Bartek Sikorski

Just an AdBlue Tank Away

Ordinarily, the only reason to go to Velden am Wörther See, Austria, is to luxuriate in one of the opulent hotels lining the lakeside, and stamina permitting, paddle out a bit in a solid teak rowboat. But today our attention turns to the highly practical matter of the 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0D — you know, the Subaru Forester Diesel.

If you're coming from the U.S., the only easy way into Velden is to fly into Slovenia and drive across the border. Even through a fog of jet lag, we can't stop staring at the green hillsides, snow-dusted mountaintops and brightly painted apartment blocks along the way. In spite of all this breathtaking beauty, it's funny to think we've come this far to drive the diesel Subaru Forester, an unassuming compact SUV engineered in Japan.

But if you know anything about the habits of European drivers, it all makes sense. Although escalating diesel fuel prices have slightly diminished their enthusiasm for the cars that drink the stuff as of late, Europeans still aren't buying if you're peddling a utilitarian wagon or SUV without a diesel engine. So with the third-generation Forester, Subaru has decided to get serious.

And so little more than six months after the March 2008 launch of the 2009 Subaru Forester, the company will begin selling the Forester 2.0D X and Forester 2.0D XS, both of which have its 2.0-liter turbodiesel horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine colloquially known as the boxer diesel.

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