It watches you drive: Subaru Forester review

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  The 2019 Subaru Forester. [credit: Eric Bangeman ]

When it comes to cars, there are two types of people: those who pledge their eternal love for Subaru, and everyone else. When I’m testing a Subaru, I get more questions and comments from friends and acquaintances than just about anything else I drive. And that was the case for Subaru’s most popular model, the Forester.

Redesigned for 2019, the Forester comes standard with EyeSight, Subaru’s suite of driver-assist technology. New to the Forester—and available only with the Touring model—is DriverFocus. Designed to fight distracted driving, DriverFocus uses the facial-recognition tech that has also found its way into smartphones. It can store profiles for up to five drivers and provides visual and auditory feedback if the system detects you’re not paying attention to the road.

Look and feel

Sitting smack dab between the sub-compact Crosstrek and the sort-of-mid-size Outback, the Forester starts at $24,295 for the base model and comes in Premium, Sport, Limited, and Touring trim. The last is the most expensive, with an MSRP of $34,295. All five editions get the same 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder engine, continuously variable transmission, all-wheel drive, EyeSight, and Subaru’s above-average dual-screen StarLink infotainment system. A panoramic moonroof is standard on all models other than the base.