Skillfully pushing the limits

Munich, 6. December 2013 – the forester is subaru’s most successful model, with over 58,000 units sold over the past 16 years since its introduction in germany.000 units have been sold. Its ecological niche is a skillful borderline between comfortable, agile station wagon and quite capable suv with a unique powertrain instead of pretentious suv splurge allures. In its fourth generation, it may even win new friends to its die-hard fans? With the 2.0x, so to speak, we tried out the more sensible model: it has to get by without turbocharging, but promises lower fuel consumption.

Fortunately, the major changes have been made to the bodywork, while the unique technology has only been refined. Although the forester still looks powerful thanks to the flat hood, low-mounted bumpers and strongly contoured side lines, it is more elegant than its predecessor despite the high ground clearance. In the length the new forester grows moderately by 35 millimeters to 4.60 meters and increases also in the width with 20 millimeters somewhat. But its dimensions remain relatively compact. In the city, the driver enjoys good visibility thanks to the raised seating position.

Purposeful cockpit

The seats offer little lateral support (a matter of taste), but quite short seat surfaces (anatomy). With a wheelbase that has grown by 25 millimeters, there is now also more space in the interior. Even taller rear-seat passengers over the 1.90-meter mark have no problems with knee and headroom. Visually, the interior is a bit plain and the hard plastic looks cheap in parts, especially on the tower interior trim.

The trunk holds up to 505 liters of luggage. The backrests can be conveniently folded forward from the trunk with a single lever pull, paving a spacious loading area for up to 1564 liters of storage space. For the first time, the tailgate whirs open and closed electrically. However, it’s so slow that you often prefer to do it yourself.

The most important displays are clearly visible to the driver, and additional information is available either on the small display between the instruments or on the large multifunction display above the center console. The current consumption and efficiency, the range, a histogram of the last consumption values, the self-diagnosis program or the operating mode of the all-wheel drive system are displayed here.