More torque for Forester

The Subaru Forester has the enviable tag as Australia's best-selling compact SUV, and now the all-wheel drive vehicle can boast having one of the most powerful vehicles in the class with the arrival of the S-Edition.

Priced at $50,990, the new high performance 2011 Subaru Forester S-Edition is powered by the Impreza WRX's 2.5-litre turbo petrol engine, outputting a hefty 193kW/347N. The only gearbox option is a five-speed automatic unit, but it is the same transmission used on the WRX STI and the suspension damping has also been tweaked for a more responsive drive.

The managing director of Subaru Australia, Nick Senior, explained how the high power S-Edition has been introduced as the result of driver feedback: "We have had increasing customer interest in a more powerful Forester and are delighted to be the first export market for S-Edition, which made its worldwide debut at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney last October.

"It combines the best of two winning Subaru formulas -- WRX and Forester, the latter of which is firmly entrenched as Australia's favourite compact SUV."

In addition to the high performance S-Edition joining the line-up, Subaru has made subtle alterations to the entire 2011 Forester range, with an updated version of the naturally aspirated 2.5-litre boxer engine chief among the changes.

The new engine, codenamed FB, replaces the older EJ unit that has powered Subarus since 1989 and one of the major changes is an increase in torque, up from 229Nm to 235Nm, which is claimed to deliver improved "refinement, NVH and drivability" according to the car maker.

"New Forester's also significant for introducing FHI's third-generation boxer engine, which offers improved response," said Nick Senior.

Subaru says the third-generation boxer engine will "become the platform for a range of refinements throughout the Subaru range over the next few years," and the FB engine is cleaner too, pumping out 220 grams of CO2 per kilometer compared to the EJ's 227 grams when paired to the automatic transmission.

As well as the updated engines, the entire Forester range has been given a new front grille and improved sound damping materials inside the engine bay.

Within the cabin the dashboards on all models have been revised with a darker finish and all Foresters now come with Bluetooth wireless phone compatibility and USB connectivity. A new fabric with improved waterproofing is also standard on entry-level models.

Up-spec Forester XS and XT models now get a reversing camera and new-look 17-inch alloy wheels.

Pricing for the updated Subaru Forester range starts at $30,990 for the manual Forester X and $32,990 for the auto, unchanged from the previous model, while the rest of the range sees a price hike of around $500. See below for the full price list.

All Subaru Forester models have a five-star ANCAP safety rating and DataDot security. Stay tuned for our launch drive of the new S-Edition model soon.

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