Subaru Forester

Fresh Foresters

Subaru has launched a new generation all-wheel-drive Forester offering a car that's longer, stronger, meaner and leaner, in other words the usual upgrades from a redesign.

The Japanese car maker Fuji Heavy Industries said the Forester is the best-selling vehicle in its Subaru range and has gone for a new look, cabin refinements and comfort, and enhanced efficiency for the recreational-family vehicle.

The new Forester three-model range - X, XS, and turbocharged XT - is said by Subaru to be a significantly stronger vehicle with improved fuel consumption of up to 7.8 per cent (on the manual XT) over its predecessor.

The X and XS variants are powered by a Single Overhead Camshaft four-cylinder 2.5lt naturally aspirated horizontally opposed boxer engine with a 4.1 per cent increase in power and a 1.3 per cent rise in torque. The XT model has a turbocharged Double Overhead Camshaft four-cylinder 2.5lt with torque range now kicking in 800rpm lower in the rev range at 2800rpm.

Subaru said interior space is greater, with rear occupant access and the cargo area increased, aided by the newly developed double wishbone rear suspension reducing cargo area intrusion for a wider load carrying space with easier access.

Ground clearance has been increased, to enhance the Forester's off-road ability, by 20mm to 220mm in the X and XS, and to 225mm for the turbo XT. The Forester's wheelbase has been lengthened by 90mm, too, and Subaru said its engineers have the reduced the car's centre of gravity, despite the increased ground clearance, by sitting the engine 10mm lower in the chassis and the transmission dropped 22mm at the front.

The Forester is also 75mm longer than the superseded model and also 110mm taller plus wider by 60mm to 1795mm.

All Forester models have the same towing capacity with 750kg for unbraked trailers and 1400kg for those with brakes.

Subaru's own figures reveal improvements in fuel (90 to 98 RON) consumption over the previous model Forester, in particular the turbo XT manual and auto; the former consuming 10.5lt/100km for a 7.8 per cent improvement, and the auto using the same amount for a 5.4 per cent improvement. The next best are the manual X and XS using 9.3lt/100km, a 3.1 per cent improvement, while the auto X and XS required 9.6lt/100km for only one per cent better than the predecessor.

The non-turbo Forester 2.5lt engine has a 4.1 per cent increase in power and a 1.3 per cent rise in torque over the previous motor with 126kW at 6000rpm and 229Nm or torque at 4400rpm. The turbo motor produces 169kW at 5200rpm and 320Nm at 2800rpm.

Subaru make special mention of Forester's safety aspects. It claims all models have a maximum five-star crashworthiness rating for occupant safety from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) and a three out of four rating for pedestrial impacts.