Subaru Forester test drive since 2008 SUV

The long -awaited

An extremely popular Subaru Forester crossover has acquired another modification. Now in the dealers salons you can order a version of 2.5 XS with a 2.5-liter atmospheric engine.
 
As part of the Russian presentation, Forester, held in Ilyinsky near Moscow, could ride on absolutely all versions of the model. Let me remind you that before that the forester was equipped only with an atmosphere about two liters and a rabid 2.5-liter turbo engine. We wrote about the new Forester with such motors in detail in the May Motor issue for this year. Here, in Ilyinsky journalists, a car was introduced, which was originally intended for the North America market and in Russia was not officially sold with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine without a turbocharger. On it, I focused on my attention.
I have a friend of the sub -Subarist. Choosing another Subaru, he always preferred an American atmospheric 2.5-liter version, considering it a sort of golden middle, moreover, more easily in maintenance. And so, believe me, many people think. A huge amount of Subaru entering the secondary market of Russia are imported from the United States, and under their hood they have the same EJ25. Therefore, 2.5 XS has every chance of becoming the most popular Forester modification in our country.
Atmospheric 2.5-liter engine with one camshaft Honored veteran Subaru. He first appeared on Legacy and Forester models back in 1998. Then his asset was 150 hp. and 221 nm. The motor installed today on Forester is a seriously modernized version of EJ25 with a capacity of 172 hp, which are supplemented by 230 Nm of torque. The modern motor is equipped the intellectual control system for the height of the I-AVLS valves lifting, which allows you to get more traction in the low and medium revolutions zone, plus to achieve better fuel efficiency. In addition, the engine was equipped with inlet valves of a new design, other oil pump, an external intake system and an optimized release system with two silencers. With this engine, you can order both a five -speed manual transmission and a four -band machine.
To distribute the moment between the axes in machines with an automaton, a hydraulic multi -disabilities are used, and in models with a manual KP, an intended differential with conical gears and viscousyft. The version with the handle is still equipped with a demultiplier. True, its gear ratio is reduced from 1.447 (for 2.0 turbo) to 1.196, as a result of which the mass of the towed trailer is reduced from two to one and a half tons. On the Forester 2.5 XS highway with the automatic transmission, it is noticeably alive than its two -liter counterpart. There were quite adequate reactions to the supply of fuel, and the inhibition of the gearbox and a small number of steps are no longer so noticeable. A greater supply of traction allows you to easier and faster to perform overtaking. And the sound of the motor after 4000 rpm is a song! But even she can get bored when driving in maximum modes. Add another transmission to the machine, and everything would be just wonderful.
A manual box corrects the position. But, on the other hand, the difference in dynamics compared to a two -liter car is not so noticeable. If you are used to wielding a gearbox lever on your own, then maybe you should not overpay for an extra half liter of working volume?
On the forest tracks near Moscow, in a sandy career and the adjacent gravel roads, Forester showed himself in all its glory. This is all the same unbearable and indifferent to the quality of roads a car, which is perfectly controlled. The crossover climbs so confidently along the slopes and rushes along the disgusting bumps that you are amusing. The patency of the atmospheric, on the one hand, is limited by the already mentioned reduced gear ratio, and on the other, it is slightly better due to the 5 mm clearance increased by 5 mm: 220 mm versus 215 mm in the 2-liter version. On this, perhaps, the differences in the 2.5 XS modification are exhausted.
The appearance of Subaru Forester with an atmospheric engine in Russia has been waiting for a long time. Many preferred other brands precisely because of the absence of this very golden mean: 2 liters are not enough, and a turbocharged 2.5-liter beast is too hot. They waited for this very golden mean, the line immediately stretched for six months.
Dmitry Krotov

   

 

A source: Motor magazine [September 2008]