Category: Small 4x4s 
Price Range: £19,115 to £26,495
Car-like handling, smooth engines, lively pace, lots of space, useful off-road ability, ludicrously quick 2.5 XT, unique appeal
Too many hard plastics inside, clumsy styling, not a full off-roader (if that matters), no diesel option, thirsty fuel consumption, too quirky for many.
For sheer driving pleasure, the characterful Forester is the best of the soft-roaders.
Subaru's Forester, first launched in 1997, was one of the original 'soft-roaders' - four-wheel drive vehicles which weren't quite go-anywhere, but which had a more stable, car-like driving feel than traditional off-roaders. Based on the underpinnings of a Subaru Impreza, it featured the usual Subaru strangenesses of a flat-four 'boxer' engine and frameless door windows. The second-generation model made its debut in 2002, built on the underpinnings of the second-generation Impreza, and for 2006, the Forester has received a further update, with revised suspension, more power, styling revisions and a better-quality interior with higher levels of standard equipment.
The 2005/2006 range comprises entry-level 2.0X models, 2.0 XE models with leather upholstery, heated front seats and cruise control, and the turbocharged 2.5 XT and XTE. Automatic transmission is optional with each, the 2.5T gaining a new gearbox with sequential-shift function. The latest 2.0-litre, 158bhp engine is more powerful, developing 33bhp more than its predecessor, and the 2.5T (now 230 bhp) is one of the fastest vehicles of its type bar the AMG-ed Mercedes M-Class and so on - it does 0-60 in just 5.7 seconds in manual form, 7.3 seconds with the auto gearbox.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Subaru Forester
wrote on 22 12 2006