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When they compared against the Mazda CX-5 in the review, they left out the more powerful 185HP motor that is new for 2014 on the mid and high end CX-5 trim(base CX-5 still has smaller motor).
i think they should focus on the base models. sure, the cx-5 can come with a powerful engine but when you upgrade to that engine you have moved into a price category where you can find other cars with similarly or more powerful engines. for me, it takes it out of its own model's price category and i wont consider it anymore. im not paying 28k for a cx-5. same goes for using upgraded foresters.
That seems more like a proper car than a CUV.. are they in the same class?
I've been liking the styling of the new Ford Escape.
I like the styling on the Ford Escape as well...not quite sure what happened at Ford in the last few years but all their new designs look fabulous!
The Escape 2.0 Turbo does look pretty good! I still would've preferred the Subaru and if the towing was at least 2000 lbs I could live with it but 1500 lbs is downright ridiculous for a vehicle that has the word "utility" in it. What was Subaru thinking?? Seesh!
I like the styling on the Ford Escape as well...not quite sure what happened at Ford in the last few years but all their new designs look fabulous!
The Escape 2.0 Turbo does look pretty good! I still would've preferred the Subaru and if the towing was at least 2000 lbs I could live with it but 1500 lbs is downright ridiculous for a vehicle that has the word "utility" in it. What was Subaru thinking?? Seesh!
They were thinking that the Forester is a grocery getter more so than a towing the camper or an off road vehicle (unless you define off road as "getting off the interstate onto a two lane road to the subdivision").
They were thinking that the Forester is a grocery getter more so than a towing the camper or an off road vehicle (unless you define off road as "getting off the interstate onto a two lane road to the subdivision").
This is not true. The Forester is targetted towards outdoor enthusiasts and it does have a good amount of potential to go off the beaten path. Obviously not to the extent of a real body on frame truck but it is certainly promoted as having a good bit of capability. There are a multitude of unibody vehicles that are rated at 3500lbs including the aforementioned Ford Escape.
Having 2000-3500 lbs of towing is not all that great, it's a minimum amount. Most real trucks have at least 5000 lbs towing and the heavy duty ones like the Nissan Titan can tow 9000+ lbs. so yes I do expect at least 2000 lbs!!!
This is not true. The Forester is targetted towards outdoor enthusiasts and it does have a good amount of potential to go off the beaten path. Obviously not to the extent of a real body on frame truck but it is certainly promoted as having a good bit of capability. There are a multitude of unibody vehicles that are rated at 3500lbs including the aforementioned Ford Escape.
Having 2000-3500 lbs of towing is not all that great, it's a minimum amount. Most real trucks have at least 5000 lbs towing and the heavy duty ones like the Nissan Titan can tow 9000+ lbs. so yes I do expect at least 2000 lbs!!!
Then buy another truck or stop looking at the Forester. As a note, Foresters are not 4WD but AWD, there is a difference.
Last edited by North Beach Person; 03-10-2013 at 01:42 PM..
There is a big difference between off-road capability and towing capability. The venerable Jeep XJ (Cherokee) remains probably one of the most backcountry-capable 4WD's out of the factory that has been made in the last 20 years, but, with its partial unibody construction, it was not really good for any towing beyond light duty. A mechanic friend of mine puts it this way: the Cherokee unibody can take incredible off-road punishment, but will disintegrate from repeated heavy towing.
I don't advocate towing anything with a unibody vehicle; for that, body-on-frame is the way to go. As I posted earlier, the 2011+ 3/4 ton 4WD diesel pickups will achieve real-world fuel economy just a few ticks under what a Forester will get. My suspicion is that those diesel pickups might even best an Escape's or other small AWD's towing fuel economy if towing a trailer weighing less than 5,000 lbs. Oh, and something like an Escape would be struggling like hell to tow a 3,500 lb. trailer up a 10,000 ft. mountain pass; the diesel 4WD pickup would barely know it was back there.
A dealer nearby has a couple in transit listed at $37K. Ouch.
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