New to me 2019 Subaru Forester XT - advice

[JBE68]

Hi

I've just collected one of the last 2019 petrol turbo Subaru Forester XT's from a private enthusiast seller. I'm the third owner, it has a full main dealer service history and it's a blast.

I had three questions that I'd value your opinions on:
1) the previous owner ran it on Super Unleaded but Bell & Colville said regular was fine; the previous owner averaged 32mpg on Superunleaded in the 10k miles that he owned it
2) I will be taking it off-road for c 20 days pa and wondering about people's opinions on tyres
3) can you recommend a source of sturdy rubber mats that ideally would cover the entirety of the rear passenger area

Cheers

Jeremy

[Smint]

Lovely car, well done.

I'd stick to the old petrol for as long as possible.

Do you really need to take it off road, seems a pity to put such a lovely car through that, if you have to do this Yokohama G015's are winter rated all seasons so maybe consider a set of used suitable alloys and run that type of tyre all wintersas well as your off road exploits and keep your lovely OE alloys away from the annual salt bath..
Have those Yokos on our Prado and they are very good in the wet and brilliant on snow, we run them all year round on that vehicle and they are a bit squidgy if thats a word in hot weather when we up the pressures by 5 psi which helps.

Regular oil changes, don't leave the coolant in too long, and don't leave the spark plugs too long either ( plugs tend to get neglected due to obvious horrible job) are my other suggestions that you didn't ask for...;) and already probably planned to do anyway.
Oh and most important, service those brakes every year, pads out clean up exercise pistons lube up.

Edited by Smint on Sunday 10th December 12:54

[JBE68]

Thanks for the prompt reply. When I say off-roading I mean driving gently across a field or a rutted track. Nothing hardcore as my OCD would step in. The car replaces a Disco4.

[sam.rog]

JBE68 said:

Hi

I've just collected one of the last 2019 petrol turbo Subaru Forester XT's from a private enthusiast seller. I'm the third owner, it has a full main dealer service history and it's a blast.

I had three questions that I'd value your opinions on:
1) the previous owner ran it on Super Unleaded but Bell & Colville said regular was fine; the previous owner averaged 32mpg on Superunleaded in the 10k miles that he owned it
2) I will be taking it off-road for c 20 days pa and wondering about people's opinions on tyres
3) can you recommend a source of sturdy rubber mats that ideally would cover the entirety of the rear passenger area

Cheers

Jeremy

I find Subaru run better on tesco momentum than anything else. The extra cost is cancelled out by the increased mpg.

Can't help with tyre choice but well done on actually using the thing as intended. The forester is a very capable car off road.

I think subaru make rubber mats for the forester. Worth checking ebay for second hand ones.

https://subaru-parts.co.uk/product-category/subaru...

Edited by sam.rog on Sunday 10th December 13:34

[JBE68]

Cheers. There's a Tesco down the road from me so I'll give that a go and also look at the Subaru parts.

[Bill]

I have a similar usage for my Yeti and decided on Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance as they score well in wet weather and won one test I saw where they tested tyres on wet grass. I'm very happy with them so far but am eyeing up Bridgestone Weather Control all seasons if I struggle in mud (or snow obvs, but unlikely on the south coast) in the future.

[vxr2010]

My input , definitely run it on Tesco 99 , put some all season tryes on it and it should be better on other surfaces , have a look at tyrereviews for choices

[JBE68]

Great stuff, cheers.

[liner33]

I have an early one , I find that its mpg improves and the car is much more responsive on super unleaded , I stick to V power or Momentum

I fitted Michelin Cross Climates on mine and they have been fab, cant fault them

Still looking for mats myself, usually gone for Hatchbag but they dont do them for the SJ

Might try these https://www.boot-buddy.com/product-category/subaru...

[JBE68]

Cheers, I'll have a look at those tyres.

My car doesn't appear to have a spare wheel or space saver. What does yours come with?

[liner33]

JBE68 said:

Cheers, I'll have a look at those tyres.

My car doesn't appear to have a spare wheel or space saver. What does yours come with?

The tyres aren't cheap but they are good think they were £600ish a set

I have a spacesaver under the plastic tray in the boot

[hedges88]

JBE68 said:

Hi

I've just collected one of the last 2019 petrol turbo Subaru Forester XT's from a private enthusiast seller. I'm the third owner, it has a full main dealer service history and it's a blast.

I had three questions that I'd value your opinions on:
1) the previous owner ran it on Super Unleaded but Bell & Colville said regular was fine; the previous owner averaged 32mpg on Superunleaded in the 10k miles that he owned it
2) I will be taking it off-road for c 20 days pa and wondering about people's opinions on tyres
3) can you recommend a source of sturdy rubber mats that ideally would cover the entirety of the rear passenger are

Cheers

Jeremy

Is it a very deep blue or green? Perhaps just black but with a reflection? Either way that's a handsome motor!

Everyone is of course right about the fuel, it likely runs okay on standard but certainly not optimally or best long term.

Not rubber mats per se, but I have good experience with these tailored "leather" mats all over my MB and are very durable and easy to clean. At first I kept wincing when girls would get in with heels on or worse is my sister with her goth boots that look like they might chip tarmac . I stopped worrying though because they came up clean and with no damage time after time. They still clean up pretty smartly and I've had them over a year. Each car is different but they won't just cover your entire floor but possibly they may cover other places, sides of seat rails etc. I didn't like the drivers side fit for my car. They sent tweaked versions back to me 4 times to make sure my niggles were well resolved which I was impressed with. Being Chinese I worried about after sales but was just pleasantly surprised. Only "negative" thing I could say is that the sound deadening isn't as good as the OEM mats, but they were surprisingly thick and deep pile. Not cheap either, but worth the price and good looking in my opinion

Here is there link: https://www.diamondcarmats.com/?v=79cba1185463
If you like them perhaps ask if anyone on PH has recently ordered, as they send promos with their products with discounts

[JBE68]

Thanks for that. I bought the OEM Subaru rubber mats and I'm glad to say they are substantial and solid. They are lipped making it easy to contain any mud or water. Mud guards next.

On the first 160miles on Momentum99 it's averaged 36.6mpg.

[Smint]

Regarding mudflaps i bought a full set of rally flaps from a company of a similar name (somewhere up north, Burnley rings a bell) for my SG9XT, they didn't sell them for the standard UK XT versions but rather the XTi version, the fronts fitted perfectly but the rears i had to modify slightly.

Not garish, normal silk finish black, but they really do the job well and seem unaffected by 5 years use, far better than typical mud flaps and look like they belong to the car not an accessory, the squared off SG9 could cover the back and sides of the car in mud and salt in seconds without flaps, dare say the newer shapes aren't a world better given the ground clearance.

[liner33]

I bought my mudflaps on Ebay they were about £30 , think they are chinese copies of the oem ones just avoid anything that has "universal" in the title

[JBE68]

Has anyone found a way to retro fit Apple Carplay to the car?

[Konan]

2019 is a little bit out of my experience, but if you really want to know how the car is taking to the fuel it's running in, you can actually check the knock correction feedback.

I had a couple of UK cars that were specified for 95 that still pulled a bit of timing in the mid range on regular petrol, even saw some on (the older) Esso 97. Cleared right up on V power.

You'll be on the newer FA engine but I'd be tempted to say the same for anything, to get knock correction you've got to have had some knock... I'd rather not rely on the ECU protecting the motor.

On tyres, I've just gone with g015 as they appeared to be the best choice for a heavily road bias All Terrain and they catered for the tyre size. I wanted AT for abrasion resistance but if you're just talking about grass then you may be better with an all season for the majority of road use.

[Blib]

Just found this thread.

We've had a 2015 Forester since new. We use regular 95 petrol. The car's bomb proof.

It's fitted with Michelin Cross Climates. As other have said, they're excellent all rounders.

We spend most of our time in deepest, darkest Suffolk. We're forever leaving the lanes to get out of the way of one huge piece of agricultural equipment or another.

This winter, the roads around here have more resembled rivers.

Neither the car, nor the tyres have everbket us down.

We've no intention of getting rid of it ever.