The Forester’s change of form doesn’t strike you as cutting-edge when you see it. It starts out strong as the formal two-box silhouette—a trademark that’s defined the nameplate since 1997—goes against the grain of almost every other crossover out there which tends to look like a used bar of soap. Sadly, it still looks like it was penned by designers on their day off. There have been attempts to spruce things up a bit, but these are limited to details around the lamps and wheels as well as the various Easter Eggs scattered around. As a result, the entire thing pretty much looks milquetoast as ever.

The very same thing can be said about the Forester’s interior: it’s bland, but it works. It’s boring because Subaru opted not to give it a sense of style. Forget contrast stitching or wild color accents; it’s all done in a very serious, almost utilitarian manner. It’s clearly designed to take on long-term wear-and-tear, the sort of thing it’ll have to contend with as its role as a family SUV, and you’ll see that in the sort of materials Subaru has chosen. It’s all about ease of use and maintenance, save perhaps for the suede inserts. Honestly, you’ll be hard-pressed to find visible scratches in this demo unit, and even if there are, they’re cleverly hidden thanks to the use of playful patterns molded in the plastics itself.

The ergonomics are typical Subaru in that the seating’s tall and upright. The expansive glass gives the driver stellar visibility all around at the expense of a hotter-than-average cabin temperature during Manila’s summer season (thankfully, the dual zone climate control and rear vents can cope). The steering wheel and seats offer plenty of adjustment, with the latter even receiving a two-position memory preset. This is on top of the impressive Driver Monitoring Profile system which can save five more settings. It’s impressive because compared to other similar systems (yes, we’re looking at yours, Mazda), it works quickly and seamlessly.

What’s not so seamless is the 11.6-inch Subaru Starlink system. In theory, it’s supposed to work well enough thanks to large, well-defined icons and a relatively flat menu system. However, in real life, the resolution, most especially when using the 360-camera leave a lot to be desired. The image is quite distorted and almost unusable. Moreover, the responsiveness isn’t the best. This is especially true during hot days as it takes a split-second for taps to be recognized and menus to open. It can be quite frustrating at times when trying to engage vehicle controls such as the electronic parking brake’s Auto Hold function. The situation is the same when using Apple CarPlay too.

The Forester’s below par tech implementation hold it back, at least for more discerning individuals, to be deemed as a great weekend warrior. The same goes for its number of cubby holes, or rather, the lack of it. Save for the sizeable cup holders and the storage that doubles as the wireless charging pad, there’s not much storage areas around. At least it gets a near-perfect score when it comes to cargo room thanks to its sizeable hold, complete with an underfloor compartment (there’s no spare tire). Interior space is also quite good, be it at the front or back. However, the rear center occupant will need to straddle a rather large center bump.

The presence of that center bump gives you a hint as to what sort of powertrain lies under the Forester’s hood. Eschewing any form of electric all-wheel drive system, the e-Boxer keeps the brand’s tried-and-tested mechanical all-wheel drive system, complete with a propeller shaft and transfer case, intact. This should bode well for those who plan to take their compact SUVs off the beaten path, but at the expense of fuel economy. It still does 10.4 km/L, but compared to other strong or full hybrid setups out there, the e-Boxer is still considerably one of the worst. Still, 655 kilometers on a tank of 95 octane gas in a Subaru is still something to be celebrated about, we guess?

Despite the electric assist, the Forester’s overall driving experience hasn’t changed, for better or for worse. The two-motor setup—one acting as a generator and another serving as a motor drive—means most low speed or low effort driving is done with the engine switched off. However, when the 2.5-liter flat-4 cranks to life, the telltale Subaru shuffle—the slight shudder felt through the pedals and steering wheel—remains present. The gas-electric combo also creates this interesting whistling sound, reminiscent of a turbocharged SUV’s wastegate going off too. Compared to the previous Forester, there’s far more low-end grunt meaning confidence when merging in traffic. However, the tuning is clearly geared more for everyday usability as top end power remains a sore point, despite the 197 peak power figure. Of note, a worrying “Hybrid System Disabled” warning popped up once (Google says it’s probably down to the 12-volt battery having a low state of charge).

The same can be said about the chassis and suspension too; it’s every bit as familiar to current Subaru owners. It’s down to Subaru opting to use a carryover platform but further enhanced for improved comfort and refinement. Overall, it’s affably soft and comfortable, making short work of potholes and expansion joints in Metro Manila quite easily. Yet, it’s also quite secure when the driver gets a bit too excited. It doesn’t lean as much through corners and provides good amounts of mechanical grip. It’s also quite stable on the expressways, although there’s a hint of tire and wind noise at higher speed.

Six generations in and the Forester still holds on to the same fundamentals that has made it a particular SUV for particular people. Next to fancy flavor-of-the-month compact SUVs, this Subaru will never be a fashion machine. And that’s not so much of a bad thing. In embracing purposefulness, it has managed to keep its core elements such as comfort, capability, and spaciousness intact. At the same time, it’s managed to learn a thing or two to boost its refinement and fuel economy. While some work’s needed to improve key areas such as in-car tech, its P 2,498,000 price point still seems reasonable enough for the high-quality vanilla ice cream sort of car you’ll get.