Subaru Forester 2002 test drive - 2005 SUV

All photos Subaru Forester 2002 - 2005

In search of the golden mean

A full -wheel drive station wagon, parquet all -around or something average?

We will immediately place the points over I. Our goal is not to compare three different cars in the forehead, but, comparing their strengths and weaknesses, try on three concepts or their embodiment. Bruttered? Yes, like our requirements for cars with you.
If you collect everything together, it will turn out more likely a all -round station wagon without special off -road abilities - avid hunters and fishermen, please do not worry. But any car from our trinity is quite suitable for lovers of winter holidays - it is much easier to drive with all -wheel drive on winter roads. Fresh snow or an icy rise is not an obstacle to these cars, especially if they are shod by season. And we will talk about the features of controllability in more detail.
Safety precautions

Full -wheel drive is only a formal sign of association. In fact, the design of the transmission for all three machines is different. Audi offers its own traditional scheme with a longitudinally located engine and a symmetrical distribution of torque, with an intended differential of increased friction such as Thorsen. Interdaemoral differentials are free, and to increase the stability of the machine, there is a disconnected electronic stabilization system that controls the traction of the engine and - individually - inhibition of the wheels.
The Subaru scheme differs not only in a shorter and lightweight opposition engine that can greatly reduce the moment of inertia of the machine relative to the vertical axis, but also the design of the center differential - it is blocked by the viscous coupling. Forester has no stabilization systems, as well as a self -locking rear differential - it is attached only to the adult motor. But Subaru with a mechanical gearbox has an additional gearbox with a transfer number of 1.45, significantly increasing traction capabilities.
Honda CR -V - all -wheel drive only formally: under ordinary conditions, torque from the front of the engine transversely is transmitted only to the front wheels. The rear are connected using hydromoft only when the front slipping. Such a scheme is most beneficial in terms of economy, although it is not quite optimal for the best controllability and, especially, cross -country ability.
VIEW FROM BELOW

Acquaintance with the machine is customary to start with appearance, but in its assessment the share of subjective sensations is high. But if you look from below, then emotions give way to more balanced estimates. Yes, thanks to the suspension for bad roads, Audi Avan Clattro for Russia became higher than its German twins, but this is not a reason to write it down in all -terrain vehicles. Even without a load under the protection of the crankcase - 135 mm, and the abundance of plastic details that improve the aerodynamics of the bottom convinces that it is not recommended to touch them than fresh snow.
On the bottom of the Subaru, it is difficult to find extra details attached for the sake of aerodynamics, and the neutralization casing was lower - it is 190 mm above the road. A little higher than the exhaust manifold pants, but the pallet of the opposition engine is raised by another 50 mm! So the lack of protection of the motor compartment can be justified, although it still will not be superfluous. A short base and small overhangs allow the Foretor to move along moderately crossed terrain.

Honda CR-V looks like a real alternate: high-raised thresholds, short overhangs, flat bottom. But if you look closely, it will become clear that its capabilities are hardly higher than that of Subaru. Line - 200 mm under the neutralizer and 205 under the anterior reptile stabilizer. There is no protection of the motor compartment. A fuel tank symbolically covered by a pipe - just 210 mm from the ground. In general, on rough terrain you must be extremely careful, but for the snowy roads of the clearance is enough with a margin.
Do not forget that all of the listed numbers are given for cars with one driver. And with full load ...

Ideas and salons

Does modesty decorate? Today, even naive girls hardly think so. As for cars, they mean a bright appearance and a powerful advertising campaign for them much more than technical perfection or even reliability. After all, the convenience and decoration of the passenger compartment easily evaluate even too sophisticated users. Conveniently, spacious, hands and eyes are pleasant and looks more expensive than worth it - this is a simple formula for success. If all this also transforms in a variety of, then the best cannot be desired.
The appearance of Audi Avvan deserves only praise: a stylish, modern car with a slightly conservative and strict appearance looks like an expensive prestigious costume: both a brand and a style are visible. The same is inside: a strict German interior, magnificent seats and a little sports style in the dashboard and console. Dear plastic, large comfortable keys and indispensable red backlight do not allow to doubt the choice. In addition, in comparison with a close predecessor, the new Audi A4 is simply huge: behind the are convenient for passengers even an impressive complexion. Unless, of course, even more solid driver and passenger are located in front - the seats adjustment range is designed even for two -meter giants. But the driver with a tall of less than 170 cm will have to move the chair almost to the stop.

Subaru of the second -generation Forester, like the first, does not shine with a bright appearance, but began to look more careful and a little less severely. Figuratively speaking, the forester gathered in the city slightly cut the beard and put on a fashionable jacket in return for the quilted jacket. However, you still can’t confuse him with the artist. Spacious, air interior; A pleasant impression of the quality and thoroughness of manufacture, but after the audi is rustic. Although there are no complaints about ergonomics - even with a huge sliding hatch in the roof, a place remains above the head, and the total capacity of the cabin is sufficient for a long trip to the four things. By the way, unlike German automotive traders, the Japanese do not forget that, in addition to accelerates per meter, ninety -meters, inches are still found only one and a half meters. That is why Subaru’s adjustments are the largest.

The new Honda CR -V by current standards is the owner of a fairly conservative appearance, although against the background of the rest of the participants it looks most fashionable, even frivolous. However, her main advantages are inside. The flat floor makes a very real planting in the back seat the three of them, especially since there is a wide interior, almost 100 mm superior to the audi. The location of the automatic box selector on the instrument panel made it possible to free the passage between the front seats. So lovers of outdoor activities can put on their equipment without getting out of the car, easily crossing the wheel of the rear seat. Try to do this in Audi or Subaru ... Honda salon is not only spacious - it has numerous transformation possibilities. For example, when there is not enough trunk volume, the rear seat can not only be folded, but also moved forward by 170 mm, squeezing tall passengers. And a folding table between the front seats? Better - only a picnic table, which serves the trunk floor on the trip.
FIGURE SKATING
Full -wheel drive is absolute control on a slippery road - a phrase from the advertising avenue. If everything was so simple in life ... A full -wheel drive car is really more stable in standard traffic modes, but counting that it is as easy to control it in sliding as a machine with one pair of drive wheels is a little frivolous. We are going to check this and go alternately on every car.

Audi: low landing, fast steering wheel, excellent clarity of gear, excellent traction capabilities of the new version of the 1.8-liter engine with turbocharged. Still, the course of the clutch pedal is smaller (God with him, with effort!) And a little more heavier brakes would be just perfect. However, the flaws of the brake amplifier perfectly adjusts the ABS. Let's go faster: the roads of the landfill, as if by order, are covered with fresh snow. However, Audi does not agree to go to the whole coil - the stabilization system protests. It suppresses any attempt by the engine to twist the wheels idle. I’ll try to enter a wide turn with a speed of speed and simulate the actions of an inexperienced driver: with a fright I will come that there is urine for the brake and turn the wheel towards the turn. Electronics, apparently, knows this situation good: grunting with brakes, Audi neatly enters the impossible radius. It is better not to even put such an experiment with ordinary ABS - there is a great chance to be in a ditch.
Now we turn off the electronics and steer ourselves ... It turns out that in a matter of seconds, Audi is able to turn from burgher transport into a rally car. Swing with a steering wheel, drop the gas, add, catch the desired sliding angle - and pull, pull, pull to the exit from the turn, with accurate movements of the steering wheel maintaining a small skid, and regulating the radius with gas. In words, everything is simple, but in order to master these techniques perfectly, long training is required. I will not be cunning, on paper I get more beautiful. The questions still remain: to keep the desired angle of drift, in general, is not difficult, but here to correct it on the arc ... or on the audi is such an action considered the error of piloting?

Let's try to drive the same path driving Subaru. Yes, the engine here is clearly weaker and not so willingly reacts to the gas pedal, but it is still easier to control the machine. Not to say that it is quite easy, but Forester allows you to adjust the trajectory in much larger limits. Yes, and its motor, if you figure it out, is more than enough to tear all four wheels into the slip in the snow. Where is the secret? There are several quite reasoned versions, but not one claims to be absolute truth. Let's suppose that the rally experience of Subaru allows its engineers to add a little from the Impreza WRC to each car. Or, for the lyrics, we will consider them a little wizards.
Now, next in line, Honda, shod in exactly the same Nokian-Khakkapelita-1 as Subaru. Already in the first circle it becomes clear that this is not her element. The rear-wheel drive delay makes itself felt, inconspicuous in ordinary modes: because of it, to make CR-V write an accurate arc of turning in sliding. The machine prefers to move strictly along the trajectory of the front wheels. Well, these are also the principles - strictly, and no pampering.
Taste and color
Why all these fun with slipping, entertainment with drifts - after all, there are no complaints about the active security of claims even to the emphasized CR -V's calm Honda? This is not the case: the exact control of an all -wheel drive machine in such modes is, if you like, the highest aerobatics of a coordinated team creating a driver’s driver. The slightest nuances here are the imprint of the highest professionalism and creative thought. Let's just say much more significant than rivalry in creating the most sophisticated design of a folding cup holder. We will go down, however, to the ground.

Audi Avan Avan Cvattro has a magnificent engine, an excellent gearbox, a comfortable suspension and exemplary behavior on the asphalt. A solid decoration of the salon and the convenience of completely rectangular, without unnecessary nibblers of the trunk. And, of course, the stabilization system. In the liability - a vulnerable abdomen and - still not quite corresponding to sports ambitions, behavior in the snow.
Subaru Forester pleased with off -road capabilities, managing slippery coating and lower, in comparison with competitors, price. But objectively, the hopeless foreman on the asphalt looks rather modest, and the comfort of the suspension leaves much to be desired.

Honda trump cards CR -V are a spacious transformable interior, the most voluminous trunk and what can be briefly called ease of use. If you want, this is the most friendly design. Yes, the suspension is a little harsh on good roads, but look at how it copes with broken asphalt ...
And yet - this is not about cars, but about the ideas in them inherent. Naturally, a sports station wagon will lose to an all -resistant on a primer and win on a good highway. In turn, a high car, with a more vertical landing of the driver and passengers, will be more profitable in terms of convenience and size of the cabin. So the ideal is somewhere in the middle?
Perhaps, but Subaru Forester does not lie on a straight line connecting Audi and Honda. Subaru always built original cars, following her own ideology, and Forester is no exception. He has many advantages, but they are not always in the taste of the majority. And therefore, the Forester who chose in our Trinity can very well classify themselves to a certain secret society. Since they know something more ...