Subaru Forester reviews

2006 Subaru Forester Driving Impressions

We would never recommend the Subaru Forester for off-road torture tests such as the Rubicon Trail through the Sierra Nevada mountains, but we can heartily endorse it for the sort of excursion off the beaten path that's more realistic for most people. The Forester is perfect transport to find an obscure campsite over logging trails in the Pacific Northwest, for example, or for pulling a small trailer through the forest to a hidden lake in Minnesota, or for getting to a Michigan trout stream on a sandy two-track. Moreover, the Forester is excellent for inclement weather in just about any locale. Its variable all-wheel drive system works better in driving snow on the interstate than the typical dual-range four-wheel drive system in truck-based SUVs.

Consider this. The Forester is much better than nearly any SUV that comes to mind for driving the way most people drive most of the time: on paved roads, back and forth to work, to dinner and a movie, or collecting the kids at school. It rides better. It's more nimble and it gets better mileage. The Forester is also more pleasant, even more fun to drive, than just about any SUV. It will run circles around most of them. It handles more like a car and can be driven like a car. On an icy mountain road snaking along a bottomless precipice in a driving storm, we'd prefer to be in a Forester than in a truck-based SUV. The reason is that it stops and turns better.

The 2006 Forester 2.5XT Limited we tested goes past fun and approaches exciting. The XT's turbocharged, intercooled 2.5-liter, dual-overhead cam, four-cylinder engine makes 235 pound-feet of torque, or more than 40 percent more than the base Forester engine. For 2006, improvements to its variable valve-timing system (VVT) and intercooler increase horsepower by 20 to 230. That gives the XT a power-to-weight ratio on par with the Ford Mustang.

Yet the XT engine isn't the least bit peaky or finicky. Thanks to Subaru's experience with turbocharged engines from years racing in the World Rally Championship, there are no turbo lags or bugs, period. The VVT helps, too, by eliminating the compromises in a fixed-timing engine and delivering an amazing balance of lower-rpm torque and free-breathing horsepower. Horsepower peaks low enough to be effective in most driving situations, while off-the-line torque comes on strong as low as 2500 rpm.

Simply put, the Forester XT Limited is very fast, and the power is so steady and even that there's almost no clue it's a turbocharged engine. It's so much fun that you'll want to floor the gas pedal at every opportunity, just to feel the exhilarating rush of acceleration.

There's a drawback, to be sure. The XT requires more expensive premium fuel to get the full effect. Other Foresters do not, nor do many SUVs. There's also a mileage penalty. Our XT automatic delivers 21 mpg city, 26 highway, according to the EPA. That's less than normally aspirated Foresters (23/28 automatic, 22/29 manual), but still a lot more than most SUVs.

The standard Forester engine delivers decent acceleration, to be sure. It can't match the exhilaration underfoot with the turbo, but a driver will never pound the steering wheel shouting "faster!" while merging onto a crowded freeway. Subaru's horizontally opposed engines (called "boxers" because the pistons repeatedly punch outward) share their design concept with Porsche's highly regarded boxer engines. The advantage is good power in a compact package, and a low block-height that helps lower the center of mass in the car. Subaru has perfected this design. Subaru's four-cylinder engine isn't as smooth as some, but company engineers have done a good job insulating the Forester's interior from the vibration.

The five-speed manual transmission works well. The gear ratios deliver a good mix of acceleration and quiet cruising, even if the throws between gears are long. The Forester's s