Subaru Forester Winter time, and many a motorist’s fancy turns to thoughts of four-wheel-drive. It’s true that they will generally keep going in many circumstances where a conventional car might run aground or lose traction, and they have a positive advantage when it comes to going up things. Conversely, they tend to be heavier than other cars and consequently all the more inclined to slide gracefully down things, as we have all witnessed in the recent snows. Their major advantage is probably the sense of confidence they inspire in their pilots. Keeping going in the right direction on snow and ice has a lot to do with that commodity. Half of the disasters you see at this time of year result from nervousness, and drivers seeming to huddle together for warmth. With all your wheels driven, the theory goes that it doesn’t matter what you do. It will always be an ordinary car that brings you to a skidding halt. That apart, you can set off with the reassuring notion that you are unstoppable. The major disadvantage with most four-wheel-drives is the fact that white-outs, although inevitably dramatic, are not actually all that frequent in these parts, so the glorified jeep that seems such a good idea right now has to be put up with for the other eleven months of the year – and the majority of off-roaders are truly horrible in ordinary road use. Those same cart springs that are unbreakable in the mangrove swamps are equally unbending on the potholed byways of Britain. There are exceptions, fortunately, and Subaru’s Forrester is one of them. Rather than lumbering and overweight, Forester is light and sprightly. Instead of reverting to the technology of the chariot and the dog-cart, it majors on good road manners, but can more than handle itself among the mud-pluggers thanks to flexible, long-travel, independent suspension. Refinement in this sector might seem a radical, untried idea, but Subarus for many years have been one of the countryside’s best kept secrets. As far back as the ’80s they had earned the nickname ‘the farmer’s friend’, thanks to their willingness, go anywhere qualities and reliability. Not, as you might think, because many of them looked like the back end of a horse. Recently, they have become still more attractive with the advent of Subaru’s brilliant ‘boxer’ diesel engine. The term boxer, while sounding appropriately pugnacious for this kind of wagon, has nothing to do with cauliflower ears. It means that, instead of being more or less vertical and in-line, the pistons are on their sides and horizontally opposed (in the manner of old Alfas, Beetles and 2CVs). It’s been done often enough with petrol engines – notably the firm’s own wild child Impreza – but this is its first commercial application in a diesel, adding huge torque, compactness and low centre of gravity to the car’s existing virtues. One of those virtues is ease of access. When you open a door, the seat is at just the altitude you would wish to find it – allowing for certain variations, more or less on a level with the thing you intend to park on it. There are acres of space for belongings too, and, unlike so many modern cars, you can actually see out of it in most directions. These things, along with its exemplary comfort and driveability, make Forrester one of the best off-roaders on the road. Size: 4.56m x 1.78m Engine: Petrol: 2.0 litres – 150PS Diesel: 2.0 litres – 147PS Gearbox: 5/6-speed 4WD Best Consumption: Diesel – 44.8mpg Price at Dec ’10: from £21,295 Full details of the Forester are available on the manufacturer’s website: www.subaru.co.uk Dave Randle Dec 2010 l l l l Home New Models Industry Green News Odds n’Ends