SPY PICS: Forester gains girth

Subaru's current Forester has been around for five years now, so it must be about due for a change.

That leads us to the car in these pics, taken courtesy of the friendly but vulpine spy photographers at Carparazzi.

The car looks like an Outback that's seen better times, but based on the shorter rear doors and the 'near enough, good enough' fit of the rear wheels inside the wheel arches -- it's a test mule for the next generation Forester.

Despite the apparent slicing and dicing of the Outback body, the Carparazzi blokes measured the wheelbase and track -- and found both to be bigger than the current model Forester's.

Whether the production car will be as large as this or whether it's just an unfortunate by-product of squeezing a Forester underneath an Outback, we'll have to wait and see.

But we won't have to wait too long; the major change model is anticipated for the fourth quarter of next year and will be marketed as a 2009 model.

-- with Carparazzi