The 2013 Subaru Forester has been revealed ahead of its Los Angeles Motor Show debut at the end of the month. The new 2013 Forester SUV is more fuel efficient, spacious and promises to continue the car’s rugged and utilitarian nature that has won it much popularity.
Subaru loyalists will immediately notice the new exterior styling, which brings the face of the new Forester in line with the latest Impreza, Outback, and Legacy. As mentioned, the Forester has grown slightly too and now rides on a wheelbase that is 32 mm longer than the current model’s, at 2 639 mm. On top of this, the car’s length has grown by 35 mm to 4 595 mm, width is up by 24 mm to 1 796 mm and the car’s height has increased negligibly by 1 mm to 1 732 mm.
Interior space has been increased for rear passengers and cargo space, while the ride height remains unchanged at 220 mm. The interior design is said to be very similar, if not identical, to the Impreza and XV, with the Forester set to offer mobile phone connectivity, navigation and a rear-view camera as standard.
The latest model in Subaru’s Motion-V strategy, the Forester forms part of the plan or Subaru to reduce their overall fuel consumption and emissions by 30 percent by 2015. As such, Subaru is offering two petrol engines: the current 125 kW, 2.5-litre, horizontally-opposed (boxer), 4-cylinder; as well as a new 183 kW, 2.0-litre, turbocharged, boxer, 4-cylinder. No fuel consumption figures have been released yet, but the manufacturer says the Forester will be more fuel efficient, thanks to a new 6-speed manual transmission and continuously variable transmission (CVT) unit.
It is likely that the 110 kW, 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine from the Outback will also make its way into the Forester in future. Expect the new Forester to arrive in South Africa in 2013.
