ArcaMax

It's weird -- and welcome -- to find out just how luxurious-riding this Subaru is.

At The Curb

Unlike other crossovers, the Forester doesn't look like them ... if you get the new Wilderness version. The knobby (and raised white letter, if you like) tires alone make it look unlike the others, on account of the unusually tall sidewalls and the amount of air gap between the tires and the wheel wells.

It almost looks lifted -- and, in fact, it is.

Other versions of the Forester have 8.7 inches of clearance -- still more than most other crossovers. But the Wilderness kicks that up to 9.2, and that's a difference you can see, especially with those tires.

Wilderness iterations of the Forester also get rubber-armor around the wheel wells and front and rear lower bumper areas, which of course are the areas most likely to get scuffed, if they were painted. Inside, the seats are armored against water; if you get wet, the seats won't soak it up.

The Rest

Even the base $25,000-ish Forester offers poor weather/unpaved roads capability that approaches that of 4WD trucks and SUVs -- for thousands less than most of them cost. That's not counting the cost of feeding a truck or SUV these days.

The Bottom Line

Subaru touts the higher capability of the new Forester Wilderness, which it has. But the inside skinny is that it comes with more civility, too.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.