All Grown Up

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday August 15, 2008

Susan Bredow

This once squat station wagon is now a sharp soft-roader.

The former footballer is a little disappointed. We are packing for a snow trip and there's a Subaru Forester parked downstairs. He doesn't feel up to doing a long trip in a buzz box. "But it's really good," I say. "And it's a turbo."

He is underwhelmed and says whatever else it is, it's still a four-cylinder car. "You're just tired," I say. "You will like it when you get into it." And he does. There is plenty to like.

This new version of the all-wheel-drive soft-roader is quite deceptive. It looks quite tidy and petite from the outside. Yet on the inside it's got as much space as most family sedans. Even the air intake on the bonnet looks rudely proportioned from the inside. From the outside it's actually a subtle and refined nostril.

The 195-centimetre one with bad knees fits easily behind the wheel and while it would have been better if the passenger seat moved back a little further, he rides comfortably enough on that side, too.

This car has remarkable pulling power, which is particularly noticeable in high gears. You don't have to do a lot of shift shuffling to get the speed you need to overtake. It's there ready and waiting as soon as you ask for it, like a shot out of a gun, with little need to wind up the rubber band.

Not that there is a lot of passing to do on the road to Thredbo. With speed cameras and lurking traffic police, it's a much safer, more sedate journey than it once was. It was easy to set cruise control on the steering wheel and enjoy the ride.

Our trip is slower than sedate. Thanks to roadworks on the Hume Highway, it takes three hours on a Tuesday morning to get from the lower North Shore to Goulburn.

But while the traffic is halted and other drivers wander up and down the road to stretch their legs, we puzzle over where the CD player might be. At first we are incredulous Subaru may have left it out. After all, this car comes standard with satellite navigation.

There is a button labelled Tilt but it takes a while to press it. I used to play a lot of pinball and have not before associated this function with a motor vehicle.

Yet, pressing Tilt does the trick. The map screen lifts and folds to reveal the elusive slot for CDs.

Music plays. Calm - well almost, we are listening to Abba - is restored. Now what the hell is happening with the road?

The Forester, which has a race-bred engine and is garnished with metal race pedals, can go quickly, but it doesn't on this trip.

It is very easy to drive. The steering is firm and positive and the whole vehicle has a nice balance on the road. I sleep a good part of the way home and awake without a stiff neck or a sore back, which says quite a lot about the comfortable leather seats. They are of a high standard for a moderately priced car.

The claimed fuel consumption for combined city and country driving is 10.5L/100km. I get 9.8L over a week, although a conservative drive to the snow and back and only a couple of days' city driving would have contributed to that. Not bad, considering what you get in return.

Wind and road noise and a slight whine from the turbo are a bit of a problem. And there seems no answer to the map screen swapping to night mode and becoming unreadable when driving with headlights on during the day. The sun visors are short, too, which makes them as effective as holding up an ice-cream stick.

This turbocharged version hasn't got a low-ratio option; the manual, naturally aspirated Foresters have dual-range. In the XT version driven here, the increased power and torque partly compensate for the lack of low range.

There is plenty of snow at Thredbo but the road is clear. Were it needed, the Subaru's constant all-wheel-drive would have helped us up the road.

The Forester has grown up during the past 10 years. From its beginnings as a comparatively squat station wagon, the latest version stands a lot taller as a compact soft-roader.

This is the type of 4WD people buy when they haven't owned a 4WD before. It's a kind of suck-it-and-see car but once people try the new Forester, they won't go back.

SUBARU FORESTER XT PREMIUM

Price $44,990

Extras Bluetooth $461; reverse-parking camera $1024; parking sensors $699.

Engine 2.5-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder.

Power and torque 169kW and 320Nm.

Transmission Five-speed manual

Fuel consumption 10.5L/100km combined city-country.

Safety Six airbags, all-wheel-drive with stability control, five-star ANCAP safety rating.

Brakes Ventilated front discs; ABS; brake force distribution.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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