The Subaru Forester is an all-wheel drive station wagon, now crossover, manufactured since 1997 by Fuji Heavy Industries. Available in Japan from 1997, in the United States from 1998, the Forester shared its platform with the Impreza up to the third generation and now features a hybrid platform of the Japanese Impreza wagon and the rear platform of the U.S.-spec Impreza sedan. The Forester was designed and built with four-wheel drive (AWD) as standard equipment. Currently, the Forester is a station wagon version of Impreza, which the wagon version is dropped and replaced with the 5-door crossover hatchback.
The Forester was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show November 1995 as the "Sutoriga" (Stalker) concept, and made available for sale February 1997 in Japan, and to the US market in 1998 using the Impreza platform but with the larger 2.5 liter DOHC EJ25D four-cylinder boxer engine from the Outback, making 165 hp (123 kW) at 5600 rpm and 162 lb·ft (220 N·m) of torque at 4000 rpm. In Japan, the Forester replaced the Subaru Impreza Gravel Express, known in the USA as the Subaru Outback Sport. The Forester appeared after the introduction of the Nissan Rasheen in Japan with a similar appearance, and the Forester's Japanese competitors include the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V, the Mitsubishi RVR, and the Suzuki Grand Vitara. The name "forester" is meant to imply the vehicle is "of the forest". Due to the Forester's low center of gravity, it meets the United States federal safety standards for Passenger Vehicles, and does not require a risk of rollover warning label on the driver's visor. Size and price wise it fits between the shared Impreza platform, and the larger Legacy.
As with all Subaru models marketed in the United States and other international markets since the early 1990s, the Forester is equipped with an all-wheel drive drivetrain. Subaru advertising employed the slogan "SUV tough, Car Easy" to appeal to the SUV-oriented market; and to this end, the Forester from its inception had features associated with SUVs such as a large, space-efficient cargo area, higher h-point seating and more ground clearance while based on unibody rather than body-on-frame construction. In some sense, the Forester met the criteria of the term crossover before the term appeared. However, the Forester is still referred to as a station wagon.
The Forester, up until the end of the GM partnership, was sold in India as a Chevrolet alongside other unique Chevrolet models sold there. However since General Motors no longer holds an ownership stake in Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, sales in India of the Chevrolet-badged Forester have ended. The Forester is produced at the Gunma Yajima Factory in Japan.
The automatic transmissions used on AWD equipped vehicles will normally send 90% of the engines torque to the front wheels and 10% to the rear wheels, using a computer controlled, continuously variable, multi-plate transfer clutch. When the transmission detects a speed difference of greater than 20% between the front and rear axle sets, the transmission progressively sends power to the rear wheels. Under slip conditions it can achieve an equal split in front and rear axle speeds. When accelerating or driving uphill, the vehicles weight shifts rearward, reducing front wheel traction, causing the transmission to automatically send torque to the rear wheels to compensate. When braking or driving downhill, the vehicle's weight shifts towards the front, reducing rear wheel traction. The transmission again compensates by sending torque to the front wheels for better steering control and braking performance. If the automatic is placed in reverse or first gear, the transmission divides the torque 50-50 to both front and rear wheels.[citation needed], and it constantly varying the ratio depending on driving and road conditions. The manual transmission cars are setup with a near 50/50 torque split as a base setting, and it varied from there. Essentially, the manual cars are set up with more bias towards the rear than the automatic cars.
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