Subaru Forester 2.5i-S 2018 Review

Happy birthday to the Subaru Forester. It was 21 years ago it first launched in Australia and since then it’s played an important role in the Australian sales shift from passenger vehicles to passenger vehicles that look like off-roading SUVs.

There’s been almost 250,000 Foresters sold to Australian customers through four generations and it enjoys a ferociously loyal following.

Now it’s time for generation five. Subaru’s hoping it appeals to the ‘rusted-ons’ and a bunch more medium SUV buyers as well.

You wouldn’t know this is an all-new Forester if you had a quick look at it in the street passing by. But yes, a huge amount of change has been made to this five-door five-seat cornerstone of Subaru’s Aussie line-up.

It’s underpinned by the same Subaru Global Platform that the latest Impreza and XV have already adopted, has an Australian-tuned independent suspension system and is powered solely by a new 2.5-litre boxer four-cylinder petrol engine mated to an updated Lineartonic CVT and – of course – all-wheel drive.

So that means, as we have covered here, there’s no longer an entry-level 2.0-litre engine, no turbo-diesel or turbo-petrol power and no manual transmissions.

All-up Subaru has chopped the line-up from nine to four models, raised the price of admission by $3000 and – to compensate – thrown a heap of extra gear at the range.

We’ve dealt with the pricing and equipment details and much more here.

The most significant equipment upgrade is making the Eyesight driver assist package standard across the range. This includes low- and high-speed autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist, so Subaru should be able to achieve an ANCAP five-star 2018 date stamp.

It is also hyping the arrival of its Driver Monitoring System, which uses face scanning to recognise the driver and set such things as sat, air-con and mirror preferences. Once you’re on the road it also monitors driver drowsiness and attention and issues an alert if it reckons there is an issue.

The jury’s out on DMS to be honest. It seemed fussy to set up, didn’t recognise me when I got back in the driver’s seat and bonged annoyingly any time I took my eyes away from the straight ahead for even few seconds. The last thing I need is another intrusive alarm in the car. Where’s the off button?

The Forester is more convincing in fulfilling its traditional driving role. Our top-spec 2.5i-S tester loped across rough and undulating bitumen with a relaxed gait, floating a bit and rolling a bit but almost always feeling comfortable.

Only the really big potholes and sharp edges caused it to crash and bang and only the coarsest bitumen set up tyre roar. Gravel spatter tended to ricochet a bit too obviously through from the rear of the car.

OK, the new Forester doesn’t have the steering and handling acuity of something like a Mazda CX-5, but the payback comes when you get onto gravel tracks – and worse – where the Forester feels right at home.

Our test drive included some pretty slimy dirt and the Forester reacted predictably, progressively and safely when conditions got too slippery for its AWD system and Bridgestone Dueler rubber.

The new powertrain doesn’t impress quite as much. With peak power at 5800rpm, peak torque at 4400rpm and our Forester weighing in close to 1600kg, there’s a need to rev the FB25 engine pretty hard to get going.

Happily, the boxer four doesn’t mind having to work, doing it quite smoothly and emitting a chunky beat in the process.

But the thought of carrying a full family load and having to also cope with some long drags up some big hills is enough to trigger concerns about whether the new Forester could find itself a bit under-armed.

The good news is the Lineartronic is one of the best of the CVT breed; good enough for us to forget what it was most of the time. Certainly, it responded quickly enough for the use of the paddle shifters and the seven artificial ratios to be irrelevant.

Experimentation with the SI-Drive’s Intelligent and Sport modes also proved a fruitless exercise. There just didn’t seem that much difference between them.

Sitting on its 30mm longer 2670mm wheelbase the new Forester is larger inside and out than ever before. That’s great news for passengers, who are treated to a truly generous amount of space, especially in the backseat.

Toe, knee, leg and headroom is above average for the class, while the conservative design means visibility is excellent as there are big windows to look out through. Small kids will appreciate this car... if they’re not besotted with screens.

There’s lots of storage including new multi-pockets in the seatbacks that fit smartphones and the like. There are also two USB ports in the rear of the centre console.

The tailgate is low and wide, making access easy, while the space expands from plentiful to huge once the split-fold rear seat is flopped flat. Sensible stuff like this is the Forester’s strength.

The interior certainly has a more contemporary look than the exterior, but the XV-based dashboard and instrument panel simply has way too much going on; 17 buttons on the steering wheel alone, more buttons down to the right, across to the left and in the centre and three different information screens.

The driver can get comfortable though -- whether DMS is helping or not -- with plenty of adjustment of the steering wheel and supportive seat.

Subaru’s talking bullishly about growing sales with this pared down, more expensive and better-equipped fifth-generation Forester range. And fair enough too; no team goes into a footy match intending to lose.

But has Subaru done enough to make the Forester stand out from the massive crowd in Australia's largest SUV segment?

There’s no doubt the true believers will be back plonking their dollars down, but that’s because for all the changes this is more from the same Forester recipe that’s worked so well for 21 years.

It may not appeal to everyone, which is probably a big part of its appeal for those who do love it!

How much does the 2018 Subaru Forester 2.5i-S cost?
Price: $41,490 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 136kW/239Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed CVT
Fuel: 7.4L/100km
CO2: 168g/km
Safety rating: TBC