Subaru has announced updates to two of its SUVs, along with pricing for the Ascent and Forester for 2021. The 2021 Subaru Ascent adds Traffic Jam Assist as well as lane centring to the EyeSight active safety suite, along with LED adaptive headlights and high-beam assist along with a rear seat buckle-up reminder. Meanwhile, Subaru is shuffling the goodies on the 2021 Forester, making some of the best features available on lower trims to deliver more value and safety, while also adding a rear passenger seatbelt reminder across the board. Both get slight price increases that should be more than offset by the standard equipment additions.
Under the guise that bigger is better, we'll start with the three-row Ascent. Priced from $36,995, $300 more than last year, 2021 Ascent adds lane-centring assist to Subaru's EyeSight driver assistance system that already included adaptive cruise, lane-keep assist, lane departure and sway warnings, and pre-collision braking. LED steering responsive headlights that were already offered on higher trims are now standard across the board helping to light up the night, and the new rear seatbelt reminder works for passengers in both the second and third rows.
The Ascent is offered in four trims again this year, starting with the base Convenience trim, which offers tinted rear glass, auto up/down front glass, heated front seats, and a 6.5-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The Touring model adds an 8.0-inch screen, panoramic roof, LED fog lights, and reverse automatic braking. Limited gets 14-speaker Harman Kardon audio, leather, heated steering wheel (and second-row seats), and 20-inch wheels, plus both it and Touring can be had with second-row captain's chairs in place of a bench. Finally, the top $51,495 Premier trim gets special brown or black leather, ventilated seats, and a front-view camera as the highlights.
On top of the rear belt reminder, all 2021 Subaru Forester trims get high beam assist and steering-responsive LED front lamps, both features previously limited to more expensive trims. EyeSight, including adaptive cruise with lane centring and pre-collision braking, is standard, and a heated wheel moves down two steps to be standard on Touring and Sport models (along with an 8.0-inch screen on Touring and up). For the last of the changes, the Limited trim adds Subaru's unique DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation, which beeps at you if you aren't looking at the road, and an eight-way power passenger seat, both of which were previously limited to the Premier trim.
The base Forester starts from $28,995, $300 more than last year, and includes X-Mode off-road drive mode, heated front seats, auto climate control, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The Convenience trim adds more USB ports and magazine pockets on the backs of the front seats. Touring adds the larger screen and warmed wheel, Limited gets the new driver aids as mentioned, and Premier adds special brown perforated leather seats.
Both 2021 models are available now.
2021 Subaru Ascent Canadian Pricing
Convenience $36,995
Touring $42,495
Limited $47,995
Premier $51,495
2021 Subaru Forester Canadian Pricing
Forester $28,995
Convenience $32,595
Touring $34,395
Sport $35,795
Limited $38,795
Premier $40,095
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