Get the Patriot :smiley_thumbs_up:

Seriously, I think you overrate the Subaru's off-road capability and underrate the Patriots. I would pit my FD I against any stock Subaru any day of the week.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily hate the Subaru. If I was 3-6 inchs shorter in height I might be driving one. They can be very reliable if well taken care off. Of course, that is true for most vehicles.

 

I vote for the Patriot as well. I just got a 2008 4x4 CVT w/ 26E and Tire Package. I went from a WRX and couldn't be happier. Its great, I can't complain!

I looked at a Forester too... but I couldn't justify the price.

 

I believe any patriot FDI or FDII will do better offroad than a subaru forester. The FDII has more ground clearance and is set up more for offroad than a forester. I could be wrong but can you even get skid plates for the forester?

 

For what you want in a vehicle, i would say patriot as well. The subaru gives more options at teh same price, but not as much off road abilities.

 

My two vehicle choices were the Pat or the Subaru Impreza. I think the Impreza sport is a better comparison than the forester. Anyway after driving both i felt the Subaru was much better built, and had better handling. But it was slightly smaller and my wife felt it was for lesbians. At the end of the day the only reason I got the pat was because my company offered a Jeep discount and no Subaru discount. But i am happy with the Pat, no problems at all. I have FDI and i get 22 city 29-30 hwy.

If i were to do it all over again, I would wait another year or two and buy the Subaru boxer diesel.

 

I saw the mileage from last year to this year on the Forrester went down a bit. I had a Outback and like the way the Jeep handles alot better. I have the Trail Rated package on mine and am getting 21-24 mpg.
Unless you feel you'll be doing some type of "hard core" off roading which I wouldn't even consider with the Forrester, unless you feel you need the tow hooks and skid plates I'd just get the 4x4, non trail rated and take the extra few mpg which would be the same or better than the Forrester.

Rich

 

shopping opinion

I have test driven both as well, and I do like the subaru drive and i is comparatively fue efficant. But apple to apples the prce was almost 6000 more compard to the limited 4x2 i purchased vs the same equiped subaru, mind you it did have power seats, but thats a small price to pay for the difference in cost.

 

The selling points was the power train warrenty and I really wanted to buy American. Plus gas and price.

 

2008 FDII Sport
Bought my patriot in November 2007
17000 miles
avg 21 mpg winter, 23-24.5 mpg since spring
can't beat the lifetime powertrain warranty, also opted for the lifetime warranty for components.
no problems so far at all.
Have done some light off roading, that I'm postive the FDI would be fine for, great in the snow as well.
100%+++ satisfaction
Plus is sounds much better to say "Its a Jeep thing" than its a subaru thing

 

If the gal continually reminds you of how much she wanted the Subaru after you select and own the Jeep, the technical specs really don't matter much.

 

Spoken from someone with true wisdom ... the woman always wins.

You may have to come up with a very, very good reason to get the Patriot over the Forester if she objects at this point.

 

10000 km with no trouble, except for the darn scratches all over the body from the branches. I get 12.5 L/100 km pretty consistantly in the city and drop down to 12 on the highway (we're in a mountainous region)

It's a great little offroader, so long as you pick your line carefully. Compared to the Trooper, it'll feel bonejarring on logging roads for the first while until you learn to drive a little slower. It just doesn't have the suspension, tires and solid frame that my 96 S10 Jimmy had.

I'd go with 16" steel rims though, and upgrade the tires to a larger size aftermarket instead of getting the 17" offroad tire package from Jeep. The 17"'s have less air volume (thus less suspension in the rubber)

No regrets here!

 

If I could afford it, I would have went for one of those FJ Cruisers......

 

Anybody with a brain wouldn't get stuck like that.
Back on topic, I drove a Forester and just did not care for it that much. Another Japanese dullmobile. The Pat is more fun IMO.

 

Million threads on mileage for FDII. I get 23ish for mixed driving, but you do have to drive conservative.

Some others get higher. You go over 60-65mph you lose alot of mpg's.

Do you do alot of stop and go in your area? If you do you won't get that good of mileage.

Very happy with mine. Had it 5 months and have 4000 miles on it. Not one problem at all. Very roomy inside. I haven't been in the forrester. Don't have anything to say up or down on it.

Off-road mine has made all the logging roads and rocky washouts seem very easy.

I like the look of the Pat much better also.

Lifetime warranty!

Does the Subura have ESP, ARM, HDC, etc.?

Have fun with the wife. Can she be bought with heated seats, navigation, leather, and all the other extras?

 

Trying to be as un-biased as possable:

• The base Subaru Forrester is roughly $7,000 more than the base Patriot
• Interior is better on the Subaru Forrester
• More space in the Subaru Forrester
• Offroad capability much better in the Patriot FDII
• City Fuel Economy is the same (Forrester has better fuel economy on the highway)

It really comes down to price and if you see value having a better equipped vehicle for poor weather or offroad use.

 

Just search my posts for my take on the Forester vs Patriot battle I had with myself.

Some highlight points:

I think the Pat's interior is better as in more comfortable and functionality. Perhaps looks - wise the Forester is better, but that is debateable.

The Forester's shifting action is awful. The clutch pedal engages straight off the floor and the shifting action is vaugue to put it lightly. It was such a poor combo that I actually stalled it twice, the first time I have stalled a manual vehicle in over 10 years.

The ride was bumpy and jerky. I was very suprised at that fact as I was expecting a nice ride. My wife and I both got out of the Forester and told each other there was no way we could take long trips in it.

The price. The Forester X model we drove was $24,950, and the Pat was on sale with dealer cash incentives for $19,875 ($3000 off total)

The stereo, no contest... even base Patriot vs Subaru (Only has an 80 Watt stereo with no upgrade option on the power) My Pat has the BA stereo and that was important for me. The Subaru would have had to have a brand new aftermarket setup, their stereo was simply awful.

 

The Impreza 5 door is a closer fit. Wheelbase is almost identical. Pat has more cargo room and rear leg/shoulder room, but Impreza has more front leg/shoulder room. Base price is also 17,500.

 

FD II.
love it.
period.

 

Seconded.

 

This discussion about the Subaru and the Patriot has peaked my interested just how the room in both of them compares. I decided to go to the appropriate websites and collect their information into one document. Here is the link to the document. It is by far not a complete set of information but the numbers are side-by-side. These numbers are for AWD/4WD models only.

Subaru/Patriot Comparision

I sat in both the Impreza and Forester (2008 models) before purchasing the Patriot. For me (6' 3" at 265 lbs) there was just too little leg room in it. I could fit in the Forester but only a kid would fit behind me. The Impreza was just too tight. Even though the numbers say it has more leg room the one thing that made it for the Patriot is that up/down motion of the seats. As the seat goes down it rocks backwards which allows for several different positions for me to get comfortable even with a rear facing child seat behind me. That would never happen in the Subarus.

EDIT: Updated *.pdf document

It would be nice if Jeep could squeeze a 15 or 16 gallon tank under the Patriot as well. I would be in traveling bliss if I had the 16.5 gallon tank that the Subaru has but its only a minor issue for me.