Subaru Forester e-Boxer reviewed by forestry professional

Subaru’s fifth-generation Forester was launched a few years ago on a new platform that is also shared with its other two petrol cars, the Legacy Outback and Crosstrek. Its electric ZBR sister car is just a slightly redressed Toyota.

The new hybrid engine is called the e-Boxer because it is based on Subaru’s horizontally-opposed four-cylinder petrol engine and such configured engines are often referred to as boxers. The Porsche 911 is the only other car with such an engine. The e-Boxer has an electric motor and is combined with Subaru’s symmetrical constant all-wheel drive system. New technologies also include rear vehicle detection, reverse automatic braking, and a driver monitoring system.

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The Forester can tow 1,870 kg and has a ground clearance of 220 mm. The engine is a four-cylinder boxer with 1,995 cc and is linked up to an automatic Lineartronic gearbox, which is basically a continuously-variable gear gearbox. It has 150 bhp and 196 Nm torque, combined with an electric motor and small electric battery. No diesel versions are available.

A lithium-ion battery unit is mounted within the boot floor and allows for pure electric driving at speeds of up to 25 mph. It can drive in full electric mode for distances of about a mile. This supposedly provides a ten per cent improvement in urban driving fuel consumption. In my hands, 40 mpg was the average for the week. At medium speeds the electric motor and engine work together to improve power and performance, and improve towing and off-road driving. At higher speeds the car is driven solely by the engine and the engine will recharge the battery.

A good big boot (Image: FJ/EW)

The Forester weighs around 1,685 kg, is 4,640 mm long, 2,065 mm wide and 1,730 mm high. The boot is a useful 509 litres and increases to 1,071 litres with the seats folded. Acceleration is a leisurely 12 seconds from 0 to 60 mph, with a max speed of 117 mph.The fuel tank is small at only 48 litres.

X-Mode is one of the standard systems on the car, and can be used for added assistance if extreme driving conditions are encountered. X-Mode takes control of the engine, transmission, AWD system and brakes to help navigate slippery surfaces, rough roads and climb steep hills. It uses the hill descent control to maintain a constant speed going downhill.

Prices start at £37,995 for an entry-level model, £40,195 Sport, and £41,095 for top-of-the-range Premium. Warranty is three years or a low 60,000 miles, with eight years for the battery.

Pleasant interior with good forward and side visibility. (Image: FJ/EW)

The Forester is a pleasant car to drive. The suspension provides a comfortable ride and the steering is nicely weighted. The brakes are good and the boot a reasonable size. It is not very fast and the pure electric driving at very low crawling speeds provides a novel experience. However, at motorway speeds the car lacks power and the engine strains to keep up 80 mph. At 70 mph the gearbox settles down and the car runs along smoothly but once you need extra speed, the gearbox comes out of lock and the engine has to spin at higher revs to make progress. It never gets really noisy, but you can often hear the engine racing to help progress. So, if you do a lot of motorway driving this car is not for you.

Nice day to be out and about! (Image: FJ/EW)

The dashboard is a strange mix of screens and buttons. The windscreen is large and the view forward is panoramic. The small wee angle windows to the front of the door windows add extra useful vision.

So, a strange sort of car is the Forester e-Boxer.