Does 2019 Subaru Forester Premium Beep When Backing Close to Something

FORT BRAGG, California — Subaru learned something from the parade of dogs featured in the automaker's commercials: Humans love to be recognized and greeted enthusiastically. The brand's three latest vehicles do everything but sit and wag their tails to greet their owners.

Subaru's new DriverFocus feature greets you by name and adjusts mirrors, seats and climate control to your preferences before you've had time to buckle your seat belt.

Who's a good car? Subaru is! Good Subaru!

The 2020 Subaru Forester, Outback and Legacy all offer the feature, called DriverFocus. Like an Australian shepherd, it not only greets its master, but also keeps you from wandering off, sounding an alert at signs of drowsiness and distracted driving.

The 2020 Forester is on sale now. The new Outback arrives in dealerships this month, followed by the Legacy, probably in September. The system can recognize and recall preferences for up to five people.

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DriverFocus isn't available on base models, but it's available on well-equipped models like the Outback Touring I recently tested on California's Lost Coast.

DriverFocus is not included in Subaru's EyeSight suite of safety systems.

DriverFocus remembers:

• Seat position
• Mirror position
• Climate control settings
• The last screen you used in the infotainment system, for instance music or navigation

A luxury-car feature

Subaru downplays the technology's creature-comforts angle and emphasizes the safety benefits. That's very responsible, but I've got my priorities: I'm a sucker for high thread counts and a steaming cappuccino. I'm more likely to appreciate seats, mirrors and climate control that adjust to my settings before I've settled into my seat than to pay for well-intentioned Nanny Cam driver-assistance features.

Are you with me, America? I thought so.

Subaru Outback and Legacy product manager Peter Tenn is an adult, though. He's all about the safety benefits:

"This is one more step for us to offer the best safety on the market. Facial recognition is a feature you usually see in luxury vehicles."

DriverFocus uses an infrared camera mounted in the center of the dashboard to monitor the driver's eyes and head position. If your eyes are closed or you don't face forward for a few seconds, the system beeps. If you don't respond the number of beeps increase and become constant. The IR camera works in the dark and though sunglasses.

Unlike Cadillac's Super Cruise semi-automated driving system, which also uses an infrared camera to monitor driver attention, DriverFocus won't slow the car to a stop if you don't respond. Like a dog that needs to go out, it gets more and more insistent, yipping and dancing from one paw to another until you do the right thing. Unlike an puppy that needs to get out, you can turn DriverFocus off.

The camera is mounted just above the center stack's climate controls and touch screens. It begins monitoring when the driver's door opens, and can remember up to five users. DriverFocus has a wide field of view, so it can recognize users and begin adjustments before you're seated.

The system flashes a greeting in the instrument panel including your user name and an icon. You're back! Are we going to play fetch, boss?

Next, I'd like to see Subaru teach its cars to remember each user's favorite radio and satellite stations. Some positive reinforcement and a few dog biscuits should do the trick.

Contact Mark Phelan at 313-222-6731 ormmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @ mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter.

Does 2019 Subaru Forester Premium Beep When Backing Close to Something

Source: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2019/08/03/subaru-driverfocus-outback-forester-legacy/1903279001/

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