Subaru Forester 2019 Tow Test

It would seem that if your typical three-bedder brick-and-tile home could be hefted onto a couple of axles and A-frame and hooked onto a vehicle – like the Subaru Forester – then that’s what people would tow on their caravanning holidays. The bigger and heavier the caravan these days, the better.

But you’re then not only stuck with a large caravan to store somewhere when the holiday’s over, but also a big, heavy and thirsty tow vehicle, and not everyone wants or needs that.

The alternative is something like the Subaru Forester; a fairly compact yet spacious enough SUV for a family of four, with enough towing capacity for a small-to-medium caravan or small trailerboat.

The fifth-gen Forester has been pared back compared with its predecessor – gone are the entry-level 2.0-litre, 2.0 turbo-petrol and the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engines. There’s only one powertrain across the range: a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder boxer engine (which is 90 per cent new, according to Subaru) running through a seven-step CVT and all-wheel drive.

The 2.5i Premium tested here is the penultimate model in the thinned out Forester range. The range starts with the 2.5i, then 2.5i-L, the 2.5i Premium then the 2.5i-S.

The Premium (as with all gen-five Foresters) has Subaru's third-generation Eyesight driver-assist package, incorporating low- and high-speed autonomous emergency braking and lane keeping assist.

A new technology feature standard on Premium is the Driver Monitoring System, which uses facial recognition technology to memorise settings for things like the driver’s seat, air-conditioning and exterior mirrors. It also monitors driver distraction and drowsiness when driving.

Other features highlights on the Premium includes active cruise control (with speed-limiter for the first time), blind spot detection, seven airbags, an electronic park brake, lane change assist, steering responsive LED headlights, rear cross traffic alert, a reversing camera, tyre pressure monitoring and a full-size spare tyre, power folding rear seats, Tom Tom satellite-navigation, a powered tailgate, an 8.0-inch touch-screen and powered front seats.

The 2.5i Premium we tested started out at $38,490, to which was added carpet mats ($193.16) and towbar ($984.34 fitted). Price as tested with options (but not including on-road costs) was $39,667.50.

Interior packaging

The new interior is a comfortable and fairly spacious area with an excellent view out out for driver and passengers. Even though there are still three main readouts for info on the dash (the instrument cluster, the centre screen and an upper-dash screen) like the last generation Forester, Subaru has done a better job this time of making them easy to read and cohesive.

Even though at first there seems to be a tonne of buttons on the right side of the dash and on the centre console, they are fairly simple to find and operate.

One new feature isn’t quite so accomplished: the Driver Monitoring System is too sensitive, sounding an alarm and flashing a message up on the dash to keep your eyes on the road – even if you lingered a little too long doing a head check or even if you angle your head slightly while looking straight ahead.

Storage is very good front and rear and USB charging ports are in abundance – there are two up front and two in the rear, each one 2.1amp ports.

Step inside

With wide-opening doors, a high hip point and door sills that are quite inboard, the Forester is very easy to step in and out of. Front and rear seats were supportive – even the centre rear seat was not the rock-hard perch it can be in some vehicles.

The seatbelt for this position is a bit cumbersome though; the shoulder belt reel is ceiling mounted back in the cargo area, which will cause problems if you’re making full use of the cargo space with five occupants on board.

While journos complaining about hard interior plastics might seem tiresome it isn’t as tiresome as living with deep scratches in such plastic. The Subaru has almost exclusively soft-touch materials and it not only all looks good but will take knocks much better.

Trailer towing requirements

As far as towing trailers goes, the only thing that Subaru does not allow is the use of a Weight Distribution Hitch. That is not so much of an issue here, given the relatively light-on 150kg towball download limit, and the Subaru accessory towbar is a Euro swan-neck design anyway.

You won’t get any type of WDH onto it, and you’ll also have to be selective about bicycle carriers if you’re keen to fit one. Those that are bolted down with the (receiver hitch-type) towball can’t be here because the towbar ball and neck is a one-piece unit.

We hitched up a lightweight French van, the Caravelair Antares 480, borrowed from Caravelair in Toongabbie, NSW.  The Antares weighed 1330kg (with an 85kg towball mass). The Subaru rose only 5mm at the front and dropped 18mm at the rear with the Caravalair placed onto its towball.

The reversing camera has a ‘+’ mark on the screen which was useful for lining up the towball with the caravan’s coupling.

More speed is okay

Out on the highway, the Forester settled into an easy 100km/h cruise. No, you don’t have to sit at 80km/h anymore – gone is that silly Subaru towing speed restriction. In spite of careening down the highway at 100km/h, the Forester didn’t overheat or sway like a slithering snake or even burn up on re-entry to an 80km/h section of road.

In fact it was very stable and balanced with the caravan behind it. Even undulating secondary roads didn’t upset it – the suspension was a little soft, with slight fore-aft pitching, but that was it.

Cruising on the highway, the engine ticked over at about 2200rpm at 100km/h. There was no flaring or hunting for gears, either.

Hill climbing

The test hill climb saw the Subaru maintain 90km/h from the base of the hill to the top, with throttle at about four-fifths travel – so almost floored. Heading back down the hill, the 70km/h start was pegged all the way using just engine braking.

The Subaru was pretty quiet and refined in most driving, except when riding over some road surfaces the tyres developed a weird, failed wheel bearing-type noise. With the CVT flaring engine revs towards redline when you floor it, the mechanical din from the engine bay became pretty intrusive too.

Fuel consumption settled at 12.8L/100km over the towing loop. Driving without the van in the city saw an average of 9.2L/100km.

With its 63-litre fuel tank and a 50km safety margin, you could get about 442km while towing before needing to fill up using our fuel use average.

Rounding up

Even though it is not built for heavy-duty towing and is a touch thirsty with a caravan behind it, the Forester is a stable, relaxed and comfortable vehicle to tow with.

With its 10 per cent, 150kg towball downlaod (most competitors are stuck with a 100kg maximum) and now that it is not restricted by Subaru’s 80km/h towing speed restriction, the Forester is a compelling light-duty tow vehicle.