It’s a chilly weekday morning and I’m happily behind the wheel of a stylish Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport AWD as I make my way through Victoria’s High Country. It’s effortless driving as I pass country homes and winter dairy paddocks in the vast expanse of the Kiewa Valley.
We stop for morning tea at the pretty little historic town of Yackandah, with good old-fashioned angle parking outside the Gumnut Bakery, famous for its pies. After fuelling up on coffee and the most delicious pecan slice, I start to reverse out of my car spot, but the Rear Cross Traffic Alert warns me of a car that’s snuck up on the left in my blind spot. I stop and avoid a potential run-in — brilliant safety feature.
Alpine exploring
For the next three days, I’m leaving work, pets and three teenage boys behind me to test drive the Subaru range on the winding alpine roads to Victoria’s Falls Creek. I’m particularly interested to see which of the Subarus suit families like mine – requiring space, technology, grit, safety in spades and cool factor. Being able to hit the slopes post drive and enjoy a spa on the deck of my hotel room après ski is an added cool bonus.
Built for adventure
In my household car talk is constant, so I’m a well-versed driver and keen to put the Subarus through their paces. One of our guides is Cody Crocker, an Australian rally and racing car driver who has been dubbed one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Apart from his extraordinary driving skills and all-round-nice guy demeanour, he’s a wealth of knowledge.
According to Cody, the Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive (AWD) is, hands down, one of the safest options on the road. Unlike two-wheel drive cars, all four wheels have power in an AWD, which helps to maximise road traction, particularly on slippery roads. Additionally, and unlike some 4WDs that require the driver to shift to 4WD mode, the Subaru AWD system is ‘always on’, which gave me that added sense of safety.
First time for everything
While I’m a regular highway and dirt road driver I’ve never tackled icy, wet roads or snow conditions so the thought of driving up and back down the windy mountain road had me feeling a bit nervous.
At our Mount Beauty lunch stop (the last fuel stop before heading up the mountain), I was able to swap cars. I chose the new turbocharged Subaru Outback AWD Touring XT for our alpine ascent.
I started out with a little trepidation but as I warmed up (and not just because of the heated seats), I realised how much confidence the Subaru Symmetrical AWD system gave me. The car felt at one with the road and I began to take the sharper corners and hairpin bends with much more confidence.
While I didn’t have my family with me, it is certainly a car for anyone that puts family safety first. I also loved the Driver Monitoring System (Driver Focus), which uses near-infrared LED and a camera to help ensure attention is road focused. Any signs of inattention or drowsiness and it will give you a little warning to refocus. It also uses facial recognition (for up to five drivers), with preset preferences, including climate control, instrument settings and Multi Information Display screen.
Out of my comfort zone, in total comfort
And while safety with family is paramount, so too is comfort (it certainly can help reduce complaining from the back seat while on adventures). The Outback Touring XT includes heated seats in front and rear, satellite navigation, a nine speaker Harman Kardon® sound system and a generous boot space for all that gear. In my family, we never go anywhere without a trailer or a load of gear so it’s perfect for adventurous families like ours, with its significant towing capacity and a 2.4L turbocharged Boxer engine.
The verdict
I loved the Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport AWD for families but my pick for adventure families is the Subaru Outback AWD Touring XT. It was an absolute dream to drive and gave me complete confidence on different roads in challenging conditions thanks to the Symmetrical AWD, the turbocharged Boxer engine and the overall handling. Snow or no snow, this is a car for the adventure-loving family.
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