2.0 XT Lineartronic

Great car - probably the best car I've owned in terms of the balance of competence and cost in nearly 50 years of motoring

In summary, I cannot think of another car I would buy at the present time to replace my Subaru Forester XT. I decided to replace my previous Freelander SD4 after it suffered a diff failure 1.5 hours before the warranty expired!

Before the Freelander I had a 2005 Subaru Forester XT whose only failure in 7 years was the clock bulb, so my first thought was to go back to Subaru - the 5 year warranty with current models was also an attraction. I would probably have gone for the diesel if it had been available in auto at the timeI. Anyway, I test drove the Forester XE (2.0 petrol) and XT (2.0 DIT - direct injection turbo) - I really only tried the petrol models to see what the Forester was like in general and how good the CVT was in particular. If I was impressed I thought I would hang on for the diesel CVT. As it turned out I was seduced by the delightful engine of the XT turbo and the effortless linearity of the delivery with the CVT. It's got absolutely no lag - indeed my wife finds it frighteningly quick off the mark after the Freelander. Ignore the baseless comments you read about the 'poor' gearbox - it's a delight to drive with the beautifully smooth DIT engine. Again ignore the ignorant comments you see about lack of engine refinement - do car reviewers actually drive the cars they test! There is some road noise, but less than a friend's new Audi Q3. The interior is not up to Lexus standards, but it's a huge upgrade on my previous SG series Forester and perfectly acceptable.

Mpg was an area I was a bit concerned about as I would be going from diesel to petrol. I needn't have worried as the petrol turbo XT is actually more economical than the diesel Freelander. In 30,000 the Freelander achieved on.y 30.2 mpg (actual)The XT has achieved over 31mpg in 10,000 miles, 1,500 miles of which were towing a caravan.

My 2005 Subaru XT was my favourite car in terms of overall ability and I've owned over 40 cars. The more I drive my current XT the more I think it is probably better still. It has more power, a better gearbox, more room, is more comfortable and more economical. It's not perfect, but it's a clever blend of competence in all areas and value for money. I shudder when I think that I had thought about spending £10,000 more on what I now consider to be the inferior BMW X3.

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