4×4 Magazine UK – August 2019

The other kind of stowage is
taken care of by a deep cubby, a
decent glovebox and adequate door
pockets. It does the job, though
not with any surprise or delight.
Actually, there is one surprise,
which is the location of two USB
slots in the front of the cubby

• these are located so far down
  that you can’t see them, and in
  order to plug anything in you need
  to twist your wrist painfully back
  on itself, making them an absolute
  trial to get at.
  And while we’re on the subject
  of painful things, let’s address the
  CVT auto that’s now standard on
  all Foresters. The 2.0-litre petrol
  engine is lovely and smooth, with
  plenty of get-up-and-go to it,
  but the box needs an enormous
  amount of winding up. Pulling away
  from low speeds, you have to give
  it an absolute bootfull of revs –
  which provokes a shrill, building
  commotion of noise from under
  the bonnet and precious little else.

Yes, the vehicle has paddles with

which to harness the gearbox, and

they do have some effect. But an

auto box that can’t be left in auto

without driving you nuts is a very

good argument for getting a manual

instead. Or a better auto, which

Subaru will be doing when the

next-gen Forester comes along, but

for now this alone would stop us

from buying the current one.

Even when you’re easing away

from stationary, especially up a

slight hill, you need a lot of throttle

to get the thing moving –which

it does with a sharp and more or

less completely unpredictable jerk.

There’s no end of rising and falling

from the engine at speed, too,

which does nothing for the vehicle’s

cruising refinement. It does ride

very smoothly, however – though

you do hear a fair bit of noise from

the suspension, even if you rarely

feel any upsets coming through.

This might make it sound as if

the *orester is a din-filled Zehicle

in which to travel, which would

be an exaggeration. It’s certainly

not the most hushed thing you

can get for the money, but it’s very

stable at speed and holds its line

impeccably on the motorway. In

real life, you’ll have the stereo on

and this will knock out most of the

background noise –and even if you

don’t, normal conversation won’t be

a problem.

In between times, on the kind

of roads where you can have fun,

the Forester is one of the most

agile SUVs around. It grips very

well and stays ¾at in corners, with

excellent body control allowing

you to push it hard and enjoy the

feel and response you get through

the steering. It turns in predictably

and corners with a real evenness

that allows you to make very

sprightly time on A and B-roads –

and, more to the point, enjoy the

experience. The engine has 150bhp

and 146lbf.ft, but it feels livelier

than these figures suggest and is

capable of keeping up a good pace

on winding roads.

It’ll use 32.2mpg over the piece,

according to the (normally very

reliable

 ;0T4 figures, which isn’t

great in a medium-sized family car

but does at least give Subaru plenty

of scope for improvement when the

new Forester comes out. One thing

we certainly hope they improve is

the stop-start system: this kicks in

way too eagerly, killing the engine

the moment you come to a halt, so

that if all you’re doing is pausing for

a split-second to check for traffic

at a junction, the revs will be gone

before you can react. We lost the

chance to dive into gaps several

times during our week with the

vehicle – yes, there’s a button to

disable the stop-start function, but

actually you don’t want to be doing

that, do you?

Off-road, the Forester continues

to demonstrate that Subaru knows

exactly what it’s doing. There’s a

dramatic looking ‘X-Mode’ button

There’s nothing much

wrong with the Forester’s

cabin, apart from that it’s

not very exciting. Build

quality is excellent, but the

materials are more durable

than they are plush and the

multimedia system feels

distinctly last-generation.

Oddment stowage is

competent rather than

generous, but it’s well

enough equipped and you

get a good view of the road

(or landscape) around you

4x4 AUGUST 2019 | 29

Both rows of seats are spacious enough to take tall adults – you could put four six-footers in it without any of them
getting uncomfortable too early. The rears fold down to create a very usable cargo bay, however the rear part of the
boot floor has a hard surface across which your shopping will go sliding at the first sign of trouble