[tjdunlap]

I went from a 2017 Legacy Limited to a 2019 Forester Limited. My biggest complaint is the way the Cruise control controls work seems backwards on the new car. In the 2017 Legacy, to increase cruise control speed 1 mph up or down, you moved the toggle one click up or down. To go 5 mph faster or slower, you moved the toggle all the way up or down for a click and let it go. Simple operation and intuitive.

In the 2019 Forester, they made the one click adjustment give you 5 mph up or down. To get just 1 mph up or down you push the toggle all the way up or down (past the 5 mph click distance) and then hold it for a second or so and then let it go. To add another mph up or down, do that again. This seems completely backwards to me and it is awkward:frown2:. The way it worked on the 2017 Legacy was perfect.

The way it works on the 2019 Forester seems wacky and it is very hard to adjust to, because it is backwards from the way all other cruise controls I am familiar with (Lexus, Toyota, Hyundai, etc.) One short click = 1 mph, full push click = 5 mph.

I asked Southern States Subaru's customer support contact to reach out to Subaru's design engineers to ask about this seemingly stupid change but she would not and redirected me to my local dealer, who also thought this change didn't make much sense and just shrugged and kind of said "it is what it is". I hate that expression. And in case you can't already tell, I hate the new cruise control controls.

Why the heck did Subaru change this perfectly good method to this seemingly wacky method? Does anybody know?

 

[securityguy]

If this is your biggest complaint than you're doing great!

 

[straphanger322]

That's just how it works on the Forester. It's the same way on my 2017 and 2018 Forester.

 

[Whitesc]

tjdunlap

Did you not test drive the vehicle prior to purchase? If using the Adaptive Cruise Control, one would not need to constantly adjust in 1 mph increments. I rather like the fact that I can set the cruise to 49 in a 45 zone and when it changes to 50 I can just adjust it two clicks to 55.
Speed limit signs are in 5mph increments mostly and thus is the reason I think it’s quite nice not to have to click 5 times to reach the next speed zone.
Also, you do know that you can just press the gas to reach a new specific speed and hit set or cancel cruis and slow down to specific speed.
Overall, you have to get use to it because it’s in your vehicle now and there’s nothing that the engineers will do to fix it; it’s not broke.

 

[dwbitt]

tjdunlap, no worries, I also have a '17 Legacy and was surprised it was changed as well. Give it a few rides and you'll feel more comfortable with it.

Next up is the Lane Keeping system, the Legacy is Defaulted OFF after shutdown, the Foz is on at startup! Only took a week or so for me to realize I kept turning it off after startup. :surprise:

 

[tjdunlap]

Did you not test drive the vehicle prior to purchase? If using the Adaptive Cruise Control, one would not need to constantly adjust in 1 mph increments. I rather like the fact that I can set the cruise to 49 in a 45 zone and when it changes to 50 I can just adjust it two clicks to 55.
Speed limit signs are in 5mph increments mostly and thus is the reason I think it’s quite nice not to have to click 5 times to reach the next speed zone.
Also, you do know that you can just press the gas to reach a new specific speed and hit set or cancel cruis and slow down to specific speed.
Overall, you have to get use to it because it’s in your vehicle now and there’s nothing that the engineers will do to fix it; it’s not broke.

I did test drive it but made the mistake of assuming the Cruise worked the same way my 2017 Legacy did. It doesn't. And the way my Lexus does and my 2008, 2010 and 2013 Priuses did and the way my Daughter's Honda does, etc. Why wouldn't it work the same way as my other Subaru? All Toyotas work alike, all Hondas etc. I bet the Outback's Cruise works just like the Legacy.

It's just an annoying change and I have no idea why anyone would design it like this. It just seems wrong compared to the other way. And of course I know how cruise works in all its capabilities - been driving with cruise for decades. Chevys, Nissans, BMWs, Saabs, Infinitis and the list above.

It is actually kind of difficult to not select 5 mph faster or slower in the Forester.

And I use cruise almost all the time and have for years, hence the need for fine adjustments, even with active cruise (this is my 3rd active cruise car). My Legacy and last 5 cars all had 1 and 5 mph increments, with 5 a full push and 1 just a part click.

And you follow the speed limits? ;-)

 

[tjdunlap]

That's just how it works on the Forester. It's the same way on my 2017 and 2018 Forester.

I guess the Forester has a different set of engineers. You'd think that something like this would be the same in every Subaru model.

 

[OriginalTwoTone]

It seems wrong to you. What you like seems stupid to me? Speed limits are set in 5 mph increments so one touch of the button should increase as much.

I normally set my cruse to 4 over, so this method sounds perfect. One click is 5 over and one long press and you're at 4 over.

 

[Whitesc]

+1 That’s pretty much what I said earlier. I’m a 4 over cruising guy. I think the OP is having difficulty with change.

 

[E. Chang]

I agree with the OP that such an arrangement is odd and does not work well. For my Hondas, and the BMW before them, a gentle flip increases/decreases the speed by 1 MPH, holding it down to get continuous changes. The way Forester is set up now, it is very difficult if you want to precisely change the speed by 1 or 2 MPH, but this is very easily and precisely done on my other cars. There are better ways to do to and hope they can change in the future.

 

[EGsubieguy]

You'll get used to it

I agree: it was a little weird to go to the '19 ACC from a 16 year old car that each push on the set button changed the speed by one mph. But after a couple of months, I like the way the Forester's ACC works. Five mph per push up or down seems logical. I just set it five over traffic speed and let the Eyesight system do it's job.

My only complaint is when the system locks onto a car in front of you then you are controlled by that driver's decisions. Here in CA that is usually a dubious choice. Based on what friend told me, I thought that ACC would be a set it and forget it kind of thing but you still have to pay attention for fast lane creepers and change lanes before the ACC reduces speed. Be nice if they would combine the ACC and lane assist to come up with "constant speed assist" that would change lanes for you to keep your speed up. Just dreaming, but it's just a matter of time.

 

[copwriter]

On my 2019 Touring, setting the ACC speed with the "RES/SET" switch increases or decreases the set speed by 5 MPH if the speed is already set at a multiple of 5 MPH. If it's set at something more or less than a 5 MPH increment (as with pushing "SET" when the actual speed is, say, 23 MPH), then the switch increases or decreases to the next 5 MPH increment. I can change the speed settings very quickly with this method.

 

[Whitesc]

On my 2019 Touring, setting the ACC speed with the "RES/SET" switch increases or decreases the set speed by 5 MPH if the speed is already set at a multiple of 5 MPH. If it's set at something more or less than a 5 MPH increment (as with pushing "SET" when the actual speed is, say, 23 MPH), then the switch increases or decreases to the next 5 MPH increment. I can change the speed settings very quickly with this method.

+1 I like the way it works now. Don’t know why people are so obsessed with 1-click 1mph increments.

 

[GwdHam]

Judging from the response I received from one of the service advisors at a local dealership, the 5-mph incremental change must be a frequent topic of owners. When I said that I found the configuration odd, he indicated that he had heard that many times.

 

[Scooby24]

The cruise control is adaptive.

If it wasn't adaptive, I'd be worried about adjusting 1 mph or so just to avoid the annoyance of being just a HAIR faster than the car in front of me and having to slow down. With it being adaptive you just set it and going up or down 5 mph just makes it faster to adjust your target based on speed limit changes. It makes a heck of a lot more sense in my mind given the ability to auto adjust speed for traffic.

 

[UPnorthMI]

Since I'm only an occasional driver of my wife's 2019 forester the 5 mph increment is very annoying. I find myself looking at the dash more to see what speed I've just set as opposed to knowing that I just pushed it once and adjusted the speed 1 mph. Long pressing the button seems less accurate when you want to drive 7 mph over the speed limit as many people do. If I'm driving 62 and the speed limit increases by 5 mph getting to 67 requires me to look at the dash. I find myself questioning did I get 1 or 2 or 5 mph with that push and when I hold it, did I get 1 or 2 mph change. With single increment I just click it 5 times and I get 5 mph. No peaking required. If you always drive 60, 65, 70 mph this system would seem great. I don't.

 

[copwriter]

You can set the cruise control +/- 1 mph by holding the increase/decrease button. So you can set it to 65 mph, then hold the up button and it will start to increase by 1's.

There is a way to use the old type cruise control (although why is another question), I googled it:

Can you turn off adaptive cruise control Subaru?
To disable Adaptive Cruise Control and switch to standard cruise control, all you need to do is press and hold the “set distance” button on the right side of your steering wheel. Continue to set speed as you usually would.Jan 23, 2019

I wasn’t aware of that setting. Thanks for posting that.