Subaru Forester

Ride comfort lost some of the cushiness of earlier Foresters, but it still offers decent isolation from road bumps. Indeed, luxury isn't part of the equation for this no-nonsense car. Interior furnishings are fairly basic and the cabin can be noisy. The standard cloth front seats come up short on support, but the optional leather ones are better. The 2014-2015 Foresters have either a rather rudimentary infotainment system or a particularly confounding optional navigation system. The Starlink touchscreen system introduced for 2016 brought Subaru into modern times, with full-featured connectivity that is much easier to use. Crash-test performance is impressive and the affordable EyeSight suite of safety gear adds forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking; we recommend getting this system.

Look for effortless acceleration from the turbocharged XT version, but it only gets 20 mpg on required premium fuel. Performance and economy would be better without the antiquated four-speed automatic transmission. The manual transmission returns 24 mpg with the base engine. Comfort improves on higher-end models with their telescoping steering wheel and power-adjustable leather seats.

Standard is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder providing good acceleration and 21-22 mpg overall. XT versions have a turbocharged four-cylinder that matches the acceleration of many V6s; expect 20 mpg on premium fuel.