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'17 Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium w/All-Weather Pkg+Starlink

('14-'18) 
5K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  GaryBrown 
#1 ·
Owned it for a week, and really like it!

However, anyone figured how to get a digital display of MPH on the little LCD screen above steering wheel?
 
#4 ·
Unless (for 2017) they changed the small multi-function display between the tach and speedo, you can't do it. At least my 2016 XT Premium can't do it.

My wife's 2016 Crosstrek limited has a slightly different multi-fucntion display between the gauges and it will show a digital speedo, which is quite convenient.
 
#12 ·
Does anyone happen to know how to change the spedo in the multifunction display from MPH to KPH? I find it hard to believe a digital display in a vehicle would't have the option to toggle back and fourth. I can't find anything about it in the manual though. It would be really nice to have it read out KPH for the trips to Canada since I'm not accustomed to the metric system.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Hi all,

This is my first post - guess this is as good a place as any to jump in. I found this forum when I started Forester shopping. What a great resource and plus a friendly group :)

I've been driving a buddy's 2014 2.5i Premium 6MT for a couple of years. He doesn't like to drive all that much, so I've put around 25,000 miles of time in behind the wheel. In fact, I like the car so much I'm on the verge of ordering a 2017 2.5i Premium myself (if I can ever decide on a color!).

Anyway, here is what I believe I know.

1) On the 2014 2.5i Premium (and I think this runs through 2016 US MY), there are three "buttons" (more like mini-levers) at around 7 o'clock on the steering wheel. These are used to toggle through the various displays on the MFD above the center of the dash. I don't believe there is an option to display MPH on that. (I find the dashboard speedo very hard to read, so I have looked!). It looks like "higher option" dashboards (talking about the part in front of the driver now) are different and can display MPH in the area between the two round gauges, but that does not exist on the 2014 2.5i Premium. Side note: Speedo is hard to read because it goes all the way to something like 140 mph and so it is very cramped, then only a few speed numbers are marked (20, 40, 60, etc.) and in between them are a million tiny hash marks, one for each 2 mph. I have taken to reading the speed from a Scangauge II mounted to the left, just above the dashboard dimmer controls. Not very handy.

2) On the 2017 2.5i Premium those levers at 7 p.m. on the steering wheel are gone. They have been replaced by a single little push button that shares space with a reduced-size four-way-flasher button on the center of the dash below the MFD. This push button now does the function of toggling through the MFD displays. I only spent about ten minutes running through this when I test drove a 2017 2.5i Premium, but I didn't notice much difference from the 2014 in the displays. A blue background is now black, but I didn't see an MPH display option (I wish!). The 2017 2.5i Premium no longer has levers on the steering wheel at 7 p.m. (but I think other models do and they may toggle the driver's dash display?)

I WISH I could swap in a Limited (or other) driver's dash display. Easier to read and best of all, a digital MPH display. I actually really like analog gauges, but I just have a hard time reading the Subaru one. The scale is a bit too small for me due to it ranging from 0-140 mph, and then the numbers they do show don't tend to correspond to speeds on the roads I'm on (very few have speed limits of 20/40/60/80. Then in between, they are marked in small, 2 mph increments, whereas the roads I tend to drive on have multiples of 5 (35, 45, 55, 65, etc.).

So, while it would change if I ruled the world (and I'd have a black cloth interior option on a white or blue 2.5i Premium while I was at it), I don't believe there is a way to digitally display MPH on a 2.5i Premium (2014-2017). If that's incorrect, I'll be happy to be wrong. And on the 2017 2.5i Premium (and likely the base also), there are no more three levers on the steering wheel. The MFD display that used to be controlled by the three levers is now controlled by a push button by the four-way-flasher button, and there is not a designed in way for the driver to adjust what is displayed on the main driver's dash.

To the good (in case it sounds like I'm down on the car), I really like >90% of the Forester and can't wait to have one of my own :) (And I consider 90% to be plenty high, as I don't think I've driven a car that didn't have a few little things I would change if I could.)

Sky Blue

PS: I did find a few threads where people asked if they could swap in a driver's dash display from a higher model (one of the white display ones, vs. the basic red one in the base and Premium) but those threads died out without any sure answer.
 
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