Subaru Forester turbo revealed

A turbocharged version of the Subaru Forester has been released in Japan and could eventually come to Australia too.

The first turbo-petrol version of the fifth-generation Subaru Forester, which arrived Down Under in September 2018, is now available in the Japanese domestic market’s Subaru Forester Sport  that went on sale here this month with the standard engine.

Matched exclusively with a Lineartronic continuously variable transmission (CVT) and all-wheel drive, the direct-injection turbocharged petrol ‘DIT’ DOHC 1.8-litre four-cylinder boxer engine is the same unit that powers the JDM Subaru Levorg sports wagon.

In Japan, it produces 130kW of power over 5200-5600rpm and 300Nm of torque over 1600-3600rpm, and consumes 13.6km/litre (7.35L/100km).

That means the force-fed downsized boxer engine is slightly less powerful but makes more peak torque than the naturally-aspirated 2.5-litre flat-four (136kW/239Nm) that powers most of Subaru Australia’s current Forester line-up.

It also means the first turbo version of the latest Forester would not be a direct replacement for the previous-generation (S4) Subaru Forester XT range-topper, which packed a 177kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol boxer.

Nor would it be a successor for generations of turbocharged Foresters offered with a manual transmission before that.

That might not stop it becoming available in Australia, however, where Subaru released its hybrid Forester in December 2019.

The 110kW/196Nm 2.0-litre petrol-electric powertrain in the new Forester Hybrid effectively replaces the previous Forester’s 108kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel.

When asked about the new 1.8-litre turbo engine’s potential for release here, Subaru Australia said it has “no current plans for Australia, but we constantly talk to the factory in Japan about potential future options”.

Of course, it’s possible that Subaru could bless the Forester with a more powerful version of its new 1.8-litre flat four in future. While Subaru’s larger 2.4-litre boxer four is likely to power the next STI, the 1.8 may yet be powered up for the upcoming Mk5 WRX .

For the record, the 1.8-litre turbo four is only available in premium Forester Sport models in Japan, where it otherwise comes with the same extra features as the Aussie version.

These include blacked-out front and rear styling, black 18-inch alloy wheels and orange highlights inside and out.

Currently priced between $34,690 (for the base 2.5i) and $45,990 (Hybrid S), the latest Forester is still Subaru Australia’s top-selling model but has not proved as popular as previous generations.

Forester sales are down 29 per cent to the end of September this year, to just over 8000 sales – less than Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson, Nissan X-TRAIL and Mitsubishi Outlander.

Despite a 21 per cent sales lift in 2019, its first full year on sale, the latest generation of a model that was once Australia’s favourite mid-size SUV was still outsold by the same five competitors last year.