[MrA]

In the last 7 days I’ve traveled 1300 miles. It was a mix of highway and city. I averaged 23.8 mpg using 87 from Shell and Speedway. This was our first family vacation in the Ascent. I truly have no complaints. My 23 week pregnant wife, and 2 year old were comfortable and entertained the whole way. Usually on long trips we take shifts. This time I drove all of it. The Ascent is such a joy to drive. I experienced 0 fatigue. In Michigan my cruise was set at 78-80 for the majority of the trip. My best mileage was in the low 70s. Golf clubs, pack and play, beach gear, snacks, cooler, stroller and random bags... room to spare! I also got my acceptance into the Subaru Ambassador program while traveling!!!!! #SubaruAmbassador

 

[Northern Ty]

In the last 7 days I’ve traveled 1300 miles. It was a mix of highway and city. I averaged 23.8 mpg using 87 from Shell and Speedway. This was our first family vacation in the Ascent. I truly have no complaints. My 23 week pregnant wife, and 2 year old were comfortable and entertained the whole way. Usually on long trips we take shifts. This time I drove all of it. The Ascent is such a joy to drive. I experienced 0 fatigue. In Michigan my cruise was set at 78-80 for the majority of the trip. My best mileage was in the low 70s. Golf clubs, pack and play, beach gear, snacks, cooler, stroller and random bags... room to spare! I also got my acceptance into the Subaru Ambassador program while traveling!!!!! #SubaruAmbassador

Congrats, sounds awesome. I've got a 2000 miler coming up in about a week in what will be our final roadie in the Pilot. Would love to be able to have the captain's chairs in our new Ascent, but it's not due until September

 

[JPGators]

In the last 7 days I’ve traveled 1300 miles. It was a mix of highway and city. I averaged 23.8 mpg using 87 from Shell and Speedway. This was our first family vacation in the Ascent. I truly have no complaints. My 23 week pregnant wife, and 2 year old were comfortable and entertained the whole way. Usually on long trips we take shifts. This time I drove all of it. The Ascent is such a joy to drive. I experienced 0 fatigue. In Michigan my cruise was set at 78-80 for the majority of the trip. My best mileage was in the low 70s. Golf clubs, pack and play, beach gear, snacks, cooler, stroller and random bags... room to spare! I also got my acceptance into the Subaru Ambassador program while traveling!!!!! #SubaruAmbassador

1300 miles and sounds like no issues. I like the sound of that!

 

[MrA]

I didn’t hit my 1000 miles until about 480 miles into the trip. I learned about the reverse auto breaking doing a 3 point turn on a grassy county road! It rained so hard once the collision and eyesight shut off. My extended family loved the car. I’m 38 and have had many cars over the years. This is the first time I look for an excuse to drive.

 

[John Harrington]

Great job! I would get the oil changed now that you're past 1,000. It might be overkill but break-in leaves little tiny pieces of metal floating around the oil from all the seals, pistons, etc. getting good seals. Once that's done, get her warmed up and see what that turbo feels like

 

[2329]

I just drove our new Premium 1200 miles, no issues, smooth sailing, mostly highway, some towns with slower driving, 26 MPG overall.

Dave

 

[PhantomTypist]

Great job! I would get the oil changed now that you're past 1,000. It might be overkill but break-in leaves little tiny pieces of metal floating around the oil from all the seals, pistons, etc. getting good seals. Once that's done, get her warmed up and see what that turbo feels like

Does Subaru put in a special oil at the factory for the break-in period? If yes I'm not sure you'd want to change it out too early.

 

[JR325]

Wow you guys drive some serious mileage. Anything over 700-800 miles and I’m flying lol

 

[sandy]

Good to know "best mileage was in the low 70s." and "mostly highway, some towns with slower driving, 26 MPG overall".



I have owned an 09 Tribeca since new and will keep it after getting new Ascent. Cruising at 55~65 MPH, the Tribeca gets 26~27 MPG. But at 70~75 MPH, it drops to 22 MPG. Get 18~20 MPG in local commute. Tribeca has performed better than the manual spec of 16/21 City/Highway. Seems the Ascent will behave like that too, and works better on higher speed cruise.

 

[John Harrington]

Does Subaru put in a special oil at the factory for the break-in period? If yes I'm not sure you'd want to change it out too early.

No, same as normal. Just having done break-ins before and then doing the oil myself, you notice little tiny slivers of metal in the oil and I figured it couldn't be a bad idea just to get rid of all that with an early oil change. The Tech agreed, but didn't push me to. Will it make the difference between 300k and 350K? I don't know, but I like knowing all the shavings aren't floating around in there, especially if I get on it.

 

[PhantomTypist]

No, same as normal. Just having done break-ins before and then doing the oil myself, you notice little tiny slivers of metal in the oil and I figured it couldn't be a bad idea just to get rid of all that with an early oil change. The Tech agreed, but didn't push me to. Will it make the difference between 300k and 350K? I don't know, but I like knowing all the shavings aren't floating around in there, especially if I get on it.

When we got our 2015 Forester I was surprised it said 6,000 miles for the first oil change. I could have sworn Subaru used to list the first oil change at 3,000 miles in the manual or I'm I remembering it wrong?

I ended up changing it at 3,000 anyways.

 

[lassetjus]

When we got our 2015 Forester I was surprised it said 6,000 miles for the first oil change. I could have sworn Subaru used to list the first oil change at 3,000 miles in the manual or I'm I remembering it wrong?

I ended up changing it at 3,000 anyways.

For what it's worth, my dealer's service dept told me to come and do the first oil change at 3,000. Then next one after that would be at 9,000.

 

[John Harrington]

When we got our 2015 Forester I was surprised it said 6,000 miles for the first oil change. I could have sworn Subaru used to list the first oil change at 3,000 miles in the manual or I'm I remembering it wrong?

I ended up changing it at 3,000 anyways.

This is more likely the result of Subaru going from conventional oil (every 3,000 miles) to synthetic oil (every 6,000 miles) in those models. My 2011 Outback used conventional but the new ones use synth.

 

[Ey31]

When we got our 2015 Forester I was surprised it said 6,000 miles for the first oil change. I could have sworn Subaru used to list the first oil change at 3,000 miles in the manual or I'm I remembering it wrong?

I ended up changing it at 3,000 anyways.

Older vehicles are typically about 3,000 on conventional oil (like 5w30). My older 2008 Forester was changed regularly ever 3k, but it also burnt oil like every 1k.

Anyways, if you have the money you could change it every 500 miles if you want. LOL Honestly, the newer synthetic oil should last between 6000-8000, just watch the oil life indicator.

I personally will change it when it hits the first 1,000, then probably 5000 miles or so after that. Unlike my chevy truck this vehicle doesn't take 8 quarts of full synthetic so it's much more manageable to change oil often. And I do it myself.. Trust no one.

 

[Ey31]

No, same as normal. Just having done break-ins before and then doing the oil myself, you notice little tiny slivers of metal in the oil and I figured it couldn't be a bad idea just to get rid of all that with an early oil change. The Tech agreed, but didn't push me to. Will it make the difference between 300k and 350K? I don't know, but I like knowing all the shavings aren't floating around in there, especially if I get on it.

Exactly, I change it after the first 1000 miles break in period just for that reason. I don't want to shavings on a new engine floating around for 6,000 miles.

 

[zegilbert]

About 1,000 into our road trip so far (1,461 on the odometer now). Touring, Cargo Box, 3 kids (17, 13, 9), a dog, my wife and I, out for two weeks.

Shout with any questions - so far we're very happy with our choice. A few observations at this point:

Note - the dog has more room than the camera angle suggests

CONS
- Somebody mentioned the blinker doesn't readily auto-turn off - true. That got me a couple of times.
- After two days of driving, it started really hard this morning. As in - turned over for 2-3 seconds and didn't fire very well at first - sounded flooded (obviously wasn't, but that's how it acted). Somewhat concerning.
- Encountered the "Rear Passenger Door Won't Open" issue this morning. Made a quick video: ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jusNvIe9VIs
- Definitely need to pack wisely. Kids took too much stuff with them - need to enact some airline policies regarding carry-ons...
- My 17 y-o elected to sit in the 3rd row. Not ideal since the youngers occupied the "foot space" between the captain's chairs with their travel stuff. Need to re-configure for the ride home. He said his legs were cramped (5' 11") but the seat was more comfortable than our Odyssey.
- Someone also mentioned their concern with food getting stuck in the ventilated seat holes - yup, that happened. Some vacuumed out, some not so much. Need a stronger vacuum. (SOA, you should send my a dyson ;-)


PROS
- Survived with the large diameter front cup-holders
- ACC + Blind Spot Detection is everything. The drive was so much less fatiguing than usual. Really, really great feature set.
- Rain-sensing wipers - not necessary by any means, but cool. But when it downpours you still have to kick them up a couple of notches.
- Auto-brights and semi-turning headlights are really nice on windy back roads.
- Finally figured out how to program the keyless entry and lock the keys in car - pretty slick for hiking and beach.
- Climate control is very capable - used the un-synced driver/passenger a couple of times and that worked reasonably well.
- Have not seen another in CO, NE, IA, MN or WI so far
- First tank of gas was around 16 mpg - ouch. So far on the road I have been getting closer to 21 - with a cargo box and driving 80 mph much of the time. Happy with that, at this point.
- Activated WiFi for a month and that's been helpful, as you can imagine.
- Getting pretty used to Sirius XM... Might actually have to subscribe.

*We'll be towing a small-ish U-haul trailer (5' X 9' enclosed) on the way home and I'll update again upon our return.

 

[PhantomTypist]

- Someone also mentioned their concern with food getting stuck in the ventilated seat holes - yup, that happened. Some vacuumed out, some not so much. Need a stronger vacuum. (SOA, you should send my a dyson ;-)

The Dyson they sent is _NOT_ that strong, but hey... it's a free vacuum cleaner.

 

[pilot1226]

Congrats, welcome to the club. Spread the good news about Subarus! There is a facebook group with 2000+ of us that like to share ideas for Swag Bags & ideas. Check them out!

#SubaruAmbassador

 

[pilot1226]

Exactly, I change it after the first 1000 miles break in period just for that reason. I don't want to shavings on a new engine floating around for 6,000 miles.

While I understand and agree your point of view to an extent, keep in mind that the engineers that designed your maintenance book also specified that there is no "early drain" interval required. From an engineering perspective, maybe - just maybe - they want that extra "friction" etc. over the first couple thousand miles before you switch over to the slick stuff?

Personally, because I drive urban in Northern NJ, I am planning on doing severe schedule. So, that means 3000 mile oil changes even though it's synthetic.

 

[zegilbert]

If you want your Ascent to feel as nimble as a Miata, tow this puppy for 1,000 miles first

On Saturday night, we finished the last 1,000 miles of our road trip (from WI back to CO). This time towing a U-Haul 6' X 12' enclosed trailer, packed to the gills (and 5 people, 1 dog and 2 weeks' worth of stuff).

With a little over 3,000 total miles now, here are my impressions from the return trip.

Two days before we were set to depart, I started hearing about the "hitch recall" on this forum. Dug around a bit and contacted my dealer and was confident mine was not affected. Hitched it up, rolled out of town and all was well! I found out after we finished the trip that it means we don't get a free new car...

I don't know how much the trailer weighed, exactly, but it was heavy. The Ascent did an admirable job, but it definitely had to work when driving up hill (not mountains, but pretty hilly around Dubuque, IA). RPMs kicked up to about 3,500 and the car got pretty "growly." I never felt like, "hey, is there even a trailer back there?" but it was definitely enough power and stability. The stock drop hitch worked perfectly and the electrical hook-up was fine (only emergency brakes on this trailer, so no brake controller experience). Maneuverability through gas stations was ok, but I targeted larger spaces where I could pull through. When I did back up, I noticed the RAB turned itself off after I ignored it for a few seconds - I thought that was slick.

Gas mileage was horrendous - between 16 and 13 mpg and average speeds between 60 and 70 (and some decent cross and headwinds on the plains of NE). Looking forward to seeing a lot of green bars for a while now...

Suspension felt solid - I didn't feel like the car was squatting too much or the suspension was too pre-loaded.

Acceleration was still there. Not winning any 1/4 milers, but could get up to speed when entering the freeway and merge pretty cleanly.

Mirrors still worked fine and the blind spot detection was still 95% functional (it did have some false positives when it saw the trailer - but only a handful of times).

I initially kept the LKA on, but quickly turned it off once I realized the little corrective nudges were extremely unhelpful when trying to avoid any away or sudden movements...

Also purchased a month of WiFi so the kids could play and wife could work on the trip. Dropped out once, but overall the signal was really solid across several states.

Overall, the Ascent met our high expectations during the trip. Glad to be rid of the trailer, but happy to have a vehicle ready to tow when needed. Proof that my family is the demographic complete in Subaru's sights