At the Russian presentation of the Forester, held in Ilyinskoye near Moscow, everyone interested was given a chance to test drive all available versions of the model. Until then, the "forester" was offered only with a two-liter naturally aspirated engine and a turbocharged 2.5-liter unit. We already wrote about the new generation with such engines in the May issue of MOTOR. But at this event, journalists were shown for the first time a car built for the North American market and not officially sold here — with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine without a turbo. It was this one that I chose for my trip.
I have a friend who is a die-hard Subaru fan. When he picks his next car of this brand, he invariably opts for the American version with the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter engine. He considers it the optimal choice — both in terms of dynamics and ease of maintenance. And this opinion, by the way, is shared by many. A huge number of Subarus on the Russian secondary market came from the USA, and under their hoods is that very EJ25. So the 2.5 XS modification has every chance of becoming the most sought-after here.
This naturally aspirated engine with a single camshaft is a true long-liver in the Subaru lineup. It first debuted on the Legacy and Forester back in 1998, when it produced 150 horsepower and 221 Nm. Today, the Forester gets a noticeably modernized EJ25 — it develops 172 hp and 230 Nm of torque. The modern version is equipped with the intelligent valve lift control system i-AVLS, which adds thrust in the lower and middle rev range, while also improving fuel efficiency. The engine also received new intake valves, a different oil pump, an external intake system, and a reworked exhaust with a pair of mufflers. For such an engine, both a five-speed manual and a four-speed automatic are available.
In versions with an automatic transmission, a hydraulic multi-plate clutch is responsible for torque distribution between the axles. On cars with a manual gearbox, there is a center differential with bevel gears and a viscous coupling. The variant with the "stick" retained the low-range gear, but its ratio was reduced from 1.447 (as on the turbo version) to 1.196 — because of this, the maximum towed trailer weight dropped from two tons to one and a half. On the highway, the Forester 2.5 XS with an automatic feels noticeably more spirited than the two-liter. The car responds much better to throttle input, and the sluggishness of the gearbox and the lack of gears are no longer so noticeable. The torque reserve allows for more confident and faster overtaking. And the sound of the engine after four thousand rpm is just a song! True, when driving at the limit, it can get a bit tiresome. If only the automatic had an extra gear — it would be perfect.
The manual gearbox solves this problem. However, the difference in dynamics compared to the two-liter version is no longer so obvious. If you are used to handling the lever yourself, then perhaps you shouldn't overpay for the extra half-liter of displacement?
On the forest roads of the Moscow region, in a sand pit and on gravel sections around it, the Forester showed itself in all its glory. It is still the same car that doesn't care about the road surface — it handles excellently and is hard to kill. The crossover climbs slopes so confidently and flies over broken ruts that you just marvel. The off-road capability of the naturally aspirated version, on one hand, is limited by the reduced low-range, but on the other hand, it even improved slightly thanks to the increased ground clearance by 5 mm: 220 mm versus 215 mm for the two-liter car. This, perhaps, is where the differences of the 2.5 XS end.
The appearance of the Forester with a naturally aspirated engine in Russia was long awaited. Many switched to other brands precisely because there was no golden mean: two liters is too weak, and the turbocharged "beast" at 2.5 liters is too hot. They waited so long that when this very middle finally appeared, a queue formed for six months ahead.