Joined
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5 Posts
3500 miles and counting...
The first 1000 miles are mostly city driving with mixed highway driving in Orange County, CA. According to onboard mileage calculator, we were averaging 17.5 MPG.
The remaining mileage was put on with a PCH to Eugene, OR drive and straight shot back down the 5. We ended up averaging 23 this. If I started the trip for just Eugene to OC it would be averaged a bit higher. I was disappointed at first but the mileage appears to be getting better and it definitely does better with premium. Both in terms of fuel mileage and performance. The mileage until empty calculator fluctuates quite a bit but overall performed well once I got used to it. We 30 miles left when we arrived home.
It pulled like a champ up the Grapevine and other passes. I plan to tow a small 19-21 foot trailer with this and while I still have my concerns about the towing capability and long-term viability of the transmission; the engine performance on this drive has brought my anxiety about this down significantly.
What I like:
- Excellent interior finish
- Infotainment is great, a little glitchy at times but overall much better than others vehicles in the segment.
- Roomy
- Adaptive cruise control makes driving much less stressful. I basically used this the entire trip. It can brake late and cause some hard braking (don't use this with insurance driving monitors such as progressive snapshot)
- Automatic switching to brights and back
- Brakes. I felt great feedback and power at all times.
- Engine performance. I drive agressively and this car was there for me when I needed it.
- Transmission. When it's not noisy or giving a slight stutter. It always responded quickly with no issues while passing.
- Back up camera is above average
- Blind spot notification is excellent
What I dislike:
- Transmission - LOUD! I knew I would have to get used to the Subaru sound of the Engine but the transmission noise from stop to about 40mph.
-Transmission - can be jerky and at times feels like the engine misfired with weird jerks at highway speeds.
- Lane keep is ok but not a game changer like the adaptive cruise.
- Navigation is crap. It does not appear to be loaded in the vehicle. Looks like a subscription through Sirius. It often fails to load and I constantly found myself using nav through apple car play. I do like the 2nd screen display of the nav though. I think we will still need a hand held back up in areas of low LTE connectivity.
- Memory seats are memory seat only no mirror memory
- Wind noise. As others have pointed out this vehicle does have a fair to significant amount of wind noise. This is a Subaru but keep in mind the higher end trims are meant to grab some luxury customers.
- Body roll. Body roll was a bit more than expected
- Tow hitch integration is UGLY. I'm guessing some aftermarket cover or Subaru accessory will be available at some point. It's just too ugly and honestly, the one glaring area of poor thought put into this vehicle.
- Exterior trim finish could be better. Makes a very nice vehicle look and feel cheap.
Features I would like
- Memory mirrors with memory seat.
- Suspension & transmission performance control similar to Acura IDS Normal, Sport, Comfort modes
- Wireless car play. Hopefully, this can be a software update at some point.
- Front sensors - this has a long engine bay and distance can be difficult to judge. The touring comes with the front camera but limited has nothing to help you.
- For having 19 cup holders none of them clamp or adjust to the container size causing lots of sudden grabbing when I forget.
- Removable seats for more versatility.
Overall:
My wife loves the vehicle and I think it's a well thought out entry into the 7 passenger segment. I took a chance on the 1st model year. So far I am pleased with the results and hope the long-term reliability will be there. I think Subaru has a great base to build on.
My nearest comparison vehicle I have owned is a 2015 2wd Acura MDX. I loved the handling and performance of that vehicle but could not stand the loud direct injection chirp or the extremely outdated infotainment system. In some ways, the Acura did give me unrealistically high expectations for my Ascent.
The first 1000 miles are mostly city driving with mixed highway driving in Orange County, CA. According to onboard mileage calculator, we were averaging 17.5 MPG.
The remaining mileage was put on with a PCH to Eugene, OR drive and straight shot back down the 5. We ended up averaging 23 this. If I started the trip for just Eugene to OC it would be averaged a bit higher. I was disappointed at first but the mileage appears to be getting better and it definitely does better with premium. Both in terms of fuel mileage and performance. The mileage until empty calculator fluctuates quite a bit but overall performed well once I got used to it. We 30 miles left when we arrived home.
It pulled like a champ up the Grapevine and other passes. I plan to tow a small 19-21 foot trailer with this and while I still have my concerns about the towing capability and long-term viability of the transmission; the engine performance on this drive has brought my anxiety about this down significantly.
What I like:
- Excellent interior finish
- Infotainment is great, a little glitchy at times but overall much better than others vehicles in the segment.
- Roomy
- Adaptive cruise control makes driving much less stressful. I basically used this the entire trip. It can brake late and cause some hard braking (don't use this with insurance driving monitors such as progressive snapshot)
- Automatic switching to brights and back
- Brakes. I felt great feedback and power at all times.
- Engine performance. I drive agressively and this car was there for me when I needed it.
- Transmission. When it's not noisy or giving a slight stutter. It always responded quickly with no issues while passing.
- Back up camera is above average
- Blind spot notification is excellent
What I dislike:
- Transmission - LOUD! I knew I would have to get used to the Subaru sound of the Engine but the transmission noise from stop to about 40mph.
-Transmission - can be jerky and at times feels like the engine misfired with weird jerks at highway speeds.
- Lane keep is ok but not a game changer like the adaptive cruise.
- Navigation is crap. It does not appear to be loaded in the vehicle. Looks like a subscription through Sirius. It often fails to load and I constantly found myself using nav through apple car play. I do like the 2nd screen display of the nav though. I think we will still need a hand held back up in areas of low LTE connectivity.
- Memory seats are memory seat only no mirror memory
- Wind noise. As others have pointed out this vehicle does have a fair to significant amount of wind noise. This is a Subaru but keep in mind the higher end trims are meant to grab some luxury customers.
- Body roll. Body roll was a bit more than expected
- Tow hitch integration is UGLY. I'm guessing some aftermarket cover or Subaru accessory will be available at some point. It's just too ugly and honestly, the one glaring area of poor thought put into this vehicle.
- Exterior trim finish could be better. Makes a very nice vehicle look and feel cheap.
Features I would like
- Memory mirrors with memory seat.
- Suspension & transmission performance control similar to Acura IDS Normal, Sport, Comfort modes
- Wireless car play. Hopefully, this can be a software update at some point.
- Front sensors - this has a long engine bay and distance can be difficult to judge. The touring comes with the front camera but limited has nothing to help you.
- For having 19 cup holders none of them clamp or adjust to the container size causing lots of sudden grabbing when I forget.
- Removable seats for more versatility.
Overall:
My wife loves the vehicle and I think it's a well thought out entry into the 7 passenger segment. I took a chance on the 1st model year. So far I am pleased with the results and hope the long-term reliability will be there. I think Subaru has a great base to build on.
My nearest comparison vehicle I have owned is a 2015 2wd Acura MDX. I loved the handling and performance of that vehicle but could not stand the loud direct injection chirp or the extremely outdated infotainment system. In some ways, the Acura did give me unrealistically high expectations for my Ascent.
