[SeanPlunk]

Congratulations to Subaru - for years they've made some cool cars but I think they've hit a homerun with the Forrester. I know we have one very satisfied owner on this site as a matter of fact. Link to article for anyone interested.

[gsteichen]

Originally Posted by SeanPlunk

Congratulations to Subaru - for years they've made some cool cars but I think they've hit a homerun with the Forrester. I know we have one very satisfied owner on this site as a matter of fact. Link to article for anyone interested.

Sorry it's taken so long to reply. We're about 6k miles into the Forrester and love it more now than when we bought it. Only two complaints-

The road noise is a bit louder than I'd like (any and all advise about improving this would be GREATLY appreciated). Not horrible, in fact better than in the past, but just a few db improvement would make a comfortable long-range cruiser even better.

I wish it had a more modern 5 or 6 speed auto. The engine tweeks for the '09 did a good job of widening the torque curve but the gap between first and second is wider than ideal, esp. when jamming up an onramp.

The most amazing aspect of the car is the combination of GREAT hiway ride and rally car like stability on loose rutty roads. At the end of a drive along a 30ish mile goat path there was no difference in feel when we (finally, accordfing to my wife) got back to pavement. In fact, sometimes I wish I could defeat the AWD just to get a little drifting in!

[Vettezuki]

Originally Posted by gsteichen

. . .

The road noise is a bit louder than I'd like (any and all advise about improving this would be GREATLY appreciated). Not horrible, in fact better than in the past, but just a few db improvement would make a comfortable long-range cruiser even better.

. . .

Tires are about the only obvious thing I can think of. When the time comes to replace the OEM, check out what's available in that size. I think a lot of makers now even give road noise ratings.

[gsteichen]

Thanks for the input!

[Vettezuki]

Originally Posted by gsteichen

Thanks for the input!

Of course that assumed a lot of the road noise you're describing is tire roar and not wind buffeting. Doh! If it's wind, and it really bothers you, you can use something like Dynamat. To properly install enough of it to make a difference wouldn't be trivial, but it certainly works. I think there's a poor man's substitute of it that you can buy at like Home Depot for pennies on the dollar compared to actual Dynamat.

[gsteichen]

Pretty sure it's tires, the car gets really quiet on fresh asphalt, loud as hell on so cal crap concrete.

[SeanPlunk]

Originally Posted by gsteichen

Pretty sure it's tires, the car gets really quiet on fresh asphalt, loud as hell on so cal crap concrete.

Are they all season tires?

[gsteichen]

Originally Posted by SeanPlunk

Are they all season tires?

Yokohama Geolander

[gunfish]

Hope your Geolanders are better than the Yokohamas I've experienced. Don't remember what they were (some sort of all terrain tread), but I had sidewall blowouts twice.

[gsteichen]

Originally Posted by gunfish

Hope your Geolanders are better than the Yokohamas I've experienced. Don't remember what they were (some sort of all terrain tread), but I had sidewall blowouts twice.

Thanks, that'll REALLY boost my confidence the next time I'm 20 miles from pavement!!