CIRCULATING IN WANGARATTA, BENALLA, MYRTLEFORD, BRIGHT, MT BEAUTY, BEECHWORTH, YACKANDANDAH, RUTHERGLEN, CHILTERN AND DISTRICTS
NORTH EAST
June 21, 2013
available online - wangarattachronicle.com.au
PRINTED FORTNIGHTLY — VOLUME 425
All new Holden Malibu Storypage3
SUBARU FORESTER XT: More muscle delivers a high level of performance with looks to match.
New Forester XT hits a high point F
rom pirate treasure map to automobile designation, the letter ‘X’ marks the spot of something excitingly special. This is never truer than with the Forester XT, Subaru’s new high-performance mid-size SUV. A best-seller since pioneering the highperformance SUV class in 1997, the latest Forester XT shows off an array of new features, technology and styling to stir Forester fans new and old. At first, I had my doubts about the XT – a
By DEREK OGDEN 2.0-litre petrol engine, albeit turbocharged, mated with a continuously variable transmission. Not the recipe for sprightly performance I thought. How wrong can you be? New engine and transmission technology from Subaru manufacturer Fuji Heavy Industries has shifted the Forester performance up into what is almost a segment of its own. The 2.0-litre horizontally opposed Boxer
motor makes use of direct petrol injection to pump out 177 kW of power at 5600 rpm and 350 Nm of torque between 2400 and 3600 rpm, a 4.7 per cent power gain and 9.4 torque increase over its predecessor. This is accompanied by a 19 per cent gain in fuel efficiency and 20.6 per cent improvement in emissions. Towing ability has also gone up by 12.5 per cent to 1800 kg for a trailer with brakes. The engine is hooked up to a Lineartronic continuously variable transmission with six preset speeds when required.
And Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel drive system. On the outside, the Forester XT has gone from an amenable compact all-wheel drive wagon 16 years ago to a mid-size SUV with substantial street presence from its bulkedup body. Not that aerodynamics have suffered, with efficiency improved by 11 per cent over the previous unit, producing a co-efficient of drag of 0.33, thanks to such refinements as a guard underneath the engine bay and a rear spoiler.
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