Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: No
Fashion Victims: No
Treehuggers: Yes
Mack Daddies: No
Tuner Crowd: No
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: Yes
Euro Snobs: No
Working Stiffs: Yes
Technogeeks: No
Poseurs: No
Soccer Moms: Yes
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: No

Also Consider:
• Honda CR-V
• Toyota RAV4
• BMX X3

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: Subaru
• Model tested: Forester 2.5XT
• Model year: 2009
• Base Price: $19,995
• Price as Tested: $26,195
• Engine type: 2.5-liter DOHC turbocharged Boxer four
• Horsepower: 224 @ 5,200 RPM
• Torque: 226 @ 2,800 RPM
• Red line: 6,500 RPM
• Transmission: 4-speed automatic / 5-speed manual
• Curb Weight: 3,440 lbs
• LxWxH: 179.5" x 70.1" x 66.9"
• Wheelbase: 103"
• Tires: 225/55 front, 225/55 rear
• Drive type: AWD
• 0 - 60 mph: 7.5 seconds [estimated]
• 1/4-mile: N/A
• Top speed: 130 MPH
• EPA Fuel economy city/highway: 19/24 MPG
• NHTSA crash test rating: N/A

Also see:

• 2009 Subaru Forester, Part One

• 2009 Subaru Forester, Part Two

Acceleration: ***
Here, the 2.5-liter, four-cylinder boxer turbo, making 224HP with 226 lb.-ft. of torque, is the name 'o the game. You get it on the Forester 2.5XT, and it serves up pretty smooth speed on the freeway, while still providing a lot of dynamic versatility under less-than-ideal road conditions—like ripping up a steep grade composed mainly of lose rocks and dirt. Engine tone is a subdued buzz, an alto ...rrrRRRR!!! that reminds you of the car's power without rattling your ears. I didn't get a whole lot of turbo lag. Abundant torque is at your fingertips. Pretty much ideal for the honing soccer mom who likes a quiver in the loins or the randy suburban dad who still enjoys a little Metallica from time to time.

Braking: ****
Very assured, with 4-wheel ABS plus brake assist. In lousy road conditions, you really appreciate the orchestration of the braking tech with the AWD, because it actually allows you to drive the car without resorting to tentative techniques. Even on rough roads, if you can manage the Forester's speed, braking can be limited to gentles inputs. However, when you need to stop, Forester stops you. One of this vehicle's best systems.

Ride: **
This is not a minivan. This is not a luxury sedan. However, this is not an STI, either. Generally speaking, the ride is compliant, but you can still tell you're in some kind of utility vehicle. Subaru's new DC3 suspension layout definitely comes into its own when you get off the beaten path, however. Truth be told, this could be construed as a flaw—most owners will never experience not having their head banged into the roof as they traverse a small gully.

Handling: ****
Rally-esque on crappy roads, well-defined on regular roads and the freeway. If you're looking for a hauler that can carry a few kids and still deliver some thrills while dashing around old logging trails, the Forester is your baby. The combo of AWD, weight-distribution, center-of-gravity, and crisp steering (and a particularly well-designed steering wheel) yields a vehicle that can literally run circles around the competition. To get better, you'd have to go BMW.

Gearbox: ****
You have a choice between a 4-speed auto and a 5-speed manual. For this category, the vast majority of customers will go for the auto, which can be switched to sport mode. Shifts are smooth and unobtrusive under everyday driving conditions. When the going gets rougher, the 4-speed gets along very nicely with the turbo and the AWD, delivering a sense of great control. Yes, a 5-speed auto would be better. Probably. An extra star has been added for the availability of the manual gearbox, thank you Subaru for giving us the choice.

Audio: **
You can fly either XM or Sirius on the system, which is operated off a display screen in the center console. The upmarket option pumps 80 watts through six speakers and can accommodate six CDs in-dash as well as MP3/WAA. Sounded great to me, but take that with a grain of salt as I dig the Cool Jazz.

Toys: **
Not that many. If there's an Achilles Heel, this is it. Only the 2.5XT Limited and the L.L. Bean Edition have the optional in-dash nav system. So obviously, if you're like most folks in the Forester demo and you don't go for either of those trim levels, you'll be looking at aftermarket GPS.

Value: *****
Hell, you can get the base model for $1200 less than the $21,195 '08 version, according to Subaru. Once you move up to the 2.5XT, you're looking at something in the $26-27K range, depending on options. If you don't need luxury or a lot of gadgets and a 5-speed auto, you'll be hard pressed to do better.

Overall: ***
Not a perfect update to Subaru's most versatile vehicle—for many, the flagship of the brand—but a definite improvement that serves up outstanding value while coming off as more capable than the competition when the going gets rugged. Should expand the demo and appeal to a younger customer without sacrificing Subaru's legendary character.

Also see:

• 2009 Subaru Forester, Part One

Remember how I was bitching about the Pontiac G8 GT being too dang heavy? Well, with the '09 Forester, I got my wish—Subie's updated installment of its "small SUV" stalwart weighs in at about 600 lbs. less than Holden's Pontiac's RWD 4,000-lb. ass-hauler. Match up that solid-yet-still-slingable curb mass with dirt trails on a protected section of Catalina Island, just a quick flight off the coast of Orange County, and you get...well, you get some significant pleasure, in a vehicle so versatile it's just sick.

Subaru has all kinds of weird shit going on with their brand. That's why we love them—because they aren't Toyota or Honda. They're got the aforementioned hoon-mobile, the justly thrilling WRX STI. Then there's the lesbionic Outback, and the completely baffling Tribeca (Is it a Porsche Cayenne for people who aren't buttholes or a VW Touareg for people who hate Germany but just can't swing with Volvo no more?). I won't remark on the Legacy.

Finally, Forester, a rad ride upon its intro in 1997, when SUVs first began to grow to the size of small schoolbuses. Here was a vehicle that had an SUV look, yet wasn't a road-hog (citizens of Burlington rejoiced!) Here was a vehicle that had minivan capacity, yet wasn't a cojones-robbing mother!@#$%ing minivan (the American male rejoiced!). Yes, it was essentially an elevated station wagon that was given the good juice of AWD, but because it resided seductively between the detested SUV and the castrating minivan, it dodged the retro curse. Sweet Jesus! For a particular demo—Park Slope by way of Berkeley by way of Boulder—it was manna from Heaven.

And yet, ten years later, this Third Way ride—so butch, so flexible, so competent—had grown long in the tooth. In response, the great pulsing automotive brains at Subaru of America and Fuji Heavy Industries got together and served up the vehicle that I whipped around the rugged ranges of Catalina and the fairly docile roads surrounding Laguna. Slicked-up, revamped, somewhat re-tooled. The package is a blast. Under all manner of crappy road conditions—bring rockslides and potholes and gawdawful ruts, dirt, and general muddiness—the '09 Forester remained poised, agile, ready to negotiate the next dip, swerve, ditch, or, if called upon, to scale what looked like a 40-plus-degree grade.

Of course, this car wants a crummy road. It's not that it doesn't do more-or-less fine on smooth pavement. But I never felt that the Forester was truly happy in that environment. Regrettably, most of its owners will use it either in snow (test enough, but not the same as genuine offroad conditions) or on docile, domesticated thoroughfares, under benign conditions. The freeway. The urban boulevard. The two-lane jaunt from tract-home to schoolyard. Ho-hum. The Forester, particularly the turbocharged, 224HP 2.5-liter XT, handles the mundane shuffle of the commonplace with aplomb. But it feels...how can I put this? Like a girl who slapped at the bass strings until the bars closed down, then quit the band and got hitched. There's an appetite for the wilderness in this car that one merely glimpses on proper roads, even those with circumlocutions that taunt the Forester's surefoooted handling. Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, plus the car's new DC3 suspension platform, contribute to a sense of serious control, whether you're tucking the Forester into a snug curve, accelerating to freeway cruising speeds, or—more importantly—humming along on rugged terrain.

The wasted tires on out test car are all the evidence you need. This is no namby-mobile. We lost the right front—just shredded it, punching several holes in the sidewalls—somewhere between the hill climb and the bouncy, crumbling negotiation of one of many of Catalina's completely underdeveloped roads. I immediately popped out of the fallen Forester and began to make short work of the tire-change operation until the Subaru tire-change guy was there a few minutes later. He made it clear we were doing his job ( we think maybe they, like any automaker, were concerned mostly about any potential lawsuits coming from me accidentally getting hit by the side of the road) and he took over, throwing on a new full-size replacement. His work wasn't done yet. The left rear developed a slow leak on the rally-esque straight-aways that followed. Tire guy promptly returned (you can't say Subaru wasn't prepared for a certain amount of ugliness).

It's a testament to the Forester's overall positive attitude that both times, we barely noticed. Somehow, we suspect this was part of a master plan. Fate, if you will.

The 2009 Forester is a terrific update, but having said that—and having gushed over its abilities in what I'd have to say is its natural element—I must report that the vehicle ain't perfect. Check back tomorrow for Part Two to find out why.