Ordinarily, the only reason to go to Velden am Wörther See, Austria, is to luxuriate in one of the opulent hotels lining the lakeside, and stamina permitting, paddle out a bit in a solid teak rowboat. But today our attention turns to the highly practical matter of the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D — you know, the Subaru Forester Diesel.
If you're coming from the U.S., the only easy way into Velden is to fly into Slovenia and drive across the border. Even through a fog of jet lag, we can't stop staring at the green hillsides, snow-dusted mountaintops and brightly painted apartment blocks along the way. In spite of all this breathtaking beauty, it's funny to think we've come this far to drive the diesel Subaru Forester, an unassuming compact SUV engineered in Japan.
But if you know anything about the habits of European drivers, it all makes sense. Although escalating diesel fuel prices have slightly diminished their enthusiasm for the cars that drink the stuff as of late, Europeans still aren't buying if you're peddling a utilitarian wagon or SUV without a diesel engine. So with the third-generation Forester, Subaru has decided to get serious.
And so little more than six months after the March 2008 launch of the 2009 Subaru Forester, the company will begin selling the Forester 2.0D X and Forester 2.0D XS, both of which have its 2.0-liter turbodiesel horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine colloquially known as the boxer diesel.
For the moment, Europe is the only place you'll be able to buy them. So for the moment, we'll pretend to be European.
Sorry, It's Not Ready for You
We'll give you the bad news first. Even with the switch to a closed-loop-type diesel particulate filter, which Subaru says is more effective at collecting and incinerating particulate matter than the simpler, open-end-type filter used in the diesel Legacy and Outback, the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D will not meet 50-state U.S. emissions standards.
To be clean enough for California-emissions states, it would need an AdBlue urea tank, Kazuharu Ichikawa, general manager of product planning for Fuji Heavy Industries (unofficially, the father of the Forester) tells us. Packaging this technology into the vehicle isn't the problem, he says. Rather, it's the prohibitively high cost of purchasing an AdBlue system from another manufacturer.
Until Subaru of America figures out what to do, you can live vicariously through us as we drive the 2009 Subaru Forester diesel. Or, you could emigrate to Europe. Whatever's easier.
A Little Different From Other Diesels
The first thing we notice about the 2.0-liter engine is how quiet it is from the confines of the cabin, with the air-conditioning blasting American-style to defend against the late-summer Austrian humidity. Equally impressive is the smoothness of its power delivery — it feels almost like a gasoline engine.
The boxer diesel is different from most other diesels, remember, not only in its horizontally opposed layout but also in its aluminum-block construction — a significant weight-saving measure made possible by the inherent rigidity of the boxer configuration, says Subaru.
That's not to say there's no cast iron used in this engine, as the crankshaft journals are made of an iron-aluminum composite to withstand the pounding from the tall 16.3:1 compression ratio. The 1,998cc engine has a symmetrical 86mm-by-86mm bore and stroke, and its bore spacing is tighter than it is on Subaru's other four-cylinders (similar to the 3.0-liter boxer-6, we're told), which makes it more compact.
In other respects, Subaru's 2.0-liter turbodiesel is fairly conventional. Fuel is injected directly into the cylinders via a common-rail system. Also, the turbocharger is packaged underneath the engine in strategic proximity to the catalytic converter and particulate filter.
The sensory experience gets even more interesting when we put the windows down in our 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D XS tester. There's the whirr and grumble we expect from a turbocharged diesel power plant followed by an insistent tone that's not at all unlike the dry-throated shriek you get from Subaru's gasoline-fueled flat-4 engines. It's not exactly melodic, but it's the most unusual soundtrack we've ever heard from a spark-plugless engine.
In typical diesel fashion, though, we're giving serious thought to an upshift by 3,800 rpm. And it's no wonder, because the 2.0-liter boxer diesel makes its 258 pound-feet of torque from 1,800-2,400 rpm. It hits its 145-horsepower peak at just 3,600 rpm, and the power curve begins to taper off almost immediately.
Don't Rush That Gearchange
However, the new six-speed manual transmission that mates to the boxer diesel simply isn't in the same rush to change up as we are. The shifter is notchy — bordering on resistant, really — as it moves through the gates, and the clutch take-up demands a highly deliberate left foot if you want a clean transition between gears.
Basically, it takes more concentration to be smooth in the manual-shift Forester diesel than it does in the Impreza WRX STI. And given that low-end torque is in short supply until the turbo has the boost going, even leisurely launches from traffic lights can be unnerving. Subaru estimates the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D will take 10.4 seconds to hit 100 km/h (62 mph), and a day's drive in the Slovenian countryside tells us this claim is on target.
The six-speed transmission has the same 3.454:1 1st-gear ratio as the five-speed manual gearbox offered in U.S.-market Subarus, but the final drive is shorter — 4.44 versus 4.11 with our five-speed.
Make no mistake, though. The objective here is economy, not quick getaways. The ratios for 2nd and 3rd gears are significantly taller, while 4th, 5th and 6th are overdrive gears. Subaru says the diesel Forester consumes 6.3 liters of fuel for every 100 km on the European test cycle. Maximum cruising range is 1,016 km (631 miles) on a 64-liter (16.9-gallon) tank.
Six-Speed Is Coming; No Word on the Automatic
Mr. Ichikawa tells us that the new six-speed gearbox will eventually replace the five-speed used in most gasoline Subarus, though not before it gets some fine-tuning, we hope.
Yet the quality of this six-speed manual transmission has little to do with the future of the Subaru Forester diesel in the U.S. We prefer our Foresters with automatics, and Subaru doesn't yet have one ready for the boxer diesel. And while you'll often see a higher manual-transmission take rate when diesel is involved (as is the case with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI), the lack of one would invariably reduce diesel Forester sales.
"An automatic is more than a 'nice-to-have,'" concedes Tim Mahoney, chief of marketing for Subaru of America, "but the lack of one shouldn't stop the whole process."
Doesn't Handle Like Our Forester
As we hurry to a coffee stop at the Hotel Vila Bled, apparently a favorite vacation spot of Tito when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia (and the Social Realist mosaics are still there to prove it), we notice that our 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D XS feels less sporting than the U.S.-spec Subaru Forester 2.5XT we tested last spring.
It's not a weight problem, as the 2.0D XS weighs scarcely 30 pounds more than the 2.5XT we tested. Rather, the issue is that all Foresters sold outside North America have electrically assisted power steering and the setup offers very little feedback.
Suspension tuning is soft, and the Forester never quite feels planted through the tight turns on narrow Slovenian roads, particularly when midcorner bumps are involved. Moreover, the 225/55R17 Yokohama Geolander tires offer minimal grip, and brake pedal feel is on the soft side, despite the use of larger brake discs on the diesel Forester (compared to the European-spec 2.0-liter gasoline model) and the addition of a negative-pressure pump.
On the way back into Austria, we pay 6.50 euros to continue on the autobahn and we immediately understand why. The pavement is perfectly smooth here, and our 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D XS is perfectly controlled and compliant.
It's also exceptionally quiet, with negligible wind and road noise. And thanks to the super-tall 0.557:1 6th gear, we don't hear the engine, either.
Japan Will See It Before We Do
Amidst all the drastic options under consideration to reduce our fossil-fuel consumption and carbon-dioxide build-up, diesel engines are the most refreshingly normal solution. When they're used in utilitarian vehicles like the 2009 Subaru Forester, they really don't demand much sacrifice from us as drivers. And so we want to like them.
However, in its current form, the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D doesn't strike us as the right fit for the U.S. It's a little too slow to justify the premium Subaru will have to charge for it after the installation of an AdBlue tank. And the six-speed transmission is simply too high-maintenance for a compact SUV.
Interestingly, we're not first on the list to get the Subaru Forester diesel after Europe. Japan is next, and though most Japanese buyers don't like diesels any more than most Americans do, emissions standards aren't as stringent. If the Japanese end up liking the diesel Forester, that might improve the argument for bringing it here.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
If you're coming from the U.S., the only easy way into Velden is to fly into Slovenia and drive across the border. Even through a fog of jet lag, we can't stop staring at the green hillsides, snow-dusted mountaintops and brightly painted apartment blocks along the way. In spite of all this breathtaking beauty, it's funny to think we've come this far to drive the diesel Subaru Forester, an unassuming compact SUV engineered in Japan.
But if you know anything about the habits of European drivers, it all makes sense. Although escalating diesel fuel prices have slightly diminished their enthusiasm for the cars that drink the stuff as of late, Europeans still aren't buying if you're peddling a utilitarian wagon or SUV without a diesel engine. So with the third-generation Forester, Subaru has decided to get serious.
And so little more than six months after the March 2008 launch of the 2009 Subaru Forester, the company will begin selling the Forester 2.0D X and Forester 2.0D XS, both of which have its 2.0-liter turbodiesel horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine colloquially known as the boxer diesel.
For the moment, Europe is the only place you'll be able to buy them. So for the moment, we'll pretend to be European.
Sorry, It's Not Ready for You
We'll give you the bad news first. Even with the switch to a closed-loop-type diesel particulate filter, which Subaru says is more effective at collecting and incinerating particulate matter than the simpler, open-end-type filter used in the diesel Legacy and Outback, the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D will not meet 50-state U.S. emissions standards.
To be clean enough for California-emissions states, it would need an AdBlue urea tank, Kazuharu Ichikawa, general manager of product planning for Fuji Heavy Industries (unofficially, the father of the Forester) tells us. Packaging this technology into the vehicle isn't the problem, he says. Rather, it's the prohibitively high cost of purchasing an AdBlue system from another manufacturer.
Until Subaru of America figures out what to do, you can live vicariously through us as we drive the 2009 Subaru Forester diesel. Or, you could emigrate to Europe. Whatever's easier.
A Little Different From Other Diesels
The first thing we notice about the 2.0-liter engine is how quiet it is from the confines of the cabin, with the air-conditioning blasting American-style to defend against the late-summer Austrian humidity. Equally impressive is the smoothness of its power delivery — it feels almost like a gasoline engine.
The boxer diesel is different from most other diesels, remember, not only in its horizontally opposed layout but also in its aluminum-block construction — a significant weight-saving measure made possible by the inherent rigidity of the boxer configuration, says Subaru.
That's not to say there's no cast iron used in this engine, as the crankshaft journals are made of an iron-aluminum composite to withstand the pounding from the tall 16.3:1 compression ratio. The 1,998cc engine has a symmetrical 86mm-by-86mm bore and stroke, and its bore spacing is tighter than it is on Subaru's other four-cylinders (similar to the 3.0-liter boxer-6, we're told), which makes it more compact.
In other respects, Subaru's 2.0-liter turbodiesel is fairly conventional. Fuel is injected directly into the cylinders via a common-rail system. Also, the turbocharger is packaged underneath the engine in strategic proximity to the catalytic converter and particulate filter.
The sensory experience gets even more interesting when we put the windows down in our 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D XS tester. There's the whirr and grumble we expect from a turbocharged diesel power plant followed by an insistent tone that's not at all unlike the dry-throated shriek you get from Subaru's gasoline-fueled flat-4 engines. It's not exactly melodic, but it's the most unusual soundtrack we've ever heard from a spark-plugless engine.
In typical diesel fashion, though, we're giving serious thought to an upshift by 3,800 rpm. And it's no wonder, because the 2.0-liter boxer diesel makes its 258 pound-feet of torque from 1,800-2,400 rpm. It hits its 145-horsepower peak at just 3,600 rpm, and the power curve begins to taper off almost immediately.
Don't Rush That Gearchange
However, the new six-speed manual transmission that mates to the boxer diesel simply isn't in the same rush to change up as we are. The shifter is notchy — bordering on resistant, really — as it moves through the gates, and the clutch take-up demands a highly deliberate left foot if you want a clean transition between gears.
Basically, it takes more concentration to be smooth in the manual-shift Forester diesel than it does in the Impreza WRX STI. And given that low-end torque is in short supply until the turbo has the boost going, even leisurely launches from traffic lights can be unnerving. Subaru estimates the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D will take 10.4 seconds to hit 100 km/h (62 mph), and a day's drive in the Slovenian countryside tells us this claim is on target.
The six-speed transmission has the same 3.454:1 1st-gear ratio as the five-speed manual gearbox offered in U.S.-market Subarus, but the final drive is shorter — 4.44 versus 4.11 with our five-speed.
Make no mistake, though. The objective here is economy, not quick getaways. The ratios for 2nd and 3rd gears are significantly taller, while 4th, 5th and 6th are overdrive gears. Subaru says the diesel Forester consumes 6.3 liters of fuel for every 100 km on the European test cycle. Maximum cruising range is 1,016 km (631 miles) on a 64-liter (16.9-gallon) tank.
Six-Speed Is Coming; No Word on the Automatic
Mr. Ichikawa tells us that the new six-speed gearbox will eventually replace the five-speed used in most gasoline Subarus, though not before it gets some fine-tuning, we hope.
Yet the quality of this six-speed manual transmission has little to do with the future of the Subaru Forester diesel in the U.S. We prefer our Foresters with automatics, and Subaru doesn't yet have one ready for the boxer diesel. And while you'll often see a higher manual-transmission take rate when diesel is involved (as is the case with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI), the lack of one would invariably reduce diesel Forester sales.
"An automatic is more than a 'nice-to-have,'" concedes Tim Mahoney, chief of marketing for Subaru of America, "but the lack of one shouldn't stop the whole process."
Doesn't Handle Like Our Forester
As we hurry to a coffee stop at the Hotel Vila Bled, apparently a favorite vacation spot of Tito when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia (and the Social Realist mosaics are still there to prove it), we notice that our 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D XS feels less sporting than the U.S.-spec Subaru Forester 2.5XT we tested last spring.
It's not a weight problem, as the 2.0D XS weighs scarcely 30 pounds more than the 2.5XT we tested. Rather, the issue is that all Foresters sold outside North America have electrically assisted power steering and the setup offers very little feedback.
Suspension tuning is soft, and the Forester never quite feels planted through the tight turns on narrow Slovenian roads, particularly when midcorner bumps are involved. Moreover, the 225/55R17 Yokohama Geolander tires offer minimal grip, and brake pedal feel is on the soft side, despite the use of larger brake discs on the diesel Forester (compared to the European-spec 2.0-liter gasoline model) and the addition of a negative-pressure pump.
On the way back into Austria, we pay 6.50 euros to continue on the autobahn and we immediately understand why. The pavement is perfectly smooth here, and our 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D XS is perfectly controlled and compliant.
It's also exceptionally quiet, with negligible wind and road noise. And thanks to the super-tall 0.557:1 6th gear, we don't hear the engine, either.
Japan Will See It Before We Do
Amidst all the drastic options under consideration to reduce our fossil-fuel consumption and carbon-dioxide build-up, diesel engines are the most refreshingly normal solution. When they're used in utilitarian vehicles like the 2009 Subaru Forester, they really don't demand much sacrifice from us as drivers. And so we want to like them.
However, in its current form, the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D doesn't strike us as the right fit for the U.S. It's a little too slow to justify the premium Subaru will have to charge for it after the installation of an AdBlue tank. And the six-speed transmission is simply too high-maintenance for a compact SUV.
Interestingly, we're not first on the list to get the Subaru Forester diesel after Europe. Japan is next, and though most Japanese buyers don't like diesels any more than most Americans do, emissions standards aren't as stringent. If the Japanese end up liking the diesel Forester, that might improve the argument for bringing it here.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
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