Don’t look at the tree, look at the Forester

OUT on the open, you’ll forget you’re in an SUV, and immediately think you’ve climbed aboard a rally car on stilts.

We all have our favorites, and being a car guy, I am most definitely well-grounded in my own favorites. As an example, the Lamborghini Aventador LP700 is my favorite supercar because it is so easy to drive stupid fast AND silly slow. A Porsche 997 GT3RS 4.0 is my favorite track-biased sports car because it feels wired into both your brain and spinal cord. The Honda Jazz 1.5 V is my favorite small compact car because it drives so well, yet is so fuel-efficient and swallows a lot of people AND cargo. Toyota Supra is, in my mind, the best tuner car there is because the possibilities are endless, limited only by my lack of budget and source of race fuel (C16 anyone?). For SUVs, the Toyota Land Cruiser LC200, with its CRDi D4-D twin turbo V8 diesel, is tough to beat, and for more affordable tastes, the Mitsubishi Montero Sport is fantastic value for money. And so it is with my compact cross-over ’ute, the Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Turbo is unbeatable.

It’s old, indeed, the third-generation SH Forester is due for a replacement sometime soon next year, with the all-new Impreza sedan having been launched just recently. The next-generation Forester is rumored to have an all-new platform not derived from the Impreza and will grow bigger still as the all-new, and smaller XV will fill a niche below the Forester.

But despite its age, the Forester still rules in its segment if all-out performance is what you’re looking for. The EJ257 engine’s 4-cam 16-valve engine produces 226.85 horsepower and 320 Newton-Meters of torque, offering almost instant response and makes quick mincemeat of the 60 liters of preferably 100 Octane fuel. Drive like a lunatic and you’ll have difficulty breaking 5 km/liter. Drive more sedately and you’ll be in the 7-7.5 km/liter range. The power gives sure-footed traction and forward progress thanks to the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive transmission with a 4-speed E-4AT automatic. With more than 11 million boxer engines produced, Subaru knows its merits, and in the Forester’s case, a very low center of gravity, none of the nose-heavy feel of many other modern cars which have fleet-footed directional changes.

Perhaps if Subaru could introduce an all-new dashboard, change the seats, adjust the steering column further and higher up (the reach and rake adjustment isn’t as good or enough compared to newer cars), plus install the 5-speed E-5AT automatic transmission equipped on the Legacy GT sedan and estate and A-Line STI sedan, with paddle-shifters thrown in for good measure, the current Forester will be good for another three to four years of use.

The active torque split center differential not only ensures even more sure-footed traction. It also helps quell under or oversteer for more stability on lose surface taken at speed, or on high-speed, high-grip surfaces such as the race track. The Macpherson strut front end is typical of most cars nowadays, but the multilink rear means enhanced stability over the rough stuff and improves compliance when cornering hard over bumpy surfaces. The dampers could do with some firming up as the firm springs tend to make the rear bouncy when unladen.

DESPITE its age, the Forester still rules in its segment if all-out performance is what you’re looking for.

I filled my test unit Forester Turbo with loads upon loads of personal effects as I started the process of moving out of my folks’ home and into my new one. The Forester swallowed all my books, toys, memorabilia and various home-related stuff (pots, pans, plates, cleaning stuff, some clothes) with ease. The moderately tall ride height wasn’t a bother to me, but I suspect slightly shorter people might find loading up the Forester difficult as the tail end isn’t as low as other models.

On the road, the Subaru’s tires do let it down quite a bit as the all-terrain 225/55R17 A/T Yokohama Geolandar tires tend to squirm a good bit on highway speeds; changing to highway-biased tires will sharpen up feel and confidence but many argue you diminish the Forester’s abilities in doing so. I think you need to understand the compromise you’re making exactly. Others have swapped out the 17-inch wheels for 18- and even 19-inch wheels and slammed the Forester lower to the ground. Maybe the wheels were a good idea, but slamming it down low is kind of, well, weird since it is an SUV after all.

On the safety front, the Forester comes with ABS-EBD equipped brakes. And in conjunction with the VDC, or Vehicle Dynamics Control, System, it makes the car safer as it clamps down on each wheel independently to eliminate under or over steer, while the active torque sensing center differential apportions power appropriately front to back, and the engine’s drive-by-wire system gradually cuts power to rein in the fun and save life and limb in the process. Six airbags come as standard should you lose it completely, and the drivetrain is designed to break away down and underneath the front passengers in the event of a crash.

It’s not all about driving, as the in-car entertainment system, though devoid of fancy rearview camera or GPS-SATNAV, still plays very good music and played my MP3 tracks quite well. It was a pleasurable 8 a.m. drive on a busy Saturday morning going to Makati on grid-locked Edsa and the Forester’s supportive leather seats, cool A/C and clean tunes were very relaxing for my sleepy body. Out on the open, you’ll forget you’re in an SUV, and immediately think you’ve climbed aboard a rally car on stilts.

The Forester essentially is based on the previous generation Impreza WRX and STI chassis. It runs out of puff at the top-end but the mid-range wallop is impressive, the twin tail-pipes emitting a soft but very distinct boxer engine burble.

It’s old, but it’s still very good, very capable, very practical and very exciting to drive the Forester. It’s on the style front that rivals have been catching up with Motor Image’s best-selling vehicle in their line-up. Hopefully the next-generation model will have a diesel engine; that will see sales skyrocket even further.