Shifting perspectives

Motorists are a spoiled lot — especially when they achieve a state of nirvana with a particular vehicle. SUV enthusiasts, for example, will simply scoff at "lowly" automobiles for a plethora of reasons — the lack of a commanding view of the road, the less-than-sturdy ride compared to SUV’s, the lack of ample legroom, etc. For this writer, who has been down the SUV road and done all that, and has moved on to basking in the comforts of an M-class sedan, it’s now all about combining comfort and size in a powerful package — anything less would simply be below par. The bond between car and driver can sometimes be that tight. It’s this kind of mentality that cross-over vehicles have to contend with. And, quite frankly, it’s very rare that such vehicles make believers out of skeptics — this writer included.

It was thus with guarded excitement that I recently took the wheel of a 2003 Subaru Forester, which is the closest thing we have on our roads to the World Rally Championship-winning Subaru Impreza. The 2003 Forester boasts of a unique horizontally-opposed engine (or for many, a flat-four) and an all-wheel drive system. More than anything, it’s these two features that stand out for the Forester. The Forester’s strengths, therefore, are as far from an M-class sedan’s selling points as can be expected. What I had to do, then, in order to fully appreciate the 2003 Forester, was to shift my perspective completely.

Here was a versatile automobile — which integrated quite efficiently the standard expectations from a wagon with the impressive stying of a small SUV — with wide front and rear tracks, a great grip on the road and low center of gravity. In my mind, it was the perfect utility car that still had enough to give in the looks department, updated body design and all. So while a weekend out of town would have been nice, I opted to make use of the Forester in the city, taking advantage of its versatility in the process. The Forester’s 2.0 liter 16 valve SOHC engine may not have given me the power of my trusted M-class sedan (although it does throw in a respectable 125 ps at 5600 rpm and 18.8 kg-m of torque at 3600 rpm), but it did give me the chance to attend to some chores which called for a more versatile automobile within my grasp.

Over the weekend, with the comfort accorded to me by the Forester, I was finally able to acquire the last piece of my ten-year pet project of a home theater system. I was also able to (again) finally purchase a rather bulky laundry rack which I had been putting off for quite some time, the lack of the appropriate vehicle being my excuse. It wasn’t until the tailend of the weekend that I took the Forester for a rather long spin as I headed off to no-so-nearby Marikina. By that time, I had already grown accustomed to the Forester’s admittedly stylish yet sporty interiors and come to terms with its efficient handling — which is the reason I finally decided to put its power mode to the test. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the option serves its purpose quite well, as the driver can actually feel the power well up beneath the hood when needed. The aforementioned low center of gravity also became evident when I took the Forester on a longer, faster ride. The enviable marriage between efficiency and utility was slightly tested on a sudden Sunday shower — with the Forester’s firm grip on the road showing quite well.

Getting my fair share of pretending-not-to-be-salivating looks from drivers of competing vehicles (Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Suzuki Grand Vitara) did much to prove my already obvious theory — that this iteration of the Forester had finally caught up with its rivals in the looks department. Shifting one’s perspective can do wonders to help in appreciating an altogether different vehicle from what one is used to, but once one learns to appreciate a vehicle for the purpose it was made, it becomes easier to see its overall value. The Forester is without a doubt a vehicle that performs to expectations.

The only real downside to the 2003 Forester is its still rather restrictive pricing (1.36M for the AT model and 1.31M for the MT) but all that is about to change with the impending approval of the value based tax which is being studied in Congress. The people at GM Automobiles Philippines have bitten their lips long enough. The Forester was always marketed as an all-wheel drive vehicle since it was introduced to the Philippine market in 2001 — exactly because that was, and still is, its strength. Soon enough, the motoring public will have easier access to vehicles that can and will perform to expectations. When that time comes, expect to see more Foresters on the road.