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A week in the 2010 Subaru Forester: Day 7 (using the navigation system)
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The Subaru Forester's optional in-dash navigation system works well most of the time, but it's difficult to justify its $1,800 price tag. See more photos of the system in action in today's slideshow. (Photos by Brady Holt)
Driving through an unfamiliar part of Northern Virginia after some light hiking in Manassas National Battlefield Park, my passenger and I were glad to have a car equipped with a navigation system. Like other modern systems, the one in the 2010 Subaru Forester 2.5X Limited -- which is finishing up its week with the DC Car Examiner tomorrow morning -- is equipped to find nearby points of interest, and it was time to ask it to direct us to a restaurant.
Unfortunately, while the system was easy to use and had correctly pinpointed our location on its map, its "points of interest" section was centered in the next state over. Later in the week, it also recommended supermarkets in Baltimore and Frederick, Md., neither of which were near the car.
See more photos of the Forester's navigation system in today's slideshow
A navigation system's most useful feature is to give spoken directions to a set address, and this British-voiced Subaru demonstrates a mixed record there, too. It was easy to program and gave accurate directions in time to follow them -- most of the time.
But, for example, the system did not appear to be familiar with the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge spans opened a year and a half ago to carry Interstates 95 and 495 across the Potomac. Perplexed by the car following exit ramps developed after its programming, the system continuously recalculated its route based on a road network that no longer matched reality, giving constant inaccurate directions that could easily have confused a novice to Washington-area traffic patterns. It also at one point advised a left turn where none ever existed in a decades-old residential neighborhood.
Another quirk also emerged with the system -- if the destination you reach does not exactly meet the destination the satellites say you have, you will continually receive updated directions to get back to that starting point until you convince the navigation you have arrived.
The navigation system is expensive and occupies
prime real estate on the Subaru Forester's dashboard.
(photo by Brady Holt)
The satellite, for example, pinpointed a certain home's address at one end of its property while its driveway was on the other. To persuade the navigation system to announce "you have reached your destination" and stop trying to direct the car there, the Forester needed to be driven past the desired destination.
These complaints may make the navigation system seem useless. It's not. It shows drivers where roads are, and it can correctly guide drivers to many locations. These complaints are also not exclusive to Subarus either -- other automakers' navigation systems have also demonstrated unfortunate quirks.
But the errors that do pop up undermine confidence in this system. Combine that with its hefty $1,800 price tag on this Forester, the fact that filling the instrument panel with a large screen complicates some other functions, the fact that most of the navigation system's programming functions become unavailable when the car is in motion, and the fact that the Forester's navigation system will become outdated long before the rest of the car will, it probably makes more sense to invest in a portable GPS unit or simply a good paper map.
See more details and photo illustrations about the Forester's navigation system in today’s slideshow, and read through details of other aspects of the car from earlier this week. All readers are encouraged to leave any questions you'd like me to be on special lookout for in the comments section below, or by e-mail at dc.car.examiner@gmail.com -- act fast, the car goes back to Subaru tomorrow morning.
Day 1: Introduction
Day 3: Cargo management
Day 5: Interior details
Day 7: Navigation system
Day 8: Exterior size
Full review
Vehicle tested: 2010 Subaru Forester
Vehicle base price (MSRP): $20,295
Version tested: 2.5X Limited
Version base price (MSRP): $25,995
Vehicle price as tested (MSRP): $29,148
Estimated transaction price as tested: $26,653
Odometer at beginning of test: 3,055 miles
Odometer as of this writing: 3,537 miles
Test vehicle provided by: Subaru of America
Key specifications:
Length: 179.5 inches
Width: 70.1 inches
Height: 66.9 inches
Wheelbase: 103.0 inches
Weight: 3,360 pounds
Cargo volume behind rear seat: 30.8 cubic feet
Cargo volume behind front seats: 63.0 cubic feet
Turning radius: 17.2 feet
Engine (as tested): 2.5-liter H4 with 170 horsepower
Transmission: 4-speed automatic
EPA city mileage: 20 miles per gallon
EPA highway mileage: 26 miles per gallon
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