Subaru Forester 2.0D XSn Commercial 2010 Road Test

What the 2010 Forester Subaru Forester 2.0D XSn Commercial lacks the refinement, it more than makes up for in practicality.

It’s over thirty years since Subaru entered the British market with a 4WD Pickup. It looked foreign and tinny, and folk never thought it would last. How wrong they were. That wee pickup was virtually indestructable. Even Scottish hill farmers couldn’t break them and I know of a couple in the Galloway Hills area that are still working! Sadly, Subaru no longer makes such utility vehicles, but the chance for John Fife to drive the latest Forester vehicle with the new diesel engine during the recent snowfall couldn’t be passed up.

The first time I encountered the Subaru pickup was when my brother-in-law, Bob, bought one for his agricultural lime and fertiliser spreading business. That poor wee pickup never saw a bucket and sponge and rarely had the bonnet lifted. For years it ferried parts, tools and fuel to machines in the middle of nowhere, it carried bags of lime and delivered bales of hay over some of the remotest and bleakest terrain in central Scotland. It started first time, nearly every time, in the depths of winter and in the floods of summer.

Eventually it died, not of a broken heart, but of a broken chassis. There were more welds on that chassis than there was original metal and eventually Bob ran out of material to patch up. That is no criticism of the build quality, it’s more symptomatic of the abuse that was heaped upon that poor wee truck.

No replacement vehicle has endured as much abuse or lasted as long since and to this day Bob mourns its passing. Even though he was well over six feet and had to fold himself into the ‘far eastern style dimensions’ of that original two seater cab, he was never happier than showing off to the Land Roving farmers who were struggling to keep up. It was quite a truck.

And I was reminded of that wee truck when behind the wheel of the new Forester.

This is Subaru’s first diesel and it’s surprisingly good. It’s quiet and it’s fairly torquey, although like most modern diesels, it needs revs to keep it on the move. You can’t pull away from roundabouts in second, you have to drop it into first, or it will stall.

It’s pretty basic inside and the plastics look more functional than fashionable, but that’s no bad thing in a utility vehicle that could earn its keep. And this is where it scores. Yes, it’s an estate car, but whereas you would never think of towing a stuck struck with a Subaru Legacy, you would have no qualms about using the Forester.

It’s not the prettiest vehicle on the road, although the proportions of this latest model look better than its predecessor, but it has an entirely purposeful look that suits its dual personality.

It offers a bouncy ride but softer than other ‘soft-roaders’ although its biggest asset is the well proven drivetrain. There are no locking diffs or dual range gearboxes, just an honest to goodness constant four wheel drive system. Drive with those limitations in mind and you won’t get stuck. The Forester was used a couple of times in recent days to move some vans which were marooned in the snow. Because the side roads of Scotland remained virtually ungritted during the recent frozen spell, many vehicles simply couldn’t get traction. Once underway, forward momentum could be maintained, but if anyone had to stop for any reason, getting underway again was well nigh impossible. Even I struggled with a rear wheel drive 3.5 tonner while the local decorator was stuck with his front wheel drive van until I gave him a gentle tug with the Forester.

The Forester harks back to the good old days when every commercial fleet had a ‘works runabout’. It was usually a short wheelbase Land Rover that would be used to tow-start trucks, take tools and spares to breakdowns, or run errands picking up parts. Nowadays we’ve got the AA and the RAC while the truck manufacturers have their own breakdown support networks.

But I reckon for the smaller fleet operator who may be working to tighter deadlines and financial restrictions the idea of a ‘works runabout’ has some merit. Rather than waiting for some rescue service to attend the call and worrying about the cost when it does, perhaps some of this work could be shouldered by a ‘spare’ utility vehicle.

The Forester would fit the bill, and is smart enough for a night out at the pictures at the weekend with the wife and weans.

It’s also cheaper to run than many more specialised all wheel drive vehicles. With its low 167 g/km emissions that equates to an annual Road Fund Licence of £170, and it has a Group 9E insurance rating. But the real clincher is its towing limit – up to 2 tonnes unbraked!

Over the years, Subaru has built up quite a reputation for its engineering expertise and quality and although the Forester lacks the refinement of the Legacy and Impreza, it more than makes up for that in practicality.

With prices starting from 17 and a half grand (plus VAT - prices current as at Jan 2010) for the basic model, it sounds a bit expensive, but compare that with pickup and SUV prices and it doesn’t start to look so bad. Or buy a second hand one and you’ll be laughing. And when all your neighbours are stuck next winter and all your business rivals are struggling, you can feel a little smug with yourself.