Subaru lets us taste a sweet treat it may never bake again.
Here at Car and Driver, there are many among us that harbor fetishes for the unexpected, the ironic, and of course, the stupidly fast. Its all the better, of course, if a vehicle combines all three qualities. Not surprisingly, most of us love fearsome cargo carriers like the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG wagon, the silly Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, and the dearly departed Dodge Magnum SRT8. Basically, count us in for anything that has no business being fast but is anyway.
And so we were all over Subarus invitation to Willow Springs racetrack near Lancaster, California, to chuck a few laps in one of last years SEMA specials: the Forester XTI concept, which is basically a Forester crossover with WRX STI running gear. Since the car isnt street-legaland that there arent enough people like us that could prompt Subaru to actually build something like this for realthis probably will be our only chance to drive it and to see if Subaru can transform the innocuous Foresters package into something as beguiling as the STI.
Hot for Forester
Before we even turned the key, we were on board. Having grown quite a bit for 2009, the standard Forester has a more SUV-like profile than ever, but in XTI formslammed and wearing the STIs optional silver 18-inch wheels and a bitchin black-to-brown paint jobthe Forester suddenly looks hot, like that nerdy chick in high school that one day swapped mom jeans for hot pants.
When Subaru claims that the Forester XTI combines the versatility of the Forester 2.5XT with the all-out street performance of the rally-bred Impreza WRX STI, it means just that. The automakers Subaru Performance Tuning team literally combined the two cars as an experiment to see how many STI parts would fit, according to SPT representative Adam Woodhull.
SPT started by taking one Forester and one STI, stripping each to the metal, and adding STI pieces to the Forester bit by bit. Since the two cars share a platform, the engine, six-speed manual transmission, and STI drivetrain werent too difficult to swap over. The cat-back stainless-steel exhaust system had to be massaged in place and fitted with sexy tip extensions (that stick out too far to be legal), but most parts were sourced from SPT and not fabricated. The new exhaust system freed up another 10 hp and 10 lb-ft of torque compared with the stock STI, according to Subaru, so the XTI is good for 315 hp and 300 lb-ft. The only other area of customization involved the new Foresters unequal-length control-arm rear suspension, which required some minor fittings.
SPT then stuck the STIs dash and center console into the Forester, as well as the STIs Alcantara-covered Recaro sport seats. The XTIs front clip and mesh grille are out of the Subaru of America accessories catalog, and the side and rear addenda are available from Japans version of same. The paint job, on the other handa four-coat process that required three metallic colors, including the SPT script on the sidesisnt available anywhere but your local body shop. And they probably couldnt do it as well.
Easy to Forget the Forester?
Facing as one does the STIs dashboard, its easy to forget youre in a Forester, except for the huge glass moonroof overhead. However, the STI seats seem mounted lower and the dashboard seems higher than in the stock Forester, which is particularly noticeable when attempting to lower the steering wheel; it doesnt reach quite low enough to feel ergonomically natural. Here, it seems, is where the inch or two difference in waistline between the two cars becomes clear. Otherwise, the STI and Forester parts sync in perfect harmony.
Ditto on the track. With the extra grunt underhood, Subaru estimates that the XTI can hit 60 mph in five seconds or less, although we werent allowed to use test equipment to verify the claim. What we did find as we hustled through the tricky corners of the Streets of Willow course is that the WRX STI beneath the skin was, for the most part, present and accounted for. With the chassis and drive settings in their most aggressive positionsthe SI-Drive system in Sport Sharp and the Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD) set for maximum rear torque biasthe XTI felt as if it could more or less keep pace with the stock WRX STIs that the company also brought along for comparison. The steering had that same light quality that weve noted before. The turbo rush is still, uh, prodigious. The installed short-throw shift kit should have upped the overt sportiness factor, but wasnt altogether unfriendly. And even after dozens of laps of cooking, the STI-sourced brakes slowed the XTIestimated to be somewhere between 3600 and 3700 pounds, about 200 more than an STIwith authority. It was, indeed, all sorts of delicious, ironic fun.
Dont Take This Car Too Seriously
Now, Subaru encourages us not to take this car too seriously, as theres virtually no chance that it will be built, although a right-hand-drive, manual-transmission STI version of the last-gen Forester was available in Japan. Can a Forester owner build an XTI himself? If you raid the parts bin, you could get pretty close, said Woodhull. How much would it cost? He declined to speculate, but buying an STI driveline wouldnt be an inexpensive endeavor. (We once built our own demon-tweaked Forester, so we know.) Certainly the effort wouldnt be cheaper than buying something like a Grand Cherokee SRT8, which is much more powerful and more fun yet. We still like the idea of a hooligan Forester, though, and only wish there were more people like us.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
ESTIMATED PRICE AS TESTED: $60,000
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 150 cu in, 2457cc
Power (SAE net): 315 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 300 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual
DIMENSIONS (C/D EST):
Wheelbase: 103.0 in Length: 179.5 in Width: 70.1 in Height: 61.9 in Curb weight: 3600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 5.0 sec
Standing -mile: 13.8 sec @ 100 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 16/22 mpg
Here at Car and Driver, there are many among us that harbor fetishes for the unexpected, the ironic, and of course, the stupidly fast. Its all the better, of course, if a vehicle combines all three qualities. Not surprisingly, most of us love fearsome cargo carriers like the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG wagon, the silly Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, and the dearly departed Dodge Magnum SRT8. Basically, count us in for anything that has no business being fast but is anyway.
And so we were all over Subarus invitation to Willow Springs racetrack near Lancaster, California, to chuck a few laps in one of last years SEMA specials: the Forester XTI concept, which is basically a Forester crossover with WRX STI running gear. Since the car isnt street-legaland that there arent enough people like us that could prompt Subaru to actually build something like this for realthis probably will be our only chance to drive it and to see if Subaru can transform the innocuous Foresters package into something as beguiling as the STI.
Hot for Forester
Before we even turned the key, we were on board. Having grown quite a bit for 2009, the standard Forester has a more SUV-like profile than ever, but in XTI formslammed and wearing the STIs optional silver 18-inch wheels and a bitchin black-to-brown paint jobthe Forester suddenly looks hot, like that nerdy chick in high school that one day swapped mom jeans for hot pants.
When Subaru claims that the Forester XTI combines the versatility of the Forester 2.5XT with the all-out street performance of the rally-bred Impreza WRX STI, it means just that. The automakers Subaru Performance Tuning team literally combined the two cars as an experiment to see how many STI parts would fit, according to SPT representative Adam Woodhull.
SPT started by taking one Forester and one STI, stripping each to the metal, and adding STI pieces to the Forester bit by bit. Since the two cars share a platform, the engine, six-speed manual transmission, and STI drivetrain werent too difficult to swap over. The cat-back stainless-steel exhaust system had to be massaged in place and fitted with sexy tip extensions (that stick out too far to be legal), but most parts were sourced from SPT and not fabricated. The new exhaust system freed up another 10 hp and 10 lb-ft of torque compared with the stock STI, according to Subaru, so the XTI is good for 315 hp and 300 lb-ft. The only other area of customization involved the new Foresters unequal-length control-arm rear suspension, which required some minor fittings.
SPT then stuck the STIs dash and center console into the Forester, as well as the STIs Alcantara-covered Recaro sport seats. The XTIs front clip and mesh grille are out of the Subaru of America accessories catalog, and the side and rear addenda are available from Japans version of same. The paint job, on the other handa four-coat process that required three metallic colors, including the SPT script on the sidesisnt available anywhere but your local body shop. And they probably couldnt do it as well.
Easy to Forget the Forester?
Facing as one does the STIs dashboard, its easy to forget youre in a Forester, except for the huge glass moonroof overhead. However, the STI seats seem mounted lower and the dashboard seems higher than in the stock Forester, which is particularly noticeable when attempting to lower the steering wheel; it doesnt reach quite low enough to feel ergonomically natural. Here, it seems, is where the inch or two difference in waistline between the two cars becomes clear. Otherwise, the STI and Forester parts sync in perfect harmony.
Ditto on the track. With the extra grunt underhood, Subaru estimates that the XTI can hit 60 mph in five seconds or less, although we werent allowed to use test equipment to verify the claim. What we did find as we hustled through the tricky corners of the Streets of Willow course is that the WRX STI beneath the skin was, for the most part, present and accounted for. With the chassis and drive settings in their most aggressive positionsthe SI-Drive system in Sport Sharp and the Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD) set for maximum rear torque biasthe XTI felt as if it could more or less keep pace with the stock WRX STIs that the company also brought along for comparison. The steering had that same light quality that weve noted before. The turbo rush is still, uh, prodigious. The installed short-throw shift kit should have upped the overt sportiness factor, but wasnt altogether unfriendly. And even after dozens of laps of cooking, the STI-sourced brakes slowed the XTIestimated to be somewhere between 3600 and 3700 pounds, about 200 more than an STIwith authority. It was, indeed, all sorts of delicious, ironic fun.
Dont Take This Car Too Seriously
Now, Subaru encourages us not to take this car too seriously, as theres virtually no chance that it will be built, although a right-hand-drive, manual-transmission STI version of the last-gen Forester was available in Japan. Can a Forester owner build an XTI himself? If you raid the parts bin, you could get pretty close, said Woodhull. How much would it cost? He declined to speculate, but buying an STI driveline wouldnt be an inexpensive endeavor. (We once built our own demon-tweaked Forester, so we know.) Certainly the effort wouldnt be cheaper than buying something like a Grand Cherokee SRT8, which is much more powerful and more fun yet. We still like the idea of a hooligan Forester, though, and only wish there were more people like us.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
ESTIMATED PRICE AS TESTED: $60,000
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 150 cu in, 2457cc
Power (SAE net): 315 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 300 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual
DIMENSIONS (C/D EST):
Wheelbase: 103.0 in Length: 179.5 in Width: 70.1 in Height: 61.9 in Curb weight: 3600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 5.0 sec
Standing -mile: 13.8 sec @ 100 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 16/22 mpg
