is it worth it to get the turbo subaru forester vs non-turbo?

Well, lemme put it this way, it's a Subaru Forester. It's not meant for speed, it's not meant for handling, it's meant for a family to carry crap in comfortably.

Yes you will gain power buy utilizing a turbocharger, power that you will rarely use in a family vehicle. A turbocharger utilizes exhaust gasses as a power supply, producing horsepower ONLY when your vehicle is putting out enough exhaust gasses for it to spin up. That only happens when you're already driving. So yes, you'd get more power to accelerate after you've already accelerated to a somewhat reasonable speed.

Next, look at the fuel costs. As you stated it requires premium fuel. I don't know what that runs for in your area but around here it's about another 40 cents per gallon. With a 16.9 gallon tank (rounded to 17 for easy math), estimating a tank a week, that's an extra $.80 per tank, $353.60 per year, or $1768 over a 5 year lifespan.

Finally, maintenance. It's recommended that you give your vehicle 2 minutes of operation before you drive at a speed that allows the turbocharger to spin up, and another 2 before you turn the car off. Admittedly not a lot of people follow this, but that is the recommendation. They rarely break down, but if/when they do it's a somewhat major repair. In addition to repairing/replacing the turbocharger you have to have your engine inspected for damage, increasing both the money and time spent repairing it.

Put bluntly, if it wasn't a family car I'd consider it. If it were a little more nimble, or a little quicker, I personally wouldn't mind having a turbocharger. But it's a family car, it's meant to carry your kids and your stuff from Point A to Point B in a comfortable, safe manner. It's not meant for the track, it's not meant to zip in and out of traffic, and it's not meant to race kids in Mustangs driving down the highway.

2005 Subaru Forester Turbo

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RE:

is it worth it to get the turbo subaru forester vs non-turbo?

checked out subarus at dealer yesterday..wife and i liked the forester best,,is about 2k cheaper than comparably equipped outback....i'm tempted to get the turbo model...wife just wants non-turbo...wife is the main driver so i'm leaning toward non-turbo..test drove one,,its nice but doesnt...

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There are a variety of ways to make your Naturally Aspirated Subaru faster. Look to NASIOC for help, they should give you great advice. If you want to spend big bucks, you can go out and do a V7 STI swap with transmission for a bit less than $10000, but thats expensive. Other options include going to Rallitek and Cobb Tuning. Lachute Performance also offers plenty of Subaru performance upgrades, as they specialize in them.

Loads of different ways depending on the size of your wallet and what sort of performance gains you want. A common tune is exhaust system, induction kit and ecu remap. Is the engine the same as the Impreza 2.0 sport (thats also non-turbo) if so some of the bits might be more easily located.

As you said, your wife will be the primary driver, so I'd consider saving the money and giving her what she wants. Yes, the difference is mpg is slight; it's the all-wheel system that's bringing down fuel economy (But SO worth it). Now, if you intend to tow something (Anything big should be towed by a bigger vehicle with a LONG wheelbase.), maybe you want the extra power and particularly the extra torque you get from the turbocharged engine.

I had my concerns about purchasing Forester Turbo. Premium gas and turbo repairs. I will stick with 2.5i Premium. Thank you, you have answered my concerns..

i say just get a regular model and she wont be trying to get raced from civics with the non turbo models. the only good turbo models i think are the sti impreza's

They're both junk.