Third Time Lucky For Forester
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday March 15, 2008
Impreza's arrival last year meant a new Forester was not far away. BRENT DAVISON was on hand for the national launch of the third-generation compact crossover.
The problem with being a pioneer is that others will learn from your shortcomings and do something better. That is pretty much what Honda, Toyota and Nissan did when Subaru launched its Forester back in August 1997. Forester was, arguably, the first compact crossover sports utility vehicle, a clever little "almost" offroader using the major underpinnings and mechanical packages from the Impreza range with a tall, upright body on top and extra ground clearance to give it a bit of ability. Come forward almost 11 years and Forester is in its third generation and, philosophically at least, little has changed. It still uses Impreza as its base and shares the engine, transmission and suspension packages and even picks up some of the interior styling cues. It looks very different to the Impreza family, of course, but stays true to type with its longish nose, tall cabin and boxy, utilitarian styling. If the new Impreza was criticised for its anonymity then Forester goes the other way. It will never be mistaken for one of its rivals or for any of the 105,000 other Foresters sold here in the last decade. Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior describes it as the perfect city car for the weekend with appeal to young, active, Australian families, the turbocharged models holding similar appeal but with something calling out to "the lad inside the dad". Not unexpectedly, Forester has grown in the transition from generation-two to generation three. Overall length has grown by 75mm, width by 60mm and 90mm has been pressganged into the wheelbase while offroad abilities have been improved by jacking an extra 20mm into the overall ground clearance. The dimension changes have brought more interior space and an extra 95mm has been given to back seat legroom, meaning that, this time around, adults can travel comfortably in the back for reasonable distances. This newest Forester retains the 2.5-litre, four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed engines but Subaru's engineers have pulled a tiny bit more power from 126kW and 229Nm (at 6000rpm and 3200rpm respectively) from the naturally-aspirated unit, increases of a modest 5kW and 3Nm. The turbocharged engine stays at a very healthy 169kW at 5200rpm and 320Nm at 2800rpm but has 20 per cent more torque available at 2000rpm. Both engines are mated to a five-speed manual transmission across the range with a dual-range transfer case standard on the non-turbo cars and a four-speed automatic (without dual-range) optional across the family. Anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assistance, electronic stability control and front, side and side curtain airbags are all standard across the model range and have helped the car achieve a full five-star crash rating and making it the first Subaru SUV to gain the full three-star pedestrian rating. On the road the car feels bigger and more grown-up than its predecessor with a greater surefootedness giving a clue not only to its wider tracks (35mm front, 45mm rear) but also to the nine months of suspension testing. Australian-spec dampers are 40 per cent stiffer and the springs 16 per cent stiffer compared to Japanese domestic market Foresters. Even the base model car gets active head restraints, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, bottle and cup holders, cargo blind and tie-down hooks, remote central locking, cruise control, height and reach-adjustable steering column, height-adjustable driver's seat, airconditioning, reclining rear seat, split/fold rear seat and multiple power sockets.Subaru has managed to cut prices compared to the outgoing car by between $1000 and almost $3000, depending on the model.
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury