2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X

2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X 2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X
Short Take Road Test

Subaru specializes in the unusual—its menu is thick with all-wheel drive and wagons—but then there’s the Forester. It’s the house special of bizarre: An extra-tall wagon that’s not quite an SUV, used to be boxy like one, but emerged from its 2009 redesign looking more carlike. The result is competent in all matters, excellent in none, and very odd-looking. It also may be the perfect first car.

The Forester is not fast. Crank the wheel all the way over and stomp the gas, and it still won’t chirp a tire. It’s affordable—the base price of $20,690 is less than a grand more than Car and Driver cameraman Tom Adams paid for his Legacy wagon a decade ago. It’s safe—the IIHS rates it a Top Safety Pick—and the station wagon stigma ensures another sort of safety: Kids won’t be multiplying in the terminally uncool back seat.

Although the Forester isn’t fast, it isn’t dangerously slow, either. With just 170 hp from the 2.5-liter flat-four, 60 mph is achieved from rest in 9.7 seconds, which ensures there’s no reckless freeway merging going on. And if Junior shows up at the local drag strip’s test-and-tune night with the Forester, he’ll be dissuaded from returning by shameful quarter-mile time slips showing 17.4 seconds and 80 mph.

Lost in Transmission

Slide the shifter to the left from drive, and it’s in sport mode, but perhaps “sport” is a bit optimistic. More like “slightly decreased lethargy.” That transmission, by the way, is a four-speed automatic, which might have been okay three decades ago but is now a relic of economy cars and generations-old designosaurs like the Ford Crown Victoria and Pontiac G6. (Well, and the Bentley Arnage, but don’t try to understand that.) Another ratio would fit nicely between first and second, we decided. Subaru does offer a five-speed automatic in its Outback wagon; the Forester needs nothing so badly as that transmission.

Although the roof altitude is trucklike, the Forester sways little when helmed by a madman. It is nicely balanced and understeers moderately for safety. Spring out of the gas in a curve, and the rear will come around, but with the long wheelbase, the tail’s momentum is easily arrested by reapplication of throttle. Get it completely out of sorts, and the standard stability control will reactivate itself. The Forester is capable and controlled without inviting the sort of enthusiasm that comes to a screeching end sideways in a ditch. But 0.79 g on the skidpad is not bad, and the steering is a pleasant introduction to how automotive controls ought to feel. Parents will also appreciate the suspension chatter and the rattle from the cargo area over uneven terrain, as they discourage speeding over truly awful roads.

The Price Is Right

As for that other primary concern when it comes to first vehicles, the Forester starts at $20,690 with a manual transmission. In addition to the $1200 automatic, our tester wore the $2300 Premium package, which includes wheels upsized from 16 to 17 inches, a huge sunroof, reclining rear seats (don’t worry, Mom and Dad, they don’t go back that far), and steering-wheel-mounted audio controls. Also fitted was one of several popular equipment groups—1b, in this case, which for $451 encompasses a luggage compartment cover, a cargo tray, a body-color rear-bumper cover, and splash guards—as well as the $400 All-Weather package, which heats the front seats, side mirrors, and windshield wiper rests. At a total of $25,041, it’s a good, safe car that presents little danger to wallets, too.