GWDVB

Apart from the noticeable change over from electric to petrol the ride is relatively smooth albeit the engine struggles to gain any real speed on hills... switching to Sports Mode helps! Its not the quietest of vehicles when struggling up hills or at 70mph.. on local roads it is achieving around 28mpg getting up to 30mpg if you mix in some motorway driving.. More sound proofing required !! It feels to me that the engine could do with remap to give it more power and better fuel economy - I might look into that!!

Having had the vehicle for a few days now and done a few hundred miles I thought I would give you my first impressions on the NEW SUBARU FORESTER E BOXER This is my first Subaru car Subaru have packed a lot of gadgetry into this car and getting to grips with it has not been without its angst ! From the factory the Map data was out of date and advised me that it needed to be updated - Whilst it does this (connected to a WiFi signal) the maps and SatNav become inoperable. You have to download the update in one go – if not you have to start again ! The Driver Recognition functionality sounds good but despite multiple attempts to program it with MY identity my wife and son are constantly greeted as being ME !! The safety feature which should remind you if you drop off or take your eyes off the road for a few seconds has failed to work once. Being hybrid I expected the switching from Battery to Petrol engine to be smooth (like the Toyota Prius) - but on many occasions the switch over from battery power to petrol engine results in a momentary drop in power - a bit scary whilst pulling out on a junction or roundabout.. Finally, the car is giving around 28 MPG - which means a full tank of petrol will provide around 290 miles of happy motoring !!