Bruce banner’s wheels: Subaru Forester 2.0

"You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry", warns Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk. Right-o, buddy, because if you do, all hell breaks loose. The thing is, "angry" is cool when it comes to cars. Bad@$$ machines that let you go berserk on the road once in a while are the Alphas-males of the motoring jungle. They’re the ones that get people talking, not the plain ones you couldn’t pick out from a suspect lineup. "Angry", in other words, is actually more likeable if you’re a car guy like this writer.

Ever since Motor Image Pilipinas started work on its EDSA showroom, Subaru enthusiasts kept bugging its people about what kind of cars would they be bringing in. More underpowered Foresters from the past? Plain-Jane Imprezas? Fear ran rampant through the fiercely loyal Subaru enthusiasts, while the fence-sitting wait-and-seers (including us) crossed their fingers hoping that the company would bring in the heavy machinery. And you know what? They did. Motor Image brought in the competent Legacy, the luxe Outback, the bad@$$ Impreza WRX (not as mofo as the STi, but good enough for most of us), and the gamma-ray mutated Forester Turbo.

Oh, they also brought in the Forester 2.0, its "good citizen" alter ego.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Of all the cars in the lineup, the Forester has got to be the most ordinary of them all. It’s a car-based SUV, which means it’s one more playing in an already-crowded segment. And it’s not the Turbo variant, which means you do not have 230 horsepower to play with. Not that you really need 230, but it’s a Subaru, for crying out loud! You gotta have something special under the hood to make up for the looks! This "vanilla" Forester only has 158 horses spewing forth from its 2-liter flat-four motor and… did we just say 158? Think practically for a moment and, yes, 158 is a fair number for a compact SUV, pretty much in the range of other 4-cylinder competitors like the Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail, and Ford Escape. 158 is a sensible allocation of power, neither exceptional nor miserly in this day and age.

So let’s see… it gives up 72 horses to the Turbo, but it also costs 350 grand less, which should be enough money saved to pay for your gas for the next three or four years depending on how much more the oil companies will milk from you. You also don’t get side airbags, the 6-disc stereo, the 17-inch wheels and tires, or the moonroof. Otherwise, it’s as well equipped as you’d expect any other soft-roader to be: power everything, fog lamps, ABS, dual airbags, all-wheel drive, you know the script. "Conformist!", you say? Not unless you think gold rims on an angelic white test unit say "me-too". Gee, those are really good-looking wheels there…

Anyway, drive it around the city and it’s about as predictably competent as any other car. The cockpit is handsome and functional, the driving position is Impreza-like (mostly because it IS based on that sedan), and it goes, turns, and stops like a tall wagon, which of course it basically is. Then we went North.

And then we started really liking it, not because it suddenly did an Incredible Hulk-like transformation by tearing up the road in a turbocharged fury, but simply because it cruised and zipped about with a level of competence markedly distinct from the competition. Prod it to go forward quickly on rain-soaked pavement and the all-wheel drive accelerates the car smoothly to past 120kph with nary a slip or slide or wiggle.

Make it change lanes or tackle a set of curves and it’s as neutral handling as an SUV can ever get, turning into apexes as if it’s rotating somewhere near the center of the car than from the hood as with other front-heavy SUVs. Welcome to "symmetrical" Subaru engineering, also known as excellent front-rear, left-right weight balance. And that flat-four engine? It looks pretty funny somewhere down there in the engine bay with its crab-like shape, but it really does rev more smoothly than an inline-4, plus it has a nice and low center of gravity you can feel in the handling department.

The standard 4-speed slushbox is well-matched to the car and shifts cleanly and smoothly. The gear ratios are rather tall for urban driving, which will make you thankful you’ve got 158 horses to pull it around in traffic, but it’s obvious that the Forester is happiest on the open road. Cruising at 140kph is a no-brainer and, alone among the compact SUVs, this is the only one that will fool you into thinking you’re driving a car.

Why is that? Well, it’s got a lovely MOMO steering wheel that just begs to be caressed, the steering itself feels lively and precise, the front bucket seats wouldn’t look out of place in a sports sedan, the suspension is firm and composed over the rough stuff, and the whole thing is sized just right for both shoot-n-scoot or road warrior missions.

The downside is that "car-like" dimensions don’t lend themselves too well to interior space. Rear seat room is only adequate for two (three if the middle passenger is the forgiving kind), and at max-capacity configuration with rear seatbacks folded, it’s really more of a tall wagon than it is an SUV. Car & Driver quotes the usable cargo volume at 64 cubic feet, versus 67 for the Honda CR-V or 73 for the Toyota RAV4. Only the Ford Escape (63 cu. ft.) is skimpier.

For extended road trips with more than one companion aboard, you’ll have to get really creative figuring out where to stuff all the bags and boxes and pasalubongs. Oh, and if you’re particular about your tunes, spare a few thousand for a better stereo and speakers as the stock, single-CD stereo not only sounds cheap but has those teeny-tiny buttons and a front panel that’s difficult to decipher too.

Otherwise, you’ll be pretty much set with the Forester if you want the all-weather ability of an SUV but don’t want to give up the driving character of a car. It won’t go ballistic on the road like the Turbo will, but otherwise it’s a well-made, fun-to-drive machine that’s got some exclusive "Scooby" bragging rights to boot. It never gets angry, but we like it just fine anyway.

THE GOOD: Car-like, no-BS driving dynamics. Above-average fit and finish. Transparent AWD operation. Enough power under the hood for most of us.

THE BAD: Styling only a Subaru fan will love. Disappointing stereo. Skimpy interior room.

THE VERDICT: A sweet driving SUV for those who don’t need the maximum passenger or cargo room.