FOLLOWING the curves and dips of Lake Road in the 2009 Subaru Forester it is hard to imagine what it must have been like on this two-lane in the 1920s, trying to outrun the feds in a big Cadillac weighed down by cases of Canadian booze.
The road led from a store just inside Quebec that sold liquor, across the border (now marked by stern-looking warning signs) south along Lake Memphremagog.
When it comes to disappearing acts, this year Subaru rivals the most clever rumrunners. Presto! The easily recognized little Forester wagon is gone. The 2009 version is larger and has more of a generic crossover appearance. Now it looks like everything but the Forester.
One thing that did not change is that all Foresters (which are imported from Japan) still have an all-wheel drive system, the excellence of which is praised in the mountains of New England.
In addition, the new Forester has about an inch more ground clearance (8.7 or 8.9 inches depending on the model). That reduces the chance of being high-centered in deep snow or during the gloppiest part of the mud season, known elsewhere as spring.
Prices begin at $20,660 for a 2.5X with a five-speed manual transmission and 170-horsepower 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine. The least expensive version of the 224-horsepower turbocharged model is the 2.5XT, at $26,860. The most expensive Forester is the 2.5XT Limited, which is $28,860.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has given the 2009 Forester its ultimate accolade. The redesigned Subaru gets a Top Safety Pick label for its performance in front, side and rear-impact crash tests and its standard electronic stability control.
Nevertheless the Forester is well-behaved, predictable and pleasant. It doesn’t feel overly nose-heavy, a problem with many all-wheel-drive vehicles. But under only modestly hard cornering there is a lot of body lean. That’s not a deadly sin, but it does not encourage brisk driving.
Over all, the Forester is more practical and safer than ever. For a relatively small vehicle, its ride is superb and it is an accommodating and pleasant servant. But the play and pluck of the old Forester is greatly diminished. Wouldn’t it have been lovely to have it all?
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