2013 Subaru Forester 2.5X Package $7,990

Subaru Forester will hold special appeal for those drivers who frequently enjoy the great outdoors. Small SUVs are primarily suburban runabouts. They need to have room for the kids, a Bluetooth connection for the phone and an elevated ride height for that commanding view of the road. Some are even designed for style or sporty handling. But tackling the great outdoors? That's pretty much unheard of these days. Yet the 2013 Subaru Forester remains a notable exception. A rock crawler it is not, but its standard all-wheel-drive system that constantly shunts power to each wheel (rather than reacting when the front wheels slip) is well-suited for muddy fields or light sand. Should you actually encounter a few rocks, the Forester provides about 2 more inches of ground clearance than the average small crossover. It's well suited for the things you bring along as well, with a huge cargo area and especially useful roof rails that make it easier to carry bikes, kayaks or whatever other outdoorsy leisure equipment you might possess. What's more, the Forester is an appealing choice even if the closest you'll ever get to the great outdoors is watching the movie starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd. It has the aforementioned suburban-friendly attributes, plus handling that's in fact quite sporty. And that huge cargo area is just as good at bringing home a TV from Best Buy as it is hauling camping gear from Yosemite. The 2013 Subaru Forester is a compact crossover SUV available in six trim levels: 2.5X, 2.5X Premium, 2.5X Limited, 2.5X Touring, 2.5XT Premium and 2.5XT Touring. The X and XT indicate different engines. Standard equipment on the 2.5X includes 16-inch steel wheels, full power accessories, keyless entry, cruise control, a height-adjustable driver seat, a tilt-only steering wheel, Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity and a four-speaker sound system with a CD player, an auxiliary audio jack and an iPod/USB audio interface. The Alloy Wheel package adds 16-inch alloy wheels and roof rails.