The Subaru Forester is an extremely practical car. It competes with the other mini-SUVs on the market: the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CRV. But it's a little more carlike than both of those vehicles. It's sort of an unusual vehicle, in that you're never quite sure exactly what it is that you're in. It's not a sedan, yet it's not a sport utility. It handles like a car and it's easy to get in and out of, but it's a little higher than a sedan and it's got better visibility. And there's oodles of room. The Forester is the modern-day Dodge Colt Vista--and we mean that in a good sense.

The Forester rides well. It impressed us as being not a piece of cheap junk. (Now, that's not to say there aren't some parts on this car that are cheap junk...we just didn't notice them right away.) The 2.5-liter engine in the Forester is the biggest one Subaru makes, and it's got plenty of power.

On the seating front, you can adjust the height of the driver's seat, which in Ray's case didn't go quite high enough. On the other hand, it was pretty comfortable on long trips. Ray took the Forester for a spin from Boston to Cape Cod and back in the same day. In most cars, Ray says, his butt and back would have been killing him by the end of the ride. Not so with the Forester--he loved it.

Our one objection to this car? Noise. It's very noisy, especially at high speed. We couldn't quite tell if it was drivetrain noise we were hearing or the tires. We suspect the latter, because our test model came with four Nokias that had rather aggressive treads. The level of wind noise on the Forester, by the way, is not too bad.

We should point out that the Forester is not as nice a vehicle as the Outback. The Forester is built on the smaller, Subaru Impreza platform. If you're choosing between the two--and you don't mind spending a few thousand dollars more--our advice would be to go for the Outback.

One minor annoyance with the Forester: the stupid little display between the front seats--a digital compass and an altimeter, which we found to be irritating. Plus, it was always on when the car started. We found ourselves turning it off every time we got in the car. We would have pulled out the fuse, but, knowing our luck, that would have killed the radio, headlights and windshield wipers too. So, our next choice was to smash it with a hammer.

We would put the Forester toe-to-toe with Honda's comparable vehicle, the CRV, which is about the same price. The Forester has quite a bit more cargo room, slightly less back seat leg room, and is not quite as far off the ground as the Honda. (It's got six-tenths of an inch less ground clearance.) Toyota's RAV4 is also a comparable vehicle, though definitely smaller than either the Honda or the Subaru.

The Forester is a very likable little car. It's fun to drive. It's not a great car for a lot of interstate cruising, but if you're looking for a versatile, comfortable wagon with the added attraction of four-wheel drive, this is a good choice.

View cars.com model report on this vehicle.

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