[Requnix]

I've owned my 2017 Fully Loaded Forester since 2017 (purchased new) when I was in Reno, NV. While I lived in Reno, the gas mileage was not good at all for general driving - I think I was getting on average 25mpg. I figured it was due to the high elevation.

Well, I now live in Bellingham, WA and I have roughly 22,500 miles on my car, and the average MPG is 22.5. I get this regardless of putting regular or premium unleaded in (tried 4 tanks in a row).

We have no extra weight in the car, and don't drive it crazy at all.

I'm appalled at this horrible gas mileage. The highest I've ever seen the car display is 28MPG when it was driven on the freeway for hours after a refill. I've never, ever broken 30MPG.

Is anyone else experiencing terrible MPG with their 2017 forester? Is this a problem due to the horizontal engine, or some other factor?

My car has been properly serviced since day one and the ECU reports no issues at all.

Honestly, if I knew the MPG was this bad, I never would have purchased the car.

 

[DragonSubie7]

@Requnix
The Forester is an AWD car, which means there is extra running gear that runs all the time (Full time AWD)
It also depends a lot on your driving and driving conditions.
High speed = low mileage - Especially in a boxy SUV which is not very aerodynamic.
At speeds over 55-60 the mileage gets increasingly bad as the speed goes up due to drag. 2XSpeed=4XDrag
At 50-55 I can get over 30mpgs - At 80 I'm lucky to get much over 20.
Stop and go also plummets the mpg's as a lot of energy is used on getting the car up to speed.
If either of those apply, your mileage isn't far off the mark.
Pretending an egg is between your foot and the skinny pedal and keeping your tires properly inflated will help, but don't expect to get Hybrid Prius mileage, 'cause you won't.

 

[Makingforestergreatagain]

Your driving an AWD bookcase down the hwy. Your mileage is normal. Especially so with crap alcohol gas.

 

[Nasarog]

It probably the gas formulation where you live.

 

[ForesterTQ]

Check your tire pressure. My car's mpg is sensitive to low tire pressure. Whenever my mpg is down a little, the tire pressure is always a couple of pounds lower. After refilling the tires with more air pressure, the MPG would always improve. Good luck.

 

[UhOh]

I have a '99 (230K miles) with A/T and on highway when new I got 26 or 27 mpg, never more; this was before ethanol gas fuel was here. In town would get 22.

2018 latest check, I could get 24-25 on hgwy, 21 - 22 in town. Your car's mpg is just like mine.

I've owned my 2017 Fully Loaded Forester ...
Honestly, if I knew the MPG was this bad, I never would have purchased the car.

Fortunately this is the time of year when all wheel drive vehicles are in high demand, so sell your Subie and buy a FWD sedan. Your new city doesn't get snow often in town.

 

[slothman]

22.5 mpg = 10.45 Liters/100K which is only a little better than what my Forester sucks when pulling a 1 tonne/2,000 lb boat.

Without the boat it averages around 31 (US)mpg. One difference might be that the maximum speed limit in most parts of AU is 110 kph/~68 mph.

If you're not driving at 70-80 mph a lot then check tyre pressures and wheel alignment, and maybe buy a different brand of gasoline. Also configure the centre display to show real time fuel consumption. The 'needle' should be in the low (-) half of the range most of the time, dropping to 0 on declines. If it is mostly in the high part then your right foot may need recalibrating.

 

[Quadraria10]

Better yet go to Fuelly.com and look at real world gas mileage reports for different models. You will notice that almost none of them match the official fuel consumption stats.
If you want better gas mileage you need to drive a smaller 2 wheel drive car, if you want worse fuel economy buy a truck or a full size SUV. If you practice hypermiling techniques you could probably improve your fuel economy by 10 to 20%.

 

[Inspector]

If you've done the obvious like checking tire pressures, and not driving over 70mph on the interstate, buy a bluetooth OBD reader and start troubleshooting. Take a look at your fuel trims and see if they're way rich. It is possible that your MAF sensor got dirty. Maybe your air filter is clogged. Maybe you have a clogged fuel injector.

 

[rdclark]

IMO you should be doing better. On road trips, mostly Interstate, our 2015 turns in 32mpg on flat terrain with CC set to 65. In daily around-town mixed driving, it averages 25.

The tires are inflated to 32, and they are aligned. We accelerate gently. We maintain steady speeds. We use Top Tier gas (87 octane). And really, that’s about it.

There’s something wrong with your car, or with your driving.

 

[Requnix]

Thanks to everyone for your responses - I'm first going to personally check the tire pressure (note I recently had the oil changed, and they were SUPPOSED to check and fix the tires). I doubt it's an internal issue because this problem has existed since the day I got the vehicle - it just never got good mileage, but when I lived in Reno, we were at the top of a winding hill. I'll look into getting an OBD reader as well and see what the ECU says. Note when I had the oil changes they inspected the filter and said it was fine, so I don't think it's that. Then again there's other people in this thread saying they have the same MPG - but then we have other people saying they actually have reached the 32. Seems to be a lot of variance; but one thing is for sure, my car never, ever got near what the "sticker" said the city and hwy MPG "could be".

 

[0D1USA]

I average about 26-27mpg despite A/T tires, a roof basket and a manual transmission. Something doesn't sound right about your economy. In addition to the items others have mentioned have you checked the air filter?

As an aside the best fuel economy I've seen with the above mentioned factors was 29.5 after I filled up with 'real gas' (ie 0% ETOH). IMHO corn has no place in fuel.

 

[DragonSubie7]

@Requnix -
The "sticker" has nothing to do with real world mpg results. It is for "comparison purposes ONLY". That's a quote from the sticker.
So you wait until you get your oil changed to check tire pressure? Bad idea. Tire pressure should be checked at least monthly.
Weekly is getter.
The TPMS warning doesn't eliminate the need for that. Check tires when it's COLD and before driving.
Every 10 degrees changes pressure by about 1 psi.
Tires set to the door jam rating in the afternoon after you drive to the Quacky-Lube will be underinflated, and you'll see that if you check the next morning.

 

[rdclark]

I meant to mention: Short drives kill overall mpg. By short I mean anything under about 25 miles.

By way of illustration: I have a 30 mile drive on I95/495 around Wilmington DE that I make during the early afternoon on weekdays every couple of weeks, at 60 to 65mph. Normally I average 32mpg or a little better on this drive. But I don’t hit that number until close to the end of the drive; if I stopped after 20 miles, it might be 25mpg. After 10, maybe 18.

You get terrible economy when idling, warming up, accelerating a cold engine, etc. The higher the proportion of your driving spent doing those things, the worse your overall economy will be.

 

[johndixs]

Requnix:
From Sept. 2016 to May 2019, 32,958 miles and averaged 27.56 mpg. I dId run the tires at 40 psi. Mostly South Florida with a few trips north. Retired, so no commuting. 2017 Touring model. Mpg quoted is based on hand calculation after each refill. Error between actual mpg as hand calculated and car indicated mpg was over 2 mpg optimistic.

 

[Boreal]

@Requnix FWIW, I suffered with 22-24 MPG on my 2015 since almost day one. This spring I had to replace the rear brakes at about 25k miles because the pads literally fell apart without warning. After the brake change, my average mileage jumped to nearly 30 mpg! It has dropped somewhat since cold weather has arrived, but my mileage is still up 15-20% over last year. Coincidence? Dragging brakes? You might want to check it out.

 

[proftdub]

@Requnix I too am disappointed in the mpg of my 2018 Premium 2.5i Forester, and I wouldn't have purchased it knowing it wasn't getting close to the advertised mpg. I'm well aware of all the tips and tricks to get the best gas mileage out of a vehicle and have exceeded the advertised mpg's on my previous vehicles. Another thing that bothers me with my Forester is that the digital mpg readings for current tank and lifetime of vehicle read 1.8 mpg higher than actual. On my previoud vehcile (a 2004 Sienna LE), the digital and actual varied by at most 0.5 mpg.

 

[suncitybob]

@Requnix My 2016 gets about 33 plus on long highway trips, better than 26 in town. I drive 65 on the highway, lots of cruise use. Tire pressure about 4 pounds higher than recommended. . .if I got your mileage, Id check out tire pressure and most especially your driving habits.

 

[PeterfromOz]

IMO you should be doing better. On road trips, mostly Interstate, our 2015 turns in 32mpg on flat terrain with CC set to 65. In daily around-town mixed driving, it averages 25.

The tires are inflated to 32, and they are aligned. We accelerate gently. We maintain steady speeds. We use Top Tier gas (87 octane). And really, that’s about it.

There’s something wrong with your car, or with your driving.

Sending this from Australia. I am surprised that your 'top tier' gas is 87. Our 2005 Forester manual says the car is designed for 90 octane. Our fuel pumps are 91 (unleaded), 94 (alcohol mix - cheapest fuel), 95 and 98. I always use 98 and the car still pings with pre-ignition noise. Your model must have a lower compression ratio. In regard to fuel usage 8 litre/100km on a high speed trip and 13-14 litres/100km around town even when driven with light throttle.

 

[numskull50]

@PeterfromOz US rating system is different your 91 is our 87 etc.