A Great Ocean Escape in Subaru’s Next-Generation Hybrid Forester

For those who love driving, you could be forgiven for thinking a WRX or BRZ would be the Subaru to pick for a tour of the Great Ocean Road. Bring it up on Google Maps, and this world-famous road looks like an intestine, snaking along with corners of every type as it clings to a spectacular stretch of Victorian coastline. But today, we’re not the slightest bit disappointed to find ourselves instead in Subaru’s next-generation Forester Hybrid. 

On this three-day road trip from Torquay to Apollo Bay along the Great Ocean Road, we’ll be taking in surf beaches, 19th-century landmarks and more than our fill of ocean views. But we’ll also be getting to know Subaru’s new e-Boxer hybrid system giving this Forester Hybrid up to 1000km of range – meaning we could keep driving to South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula without stopping, in theory. 

This more driver-focused Sport variant is arguably the pick of the range, with unique styling points and an excellent blend of equipment. But this is still a refined and quiet, modern family SUV with abundant space and comfortable seating – which is the other part of the equation, with so many miles ahead. 

The best-selling vehicle in Subaru’s Australian range, once you’ve chosen the all-new Forester, and then the fuel-sipping Hybrid, it’s your choice between the base Hybrid, our mid-spec Hybrid Sport and top-spec Hybrid Touring. 

With its eye-catching, bronzed 19-inch wheels, our Forester AWD Hybrid Sport has a certain robust classiness in its River Rock Pearl silver paint. We love the squared-off wheel arches and the 220mm of ground clearance making it look ready for the Nullarbor – and more – straight from the showroom. 

For now, we’re sticking to bitumen as we pull into our first stop at Torquay, just over 100km from Melbourne, arriving to glimpses out to Bass Strait. Here, the Great Ocean Road begins, 242km all the way to near Warrnambool, where it ends, modestly, at a T-intersection. Built between 1919 and 1932, the Great Ocean Road was devised to employ and repatriate returning First World War veterans, making it the world’s largest war memorial. 

Not long after we’re at Bell’s Beach, down the road – the famed arena of the annual RipCurl Pro, the oldest surfing competition in the world – gives us the chance to take in some sea breeze. With its dauntingly large waves, this is bucket list stuff for any keen surfer. 

The Forester Hybrid’s next-generation e-Boxer system neatly combines a 2.5-litre boxer four-cylinder engine with a 90kW electric motor and 1.1kWh lithium-ion battery pack, delivering 145kW of total combined power. That’s more than 30 per cent up on power over the previous mild-hybrid Forester, and you certainly notice it. 

But it’s pootling along in small towns like Anglesea where this system excels – providing instant and near-silent electric motor torque as you move away from traffic lights. And there’s no greater feeling than knowing you are recuperating otherwise lost energy every time you brake – other than perhaps the little thrill you get seeing fuel efficiency as low as 6.2L/100km. 

Since 1891, Split Point Lighthouse at Airey’s Inlet has aided the safe passage of ships through the treacherous Bass Strait. Still in use today, you can take a historic tour or simply absorb the sweeping views towards the Southern Ocean. 

On the increasingly tortuous Great Ocean Road, the Forester has the kind of driving dynamics that egg you on – especially with its SI-Drive slotted from Intelligent Mode to Sport. The handling is engaging and stable, and you can almost feel the rally DNA in the full-time, Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive system. It’s therefore unsurprising for us to learn that the Forester now comes with the same dual-pinion steering as seen in the WRX, for added steering precision. 

In any corner, there’s confidence – but also in knowing you can tackle any conditions you may face on your trip. It’s nice to know the all-terrain X-Mode is up your sleeve if a dirt road turns gnarlier than a few corrugations. 

On gravel, or bitumen, the Forester also has something literally no other SUV can match – Subaru’s proprietary horizontally-opposed ‘flat-four’ engine. Sitting low in the engine bay, the boxer engine contributes to an inherently low centre-of-gravity, greatly improving handling, even for an off-road-ready SUV. 

The Subaru Forester Hybrid AWD Sport is a lovely place in which to melt away the miles. There’s still the sense that it will outlast even your oldest pair of Levi’s – but with luxurious touches that you’ll appreciate daily, like the leather-wrapped steering wheel. 

It’s full of light thanks to its large glasshouse (and the Sport’s standard sunroof), it’s roomy, with plenty of space for front-seat occupants and lots of legroom in the back. The boot is a useful 484 litres with the rear seat up and is accessed by a standard electric-opening tailgate. Thoughtfully, Subaru also offers hands-free boot access courtesy of a hidden kick sensor – just swipe your foot under the rear bumper and up the tailgate goes. (Underrated when you’ve got a kid in one arm, and a bag of groceries the other.)  

For the driver, there’s plenty of tech to make life easier, and importantly, it’s all easy to use and figure out. The 11.6-inch central infotainment portrait touchscreen is an ideal size, displaying Apple CarPlay and Android Auto large and clear (and without a cable). There’s wireless phone charging, a powerful six-speaker audio system (for our resident audiophiles) while Subaru, mercifully, has included a physical volume dial and some hard buttons for regularly accessed features, such as the climate control. 

The contemporary vibe continues with the Sport’s 12.3-inch fully digital instrument cluster, with its handsome and easy-to-read graphics. Bonus points for being so customisable, letting you set it up with the info you like. 

And while underway, we discover the leather-feel upholstery of this Sport variant (in particular) is water-resistant. Who forgot the surfboard? 

We approach Apollo Bay – the seafood capital of the Great Ocean Road – and it doesn’t get more scenic than driving along as ocean waves lap lazily against rocks just below the road. This is why the Great Ocean Road region attracts more than 8.6 million visitors every year. 

The Forester has been perfect, and we’re grateful to have done this drive in one of the safest SUVs you can buy. Of course, as a pioneer of automotive safety for decades, safety and Subaru are as natural a combination as fish and chips. The next-generation Forester Hybrid is no different, with its five-star ANCAP safety rating and tech like the world-renowned EyeSight, which scans the road ahead for obstacles like a second pair of eyes. Importantly, all of Subaru’s active safety features (and there are too many to mention) operate invisibly, only becoming obvious when you need them. In other words, they aren’t annoying and you’re not tempted to turn them off (like a few too many other brands, somewhat negating having them at all). 

A common experience with Subaru buyers in Australia is that they tend to become rusted-on buyers. It’s not difficult to spot houses in Australian suburbs with a brand-new Outback or Forester in the driveway, maybe a WRX next to it, and an old Liberty wearing P-plates parked on the street – a car the same family purchased brand new 30 years’ earlier, still going strong. And reliable and safe for its age. A few days in the Forester Hybrid, taking in one of Australia’s great drives, is enough for us to understand this peculiar phenomenon. 

From Apollo Bay, Skenes Creek Road can take you back to Melbourne. Superbly twisty and rising up into the lush Otways forest, you wouldn’t need a BRZ or WRX to enjoy yourself here – but a Sport variant of the Forester Hybrid sure helps.