Virgin Forester

Let’s get this out of the way quickly: yes, the previous Subaru Forester looks quirky, if not exactly unattractive. But whatever it is tall wagon or short sport-ute the fact remains it’s one solid, well-built car that delivers loads of goodies for the money. Fun to drive, too.

Late last week, General Motors Automobiles Philippines introduced to the market Subaru’s latest iteration of the Forester, which is already badged as a 2003 model. This time, when anybody poses the question if the Forester looks good, nobody would have to reply it’s got an amazing personality. Unlike the previous model, the new one is definitely stylish.

Gone are the rather conservative lines of the old, replaced instead by a more dynamic stance. Helping in this department are the new scowling headlamps, a simple gaping mouth of a grille, round, oversized foglamps mounted deep in the front bumper, and that most attractive touch of all: The large, pronounced fender flares flanking the vehicle. Throw in roof rails, handsomely rugged 16-inch alloys wrapped in fairly aggressive rubbers and striking yet simple paint jobs in red, black or silver, and simply put, the new Forester is a babe, pare.

Going by spec sheets, the new Forester promises not being merely a dumb bimbo either. Here, we’re talking stuff that made Subaru legendary in the World Rally Championship. Foremost of these are the WRC combo of horizontally-opposed engines mated to fulltime all-wheel drive systems. As most gearheads would vouch for, engines of this sort offer compact dimensions, which allows for a lower center of gravity thereby enhancing a vehicle’s stability, and gobs of torque, which, well, everybody would definitely love to have. Porsches have horizontally-opposed engines. Renault’s Formula One engine is almost as flat with its 110-degree V split. This design works.

A 2.0-liter unit with four valves in each of the engine’s four cylinders resides under the Forester’s hood, which is bolted to either a five-speed manual or a four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission. Hauling the vehicle down to a halt are disc brakes all round, which have ABS.

The all-wheel drive layout, meanwhile, obviously offer outstanding, driving-on-rails, stability in all types of terrain. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that having power available on all four wheels of a vehicle will result in improved traction compared when only two wheels are doing all that hauling. The two-wheel drive rally car has virtually gone the way of the Dodo, getting thrashed by the all-wheelers again and again and again. And Subaru is definitely no stranger to all these fulltime all-wheel drive stuff too. The company has been churning out AWD cars for decades now, way before All-Wheel Drive became a fashionable marketing term for automakers and "lifestyle guru" nuts alike.

Inside, the new Forester thankfully retains all the goodies the previous model had˜and then some. Supportive seats wrapped in tasteful fabric, all the power-goodies, a superb audio system, aircon vents all around the cabin, nifty tie-downs, hooks, cubbies, cupholders and what-have-yous, and a handsome four-spoke steering wheel which sinfully spells sporty. Plus loads of leg- and headroom, and excellent luggage space for all the toys.

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Now add all these goodies and the sum is P1.310 million for the manual, and P1.360 million for the automatic, neatly printed on the Forester‚s price tag. It’s available in all GM Autoworld dealerships. Go.