2012 Subaru Forester 2.5X 4dr All-wheel Drive 2.5X (M5) 5-Speed Manual

It competes with the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, but the Forester offers much better handling than those two, on dry pavement but especially on wet pavement, snow, ice or dirt.

The current-generation Forester was launched as a 2009 model.For 2011, Subaru gave the Forester a new standard engine with chain-driven dual overhead camshafts rated at 170 horsepower and 21/27 mpg City/Highway.The turbocharged Forester 2.5XT models retain their belt-driven twin-cam engine, which produces 224 horsepower on Premium fuel, with EPA estimates of 19/24 mpg.

For 2012, there are only minor changes.Among them: 2012 Forester Limited and 2012 Forester Touring models offer an integrated navigation system with a 6.1-inch touch-screen display.Included in the navigation package is a rearview camera and an AM/FM/HD/CD stereo with six speakers (seven on Touring), voice-activated controls, Bluetooth hands-free phone connectivity and audio streaming, iPod control capability, iTunes tagging, USB port, 3.5mm auxiliary input jack, SMS text messaging capability, and satellite radio capability.The old removable Tom-Tom nav system is still offered on 2.5X Premiums with automatic transmission.Also new, the front-passenger seat adjusts for height on all 2012 Subaru Forester models.

The Subaru Forester is a very practical vehicle.The rear seats are split 60/40 and easily fold flat to make a gigantic cargo area capable of carrying lots of gear.Rear-seat legroom is excellent, at 38.0 inches.That alone is a big plus, and it's one of the reasons the Forester is such a good family vehicle.The front doors are wide, and the rear doors swing open 75 degrees and feel light, making it easy to get in and out.

The Forester is supremely secure in its sure-footed handling.It will go around corners like few SUVs, with its all-wheel drive working to grip the road.Subaru excels at all-wheel drive.The Forester has a low center of gravity thanks to its horizontally opposed engine mounted low in the chassis.The suspension is solid but doesn't feel too firm, while its long travel offers a comfortable ride and better grip on rough roads.Rack-and-pinion steering helps give the Forester a tight steering radius, tighter than the RAV4 or CR-V, making parking and maneuvering easy.It all adds up to an enjoyable and capable vehicle to drive.

Forester 2.5X ($20,595) comes with rugged cloth upholstery, air conditioning with rear vents and an air filtration system, a 60/40 split rear seat, four-speaker AM/FM sound system with single-disc CD, height adjustment for both front seats, cruise control, rear window wiper, a trailer wiring connector, and 16-inch steel wheels with wheelcovers.A 5-speed manual transmission is standard.The only options are a 4-speed automatic transmission with manual mode ($1200), and 16-inch alloy wheels, which come with roof rails ($400).

Forester 2.5X Premium ($23,295) adds 17-inch alloy wheels with wider-profile all-season tires, privacy glass, 10-way power driver's seat, tilt-and-telescope steering, a reclining rear seat with retractable tray, roof rails, power moonroof, and an upgraded six-speaker audio system that adds steering wheel-mounted controls, an auxiliary input jack, Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming, iPod control capability, USB port and Sirius satellite radio capability.An all-weather package ($500) includes heated front seats and side mirrors, plus a windshield wiper de-icer.The 2.5X Premium with automatic transmission ($24,295) makes available a package ($1,095) combining the all-weather equipment with a removable TomTom navigation system.

Forester 2.5X Limited ($26,595) features perforated leather seats in black or platinum, seatback storage pockets, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, an even more deluxe sound system with 4.3-inch display screen, automatic climate control, and foglights.It comes with the automatic transmission and cold-weather package as standard.All-new integrated navigation ($1200) includes a rear camera and additional sound system upgrades.

Forester 2.5X Touring ($27,895) adds HID headlights (low beam) with automatic height adjustment, backup camera, a subwoofer for the Limited-level stereo, dual zone automatic climate control, silver finish roof rails, electroluminescent gauges, and side mirrors with integrated turn signals.The integrated navigation option ($1000) costs less because the backup camera is standard.

PZEV versions of all of the models above are available in 13 states and cost about $300 more.

Forester XT Premium ($27,095) and Touring ($29,895) use the more powerful turbocharged engine with 4-speed automatic transmission.They're distinguished by a hood scoop that takes in air for the turbocharger intercooler, a rear roof spoiler, and aluminum pedal covers.Otherwise equipment and options correspond to the X Premium and X Touring models.

Safety equipment on all Foresters includes two-stage frontal airbags, side-impact airbags in front, and airbag curtains; active front head restraints; LATCH child safety seat system; and a tire pressure monitor.All Forester models also come with all-wheel drive, Vehicle Dynamics Control with four-wheel traction control and electronic limited slip differential, and anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (which adjusts front-to-rear brake balance as the car's weight pitches forward under hard braking), and Brake Assist (which applies additional braking, based on how quickly the driver applies the pedal).

The Forester's wing-shaped headlamps might be the snazziest feature, somewhat Saab-like in their appearance.Nice amber turn signals in the headlamp corners blend into fenders that are nicely wrapped around the car.The hood has sculpted edges, so subtle they're not noticed, but like the headlamps/eyes, the hood is a reminder that looks are not abandoned.

The front and rear fascia and rocker panels surround the car, and they're not very pretty in flat black plastic.They too have a function, being more rugged than shiny paint on sheetmetal, although no one does metal fascia any more anyhow.And at least the flat black plastic doesn't continue around the wheelwells, like on some SUVs.Also, those wheelwells are not overflared to attract attention.That would be unlike Subaru.

Along the sides, above the flat black rocker panels, there's a straight styling groove where once there were ding strips.

The 10-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels that are standard equipment on the 2.5X Premium are nice.We also like the wheels on the Forester XT we drove.

The Forester XT is mostly distinguished by the scoop on the hood that takes in air for the turbocharger intercooler.From the rear, the XT has a twin chrome-tipped exhaust and a spoiler over the rear window that makes its statement.

Visibility is excellent through the windshield, with a modest hood, tight front fenders, and A-pillars designed to minimize blind spots.Visibility in the rearview mirror is not so good.The rear glass fills the mirror, but the rear seat headrests, middle seatbelt hanging from the ceiling, and rear center-mounted-stoplamp all intrude.Over your shoulder around the C-pillars, visibility is okay again, the blindspot a small one.

We drove the Forester in summer and winter, and found that the air conditioning cools fast, but the heater heats and defrosts less fast, not a feature when it's cold.The fan is louder than in other models, also.

The dash has a beautiful sweep like sculpture, from the center stack off to the passenger side, in dark titanium plastic that looks nice, with more of that trim on the center stack, instrument panel, and doors.The glovebox is big.There's a thin digital display inserted at the top center of the dash for time, temperature, and fuel mileage.

The tachometer is on the left and larger speedo in the center, both with blue rims at the numbers.There's a smaller fuel gauge to the right, in a space where there could and should be an engine temperature gauge, but it's been erased by an idiot light, which we only knew because it comes on blue when the engine is cold.

Just forward of the shift lever is a big deep slot for storage, although you have to reach around the lever to use it.Climate and audio controls on the center stack are simple to operate, no touch screen that doesn't always respond or menus to figure out and navigate, just old-fashioned knobs to turn.We like this, because old-fashioned knobs always work, at a time when always working seems not to be in fashion.The front doors have a nice elbow rest and large pockets each with a recess for 24-ounce bottles.The center console is deep, and slides forward four inches to make an armrest, on all models but the base 2.5X.

The new integrated navigation option, available on Limited and Touring models, is accessed through a 6.1-inch touch-screen display.The navigation package includes a rearview camera and an AM/FM/HD stereo with six speakers (seven on Touring, which adds a subwoofer), voice-activated controls, a single-disc CD player with MP3/WMA capability, Bluetooth hands-free phone connectivity and audio streaming, iPod control capability, iTunes tagging, a USB port and 3.5mm auxiliary input jack, SMS text messaging capability, and satellite radio.

We drove a turbocharged XT as well as the X Limited with the old TomTom navigation system and cold-weather package.The TomTom was just as effective for getting around as navigation systems whose option prices are twice as much, although the buttons, combined with the audio system buttons and screen, were tiny and few.TomTom found an address for us using our voice command, and its own voice instructions were good.Although nav systems all seem to have quirky flaws; for example, the TomTom lady insisted on calling interstate route 405, 'four-west-five.'

The cold weather package is a good thing to have.We got to test the windshield de-icer one morning when there was a sheet of clear ice, and it worked fabulously; the ice slid off in big thin slices, within seconds.By comparison, the rear window defogger took a long time to melt the ice on the rear window.The switches for the heated seats are way back between the front seats where you can't see them, but it's no big deal, you just feel for them.

Cargo space measures 33.5 cubic feet with the rear seat up, 68.3 with the seats flat.The rear seats are split 60/40 and easily fold flat to make a gigantic cargo area capable of carrying lots of gear.

The rear seat reclines and includes a retractable center tray with fixed drink holders.Legroom is excellent for a compact SUV, with 38.0 inches; that's a big plus, and it's one of the reasons the Forester is such a good family vehicle.The front doors are wide, and the rear doors swing open 75 degrees and feel light, making it easy to get in and out.

There's also good front and rear headroom, even when you jack the height-adjustable driver's seat to the top.The panoramic moonroof, standard on our Limited, cuts into headroom, but if you're not tall it feels like more because it's the sky that's over your head.

The Limited comes with good all-season tires on handsome 17-inch alloy wheels.Forester owners who drive in the snow country will want to spring for some winter tires.All-season tires won't get you everywhere in snow and ice.We had to drive up a short slope into a snow-covered yard, the rear wheels on slick asphalt and the fronts on soft earth under the wet snow, and it wouldn't do it, as fronts and rears both spun.Even with Subaru's legendary all-wheel drive, if you don't have snow tires for winter, don't expect miracles.

There's a huge 8.7 inches of ground clearance for obstacles that might be encountered, such as the slope up into our yard.The electronic stability control is programmed to allow the tires to spin under acceleration, as long as the car isn't sliding sideways, so the throttle won't cut out on dirt roads.During an off-road test of the Forester 2.5X, we tackled an awe-inspiring steep rutty hill that required full throttle to climb the final 100 yards.The Forester made it to the summit, while a Honda CR-V could not even come close.

The turbocharged engine in the Forester XT delivers a very healthy 226 pound-feet of torque at 2800 rpm and 224 horsepower.The new-for-2011 normally aspirated 170-hp engine makes a bit more usable torque than before, now 174 pound-feet at a slightly lower 4100 rpm.It still doesn't compare to the turbo, however, if acceleration performance is what matters to you.On the freeway or any open highway, a Forester 2.5X has to work to keep up with a Forester XT.

But that's not to say the 2.5X is inadequate.It provides all the acceleration most drivers need.The new engine is a competent 16-valve four-cylinder.Curiously, we found it a bit harsher than the base four-cylinder in the Subaru Legacy, which is still the old belt-drive SOHC unit that powered pre-2011 Foresters.But it might not be fair to compare Forester to Legacy because their construction is so different.And our standards in harshness and NVH in cars with four-cylinder engines keep rising, because all engines are getting so much smoother and stronger.

Some of this is due to the horizontally opposed design of the engine, giving it that distinctive sound familiar in traditional, horizontally opposed Volkswagen and Porsche engines.Often, we can identify one of these flat fours without turning to see.On cold mornings, temperature in the low 30s, the Subaru 2.5-liter we tested made a rappeta-rappeta-rappeta noise upon startup that lasted for just two seconds.At 36 degrees it was still there but very faint, and at 40 degrees it went away.

We found the 4-speed automatic transmission and the 170-horsepower engine to be lacking, on hills at least.Running 70 mph on a slight upgrade on the freeway, it kicked down to third gear more often than we would have liked.It's got to be an improvement over the 2010 model when we commented on the same thing, because the new engine peaks at 174 pound-feet of torque at 4100 rpm while the previous engine made 170 at 4400, but still, a 5-speed automatic transmission seems called for to match the competition.The good news is that manual shifting is available, by pushing the lever forward and back, and it works smartly, giving the driver more control over the kickdowns.

The 5-speed manual transmission feels a bit soft, has a longish throw, and raises the NVH level in the cabin.But it might be considered as a choice with the 2.5X, partly because of Incline Start Assist.If the car is stopped on a hill, the brake stays applied for a moment after you take your foot off the brake pedal, allowing time to get your foot on the gas pedal and disengage the clutch smoothly.So we'd vote for the manual transmission with the 2.5-liter Forester X models.

Sam Moses filed this report to NewCarTestDrive.com from Washington's Columbia River Gorge.