Upgraded Subaru Forester sneaks into SA

Revised Forester has upgraded suspension and quicker steering ratio.

Revised Forester has upgraded suspension and quicker steering ratio.

Published Mar 30, 2016

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Johannesburg - It's all very hush-hush, you understand. Subaru's revised-for-2016 Forester wagon will be available in South Africa from mid-April, but a few under-the-radar examples are here already.

That's because some current-generation derivatives of Subaru's family mainstay have sold out and the new ones have been rushed in to fill the gaps.

But there's no mistaking the latest Forester when you see it: the grille has a new 'wing' motif mesh, there's new chrome bumper trim and the wraparound headlight clusters get a new black base paint finish, while new LED tail-light clusters make it even more distinctive from the rear at night.

The interior has been upgraded with more soft-touch materials, new piano black and metallic trim and new cloth and leather trim options.

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The thickness of the window glass has been increased - from 3.5mm to 4mm at the sides and from 3.1mm to 3.5mm at the rear - to reduce wind and, while the seals around the window frames in the doors use a new, more sound-absorbent material for the same reason.

Extra sound-deadening material has also been added around the dashboard, especially at the base of the windshield and in the passenger foot-well, to reduce wind and engine noise.

Adaptive headlights are now standard across the range, suspension settings all round have been revised for a more refined ride on broken or choppy surfaces and the steering ratio has been shortened from 15.5:1 to 14:1 for more direct response.

The engine and model line-up remains unchanged but, inevitably, there's a price increase in the works from 1 April - we'll bring you the final 2016 Forester line-up and pricing as soon as we receive them.

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