The 2011 Subaru Forester SUV Review

This is a crossover SUV that gives a smooth, confident ride for all-purpose urban travel and poor weather off-roads. The cabin  interior is attractive and spacious carrying all passengers in comfort and style. Cargo capacity is huge for the travelers.

The 2011 Forester comes in 6 trim levels namely the 2.5X, 2.5 Limited, 2.5X Premium, the  Premium 2.5XT , the Touring 2.5Xt  and 2.5 Touring. 2.5X base model comes with cruise control, air-conditioning, 16-inch wheels of steel, full power accessories, tilt-steering ,  keyless entry, automatic headlights,and a sound system with 4 speakers and a CD player with auxiliary jack. The Forester 2.5X Premium trim has additional panoramic sunroof with rails, an 8-power adjustment driver seat, 17-inch wheels of alloy metal, audio streaming and Bluetooth, iPod connectivity with a USB port, reclining rear seats and a tilt-telescoping steering wheel. The Limited 2.5X  has an automatic climate control, all-weather package with heated front seats, fog lights, wiper de-icer, a 6-speaker 6-disc sound system and a eather upholstery finish. The 2.5 Premium has additions like more powerful engine, hood scoop and rear spoiler. The Touring 2.5X  has the Premium model’s features plus an automatic climate control with dual-zone, xenon headlights, rearview camera, electroluminescent instrumentation, a one touch mechanism for folding the rear seat. A navigation system which is portable is optional for the Premium 2.5X model and the Touring and Limited models offer a CD-player with auxiliary video and audio input jack and an older version of the navigational system which is located on the dashboard and has a touch-screen interface.

The standard for the Forester is all-wheel drive. Under the hood is a 2.5-liter cam aluminum alloy dual overhead 16-valve horizontally-opposed engine with four cylinders for the 2.5x models. There’s and active valve control producing 170 hp and 174 lb-ft torque. A turbo-charged alteration of the engine is present in the XT models and produces 226 hp and 224 lb-ft torque. The 2.5X and 2.5X Premium come with a five-speed transmission that is manual with an alternative for an automatic four speed transmission. The 2.5XT Limited , the 2.5X Premium , 2.5XT Touring and the 2.5X Touring come with automatic transmission only.

The fuel economy depends on the type of engine but the base engine has a rating of 21 mpg for city and 27 mpg for highway with 23 mpg rating combined. The turbo-charged engine models have a rating of 19 mpg for city and 24 mpg for highway with a rating of 21 mpg combined. The Subaru Forester has a towing capacity of 2400 pounds.

Safety-wise, the features on all 2011 Subaru Foresters include traction control and stability control, antilock brakes equipped with brake assist, front-seat airbags and curtain airbags for the rear side. Edmund testing for the brakes saw the 2.5XT Forester coming to a stop in 125 feet down from 60 mph which many agree is good for this segment. Though the Forester hasn’t yet been rated with the government’s new and stricter 2011 procedures for crash-testing, its 2010 ratings resulted in five-star perfect ratings in all side and front impact tests. A rating of “good” was given by the IIHS in the forester’s frontal offset and side impact as well as roof strength crash tests.