available, 4,400 RPM, power sent to all four wheels of course, through a linear Tronic CVT. With paddle shifters actually, if you go with the sport trim level and up, that's how you're going to get them. And we will be testing those out in a little bit here, but do what I also mentioned with that sport trim level and up though, you also will get a seven speed manual mode for the CVT if you were to go with those specific trim levels. So that's kind of interesting. So we'll give that a shot of course as well. So like I said, we will be giving that a shot. I'll let you know how that manual mode actually feels, but zero to 60 time comes in at approximately 8.5 seconds with MPG numbers coming into 26 in the city, 33 on the highway taking regular unleaded fuel. But so before we test out anything in the Forester, I did want to mention there are actually some driving modes that do come standard on this one as well. They will include sport and intelligent. Those two buttons are going to be located on the right side of the steering wheel, steering wheel mounted controls there. Essentially what they will do is adjust things like the shift points and the throttle response as well. So let's go ahead and push sport. And it did immediately downshift for me. So it is going to hold the RPMs in a much higher level, giving you more power on demand. So that's going to be useful for merging onto the highway, things like that. And then you can just hit the I intelligent mode and that'll put it back to its normal driving mode essentially. But having now said all of that, like I was mentioning, there is a seven speed manual mode here. So what we are going to do is push the shifter all the way to the back and to the left. That is going to give me that manual mode right now. It is telling me I am in that seventh gear. So it is going to display the gears within the digital portion of the gauge is right in front of you there. So I'm excited all that. Let's just go ahead and find a straightaway here and let's test out the paddle shifters. Keep in mind this is a CVT or continuously variable transmission. So there's not really gears to shift through, but we are going to see how well it actually simulates that shifting in the end. So let's go ahead and give it a shot. There we go. Didn't shift. Nice. Huh. That's kind of good. It really simulates a regular automatic transmission quite well. Like it was winding out the RPMs and it did not shift for me. So it really is a true manual mode. That's pretty cool. I like the Subaru did that given the driver a little more control. So I like it. Anyways, let's go ahead and do a quick little acceleration test here. I think I found my spot in three, two, one. Yeah. That CVT. It's not bad. It's definitely not the quickest thing in the world. If you want quick, go with the Subaru WRX or something like that, but it's all right. It's just all right. We'll say that. I wouldn't have minded if the Subaru Forester came with maybe a turbocharged engine perhaps, maybe with a nice little hood scoop feeding air into the top mount intercooler, something like that would be pretty freaking sweet on a Forester. But nonetheless, because you have this engine you are going to get better fuel economy and of course better reliability and a turbocharged engine as well. But not the quickest thing in the world. But anyways, to go along with that acceleration test as always, braking is equally important. And so up front, you will find 11.6 inch ventilated front discs in the back, 11.2 inch solid rear discs. And actually for the sport trim level and up that gets bumped up a little bit to 12.4 inch ventilated front discs to almost a full inch larger in the front. When you go with that sport trim level and up at least in the back, still 11.2 inch solid rear discs for those trims. But all in all, when it comes to the 60-zero stopping distance that's going to come in at 129 feet for the Forester. But that's with the regular brake setup. If you were to go with that up-sized brake setup it actually then comes in at 118 feet which is very respectable for that one. Tiguan comes in at 131, Honda HRV comes in at 116. So it's kind of right in the middle of the pack unless you go with that larger brake setup with the sport trim level and up and then you really get some very good braking. And I will attest to that absolutely no issues with the braking feel in my short test drive today whatsoever. So I'm definitely a fan there. Touching on suspension and handling up front you're going to get an independent strut type front suspension with the stabilizer bar in the back double wishbone type rear suspension once again with the stabilizer bar but perhaps what impressed me the most right off the bat I could instantly tell with the Forester is the steering feel. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. It's definitely on the weightier side of things. So therefore it instantly points you in the direction that you want to go. Typically with SUVs you're going to find a lot of loosey-goosey steering feels which definitely isn't my favorite. So with the Forester it almost feels more along the lines of a sports car. So the steering feel is absolutely wonderful on the Forester. I will say that when it comes to ride quality it's pretty much as expected. I mean we got a lot of road imperfections in PA so I've been hitting a lot of them but it's as expected certainly not the smoothest ride but it's not the worst either. So it's pretty much on par for the course I guess you could say. Then touching on cabin noise that's perfectly fine as well. You can get a little bit of engine noise when you really hit the gas but other than that the Forester is actually pretty well insulated. I will say that I was at highway speeds for quite a bit and not a whole lot of exterior wind noise coming into the cabin. Again it's just that engine noise when you really hit the gas. That's not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. I actually enjoy that. But touching on visibility this is really where the Forester really shines. Absolutely amazing visibility. Of course that's due to its shaping a little more boxier in nature but you can see wonderfully out the back. So when it comes to visibility the Forester is certainly on point. But that about rounds out the performance segment of this review guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this brand new 2021 Subaru Forester. All right so here she is you guys the new 2021 Subaru Forester. This is the limited trim by the way finished in crystal black silica for anybody who is curious but let's go ahead and start up front now of the Forester. I wanted to mention ground clearance because Subaru tends to do this pretty well. 8.7 inches of ground clearance up front there. That's definitely more than most other competitors in its class. Typically it's coming around. Typically that comes in at around eight inches but Subaru Forester puts it around 8.7. So that's definitely pretty nice. LED steering response of headlights is now newly standard for the 2021 Forester. It's one of the new things this year. Essentially what that means is when you're going around to bend at night those headlights will swivel based on your steering angle. Better help illuminating what is around that bend so you're less likely to hit a deer or really anything else. LED fog lights coming with the premium trim level end up. LED daytime running lights coming with all trims of course. Red trim detail can be found on the sport trim level only and that's going to be found near the front lip, the side skirts and the rear bumper. Little sportier appearance I guess you could say. Also with that sport trim level you're going to get gloss black front grille surrounds as opposed to the chrome that you are currently looking at right now on the limited and of course that's going to come with the touring as well that chrome grille surrounds and the extra detail around the fog lights down below there. But anyways that pretty much wraps up the front timeless look to the Forester here. Let's go ahead and make our way now to this side of the Forester. And so let me go ahead and start up top. Raised roof rails coming standard with the premium trim level and up. Also rear privacy glass for the premium trim level and up meaning the base trim level does not actually get the rear privacy glass. It's something that people typically ask on my reviews of the Forester in previous years. So I wanted to mention that taking a look at the side mirrors power adjustable black side mirrors coming with the base trim body colored side mirrors coming with the premium sport and limited you will find a satin chrome finish to those side mirrors then if you were to go with the touring. So that's going to differ amongst the trim levels there and you're also actually going to get integrated turd signals if you go with the sport trim level and up as well. Then take a look down at the bottom when it comes to the side skirts they are going to differ amongst the trim levels as well. You're going to find some red trim if you were to go with the sport there's going to be some satin chrome trim with the touring. Otherwise you're going to find that matte black trim at the bottom which is currently what you're looking at right now of course. Then take a look at the wheel set up 17 inch steel wheels with covers coming with the base trim 17 by seven inch aluminum alloys with the premium and 18 by seven inch alloys if you were to go with the sport limited or touring like you were looking at right now but now let's go ahead and make our way to the back of this one. And so now since we are round back you will find a shark fin antenna up top there just below that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light for all trims just below that rear window wiper C shaped LED taillights coming standard across the board gotta love that a little better illumination at night there. And then just below it all you are going to find a single exhaust outlet finished with a chrome tip definitely looks good back there actually. So I do believe you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip. And so now since we are around back of the forester when it comes to opening that rear lift gate it is going to be a power lift gate only if you go with the limited touring or it's going to be optional in the premium and the sport but you will get a manual lift gate that is going to be the standard set up again unless you go with the limited or the touring there. Once opened up cargo capacity comes in at 28.9 cubic feet. If that was not enough space of course the rear seats do fold down there is a 60 40 split bumping that up to 70.9 cubic feet and it was relatively easy to fold those rear seats down there's actually a little knob found on the corners on the top portion of those rear seats. You just lift up on that and then push the seats down it's pretty easy there. But also found in that cargo area actually I wanted to mention grocery bag hooks there's also cargo tie down acres back there. You will also get in floor storage on every single trim level that doesn't always come standard on SUV so I didn't want to mention that. Removable cargo area tray coming with the sport trim level and up and you will also find a cargo area rear gate light for the sport trim level and up as well back there. Overall, pretty much everything you could possibly want in a cargo area of a vehicle. So anyways, making our way now to the rear leg room that comes in at 39.4 inches. So for reference, I mean even six feet tall this is how much space I had back there. Did want to also mention those rear seats if you go with the premium trim level and up at least they are reclining. Meaning if you wanted to lay back a little bit they do recline backwards or you can move them up a little bit as well if you wanted to. Heated rear seats actually come with the touring trim level. Wouldn't imagine that if you wanted to spoil your rear passengers a little bit. Fold down rear armrests with cup holders coming with the premium trim level and up. We'll actually get dual rear USB charging ports for the sport trim level and up. And I did want to also mention you will get front seat back map pockets. There's kind of two different sections to them as well. You almost never see that. So it's a cool little design feature like the Subaru added that. But now let's go ahead now and make our way to the front seats. They are manually adjustable claw seats with the base trim level, power adjustable front seats for the premium trim level and up. We'll find heated front seats again for the premium trim level and up. And that button is located just behind the shifter by the way. Sport cloth with orange stitching for the sport trim level. Leather seating then is going to come with the limited and touring and it is a perforated leather by the way as well. I wanted to mention that. Overall very comfortable seat. Definitely didn't have any issues in my short test drive today. So I do like the seats in the forester here. Then take a look at the steering wheel. It is tilt and telescoping. It is leather wrapped for the premium trim level and up. And it will be heated if you were to go with the touring. And by the way that heated feature is an option on the limited trim level that we have today. It's actually located on the right side of the steering wheel but we do have that option. So it is pretty cool that it's heated especially on cold days in Pennsylvania unlike today but it's going to get cold. I know it is but anyways. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the startup. Let me first start by showing you guys the key here. You do essentially have all of your buttons on one side of the key lock, unlock and the button to pop the rear hatch. And by the way, the unlock button is going to be the Subaru logo located in the middle of the key there in case anybody was curious. But it is all going to be a push button start if you were to go with the premium trim level and up. So we do have that today. So all I'm going to do here simply put my phone in the break and press that inches start button located just by the driver's right knee. And so but then upon startup those gauges will do a full sweep. Tachometer is on your left. Speedometer is on your right. And there is a small digital display front and center. Giving you basic information like how many miles you have left until you hit empty or average miles per gallon at any given time with driving mode you're in. And like I was saying earlier what gear you were in if you were to choose to put it in that manual mode here on the Forester. But essentially it is a pretty basic gauge setup. I think it would probably would have been cool to add a full digital gauge cluster and maybe the upper trim levels of the Forester but it gets the job done either way. But taking a look at overall interior quality panoramic power moonroof coming with the premium trim level and up. This I love you almost never find a panoramic power moonroof on that many trim levels of a vehicle. So the fact that Subaru puts it on the premium trim level end up of course that's pretty darn cold because you usually don't find that. So I wanted to mention that overhead LED map lights coming standard on all trim levels that's pretty nice as opposed to the halogens. We'll also have an overhead sunglass holder up here as well. Dual zone climate control is going to come with the limited and touring trim levels only. Homeland controls is going to be optional on all trim levels. It doesn't come standard on any particular trim level though. Just in front of the shifter you're going to have an auxiliary port, two USB charging ports and a 12 volt power outlet. There's a little bit of storage just behind that as well. Behind the shifter you're going to have an electromechanical parking brake and in the middle of it all is going to be that X mode dial. And so essentially what X mode is on the Forester it uses enhanced control of the VDC system along with increasing all wheel drive system engagement to give you better traction and bad weather. For example, when it snows here in Pennsylvania that is definitely a mode you're going to want to utilize but there's specific modes within X mode actually. There's the normal mode which is what you leave it in for regular driving. That's when you just press down on the dial there. But if you turn it to the left you're going to have snow and dirt. If you turn it to the right you're going to have deep snow and mud. So do want to mention that X mode is going to be there for you on the Forester as well and it's going to be a very useful feature when it starts to snow. And of course you got the best all wheel drive system anyways in the Forester. So essentially everything is going to be perfectly fine when you hit those conditions. But just behind that dial you're going to have two cup holders just behind that a little bit of storage. And within the center armrest of course even more storage along with the 12 volt power outlet in there as well. Overall when it comes to interior quality of the Forester it's pretty much as expected. I actually kind of like it. There's some rubberized finishes on the doors as well as just above the passenger side glove box. That's pretty cool. Little bit of plastic finish above the glove box as well. But I will say I do like the design of that. And again overall it's pretty much finished as you would expect the Forester to be finished so. No issues there for me but now let's make our way to the tech display. There's actually two tech screens I wanted to mention. And let me start with the top one. To control what is on that upper tech screen there's actually an info button on the left side of the steering wheel. And it's one of those things where you're probably not going to know how to control what is on that screen unless somebody tells you so. It is labeled info and so when you press that you can view things like your outside temperature what day of the week it is the date as well. Also your safety information is going to be up there. There's some off-road status, oil temperature, weather information. There's a compass up there, radio information. The list goes on but really a good bit of information can be found on the upper tech screen of the Forester but just below that is really where everything else is found. And that's going to be a 6.5-inch color touchscreen display for the base, premium and sport. Otherwise if you go with the limited or touring that's bumped up to an eight-inch color touchscreen display which is currently what you guys are looking at right now. Bluetooth and audio streaming come standard either way, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay for every single trim level by the way. Even the base Forester you still get Android Auto with Apple CarPlay and that means if you have a smartphone simply hook it up to the Forester and therefore you have free navigation displayed up on that tech screen as well as the ability to like and dislike your Pandora songs. There's a couple other compatible apps as well. Factory navigation system is going to come with the touring trim level only. Really you only need that if you perhaps go under a lot of tunnels or if you live in the mountains or something like that. Of course you can check out your radio information up on that screen as well. And by the way when it comes to the sound systems of the Forester it will differ substantially amongst the trim levels. Four speakers coming with the base. Six speakers coming with the premium sport and limited and you will find a nine speaker Harman Kardon sound system. If you were to go with the touring that sound system is optional on the limited that we have today. And we do have that by the way that's why I mentioned it. So by the way that sound system because it was 576 watts. So what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio so we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. Definitely a ton of bass with a Harman Kardon sound system. I will say that. And conveniently it was very easy to adjust the amount of bass, the mid range speakers and all that. There's actually a sound button located just below the radio settings there. It was very easy to find. So I was able to actually turn up that bass a little bit and make it even better. So love that it was that simple to adjust that as well. But sound system is great if you were to go with the Harman Kardon. I will say that. So definitely pretty nice. But the last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that tech display is when you do put the Forster in reverse of course you will find a rear view camera coming standard for all trim levels across the board letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety. And so first starting with safety I wanted to mention the Forster is an IIHS top safety pick plus which is by the way the very highest designation given by IIHS. So that's always pretty much the best start you could possibly get. Front side, side curtain airbags do come standard driver's knee airbag as well. In the back you're gonna have latch AKA lower anchors and tethers to children for the rear car seats. Rear child door locks back there tire pressure monitoring system. Also those Subaru iSight coming standard on every single trim level of the Forster. This is going to include a pre-collision braking system pre-collision throttle management lane departure and sway warning and adaptive cruise control with lane centering as well. And by the way that adaptive cruise control system you can adjust that using the steering wheel mounted controls found on the right side of the steering wheel there. But the list actually continues from that. Sports room level and up is going to add to that automatic high beams as well as a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert. And that's gonna be the little Subaru logo in the side mirrors letting you know if somebody is in your blind spot of course. Touring to level and up then is also going to add reverse automatic braking which is going to be optional on the limited by the way. So I did want to mention that as well but ultimately when it comes to my final thoughts here of the 2021 Forster excellent when it comes to safety and Subaru always takes a lot of pride in their safety readings and really overall safety in all of their vehicles. I've seen interviews with their Subaru executives really taking pride in that. So that's pretty cool. Love the addition of the adaptive LED headlights across the board that's super nice especially at night. Best all wheel drive system in existence of course really good steering feel on this one as well. That is one thing that really surprised me when I started driving this. So that's pretty cool. Of course you have excellent resale value. It's pretty much a Subaru thing as well. As far as room for improvement goes on this one like I was mentioning to you guys earlier it is somewhat slow. Wouldn't have minded a turbo charged engine would be super cool. They actually dropped the WRX engine in here and they put a top mount intercooler with a hood scoop that would be pretty darn sweet. And of course CVT transmissions aren't always my favorite but having said that I do like that they put the seven speed manual mode on there but how often do people really use those paddle shifters? Anyways, so I don't know how often it's gonna be used but I do like that it is there. And of course you can use that for engine braking in the snow as well if you wanted to. But that is about it for this one you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of screen there if you like. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews. That is what we do here on this channel after all. Do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay gold.