2009 Subaru Forester: Steady, not heady

KATHY RENWALD FOR THE TORONTO STAR

The base Forester comes with an anemic four-cylinder engine.

Kathy Renwald

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

It's been a glitzy fall for the Subaru Forester – it won in the SUV/CUV Under $35,000 category at the Canadian auto reviewers' annual Car of the Year contest and collected Motor Trend magazine's SUV of the year award in October.

At the Canadian competition, the $26,895 Forester competed against the Dodge Journey and VW Tiguan. It was easy for the Forester to head-butt the Journey out of contention, and the glossier Tiguan got battered by being more expensive ($30,975), offering less cargo capacity and requiring premium fuel.

I tested the manual transmission $25,795 Forester 2.5X, the cheapest and least adorned of the Forester lineup, before the awards started coming in. My opinion then and still is that the base Forester is honest and earthy like a good tractor. It has a homespun quality that makes it an able companion for driving unplugged on rural roads and cottage trails.

My week with the redesigned SUV was spent mostly on country roads, travelling at a sedate 60-80 km/h, and making frequent stops for photography. It's a sensible vehicle for pulling into farm fields and exploring gravel roads. No worries about mud and dust: the Forester – especially the base model with its Value Village-inspired interior – is a guilt-free go-getter made for the hunter-gatherer crowd.

The 2009 model has a 90 mm longer wheelbase than the outgoing vehicle, improving interior space and ride. The common-sense size of the Forester and its decent turning radius make it manoeuvreable at the mall or at the farm. It doesn't pretend to be a crowd mover – no contortionist third-row seating here – but there's good room for leggy people in the back, even though three people will be compressed shoulder to shoulder.

Ground clearance is also up for 2009 with the Forester scooting along at an altitude of 220 mm above the road. Mercifully, it remains easy to step in and out of the vehicle. For snow belters, ground clearance means the Forester should mow through the most dreadful winters.

With the Forester's all-new design, Subaru is pretty puffed up about the improvements. They include a new suspension, stiffer chassis, quicker steering and better brake feel.

Heavy breathing aside, it is not a Porsche Cayenne, it is a Forester – capable and steady but not exciting.

I could live with the virtuous and well-equipped base-model price. You get the important stuff: ABS, a stability control system called Vehicle Dynamic Control, Subaru's revered all-wheel drive, multiple airbags and head restraints, adjustable steering wheel and so on.

What might be a little painful is life with anemic passing power.

A four-cylinder 2.5-litre boxer engine stirs up 170 hp and 170 lb.-ft. of torque. In the five-speed manual I drove, fifth gear had all the urgency of a hay wagon out for a Sunday roll.

Subaru droolers will write me to say I should be using fourth gear to pass. Okay, I get it. Just be warned that passing takes planning.

More power isn't available unless you pony up for the top-of-the-line 2.5XT Limited. For almost $10,000 more you'll get a Turbo producing 224 hp, and all the other groovy trinkets such as leather, sunroof, fog lights and more drink holders. Top of the line is outfitted only with a four-speed automatic.

As a passionate fan of manual transmissions I always look forward to driving a standard. Subaru's five-speed gearbox is in a category of its own. Crisp it isn't.

The feel is rubbery and notchy as you poke it into the gears.

The clutch is light, but I wish the revs would drop when shifting. In some cases they actually increase when the clutch is depressed, so smooth shifting requires some tai chi manoeuvres to balance it out.

The restyled exterior is pleasing, balanced and purposeful. The interior is signature Subaru, a bit bowling alley, a bit video arcade and a bit fabric store remnant bin.

The driver's seat is okay and visibility is good. However, pity the passenger in the front. With no seat height adjustment, the low seating position condemns the view to a sweep of dashboard, plastic trim and the inside of the air vent.

The Forester will always have a fan base. The full-time all-wheel drive makes driving in snow fun, and the utility of the vehicle is well tested. If I spent a lot of time on back roads, on trails and at the 4-H Club, the Forester would be under consideration.

Freelance auto reviewer Kathy Renwald can be reached at www.kathyrenwald.com

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