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I’ve never particularly liked the Subaru Forester. I can’t really pinpoint why–after all, I’m an AMC Eagle acolyte, and the Forester is really nothing more than a latter-day Eagle. Like the Eagle, the Forester is a tall, gawky nerd of a car, with a tall forehead, a geeky chrome grin, and a complete lack of muscle. But also like the Eagle, the Forester is extraordinarily useful, with all-wheel-drive traction and the usefulness of a wagon. Both would make fantastic camping rides.

My general coolness towards the Forester might actually stem from Subaru’s insistence on calling the Forester an SUV. It’s clearly not an SUV, it’s a station wagon. It’s a car chassis and engine, with a wagon back. It might be taller and have all-wheel-drive, but it’s a wagon. I also get annoyed when Subaru refers to its Legacy Outback as an SUV, but to the virtually identical Legacy as a car. I realize it’s all marketing semantics, but I don’t have much patience for automakers insulting our intelligence.

Whatever the reason, I’ve always respected the Forester but never really embraced it. Until, that is, the Forester XT debuted, at which point the addition of a turbocharger and some of Subaru’s rally mojo created one of the most incredible sleepers the world has ever seen.

Remember, a sleeper is defined by two attributes–potent performance and an anonymous wrapper. The Forester XT has both in spades. In terms of performance, Car & Driver measured the 0-60 sprint in an unbelievable 5.3 seconds–a stunning testament to the combination of traction and turbocharged thrust. For reference, that’s as quick as the Ferrari Testarossa, quicker than a 1980s Corvette, only a tick behind the Lamborghini Countach. It’s as quick as a 1990s Porsche 911, a contemporary Nissan 350Z, or even the Forester’s performance-oriented sibling, the WRX. At high speeds the Forester’s high-drag body hurts acceleration, but at that point who cares? It’s a go-anywhere haul-anything wagon that can run with the exotics–like an Eagle with a jet engine.

Just as important, in terms of its sleeper potential, the Forester lost virtually none of its anonymity. Compared to its toothless brethren, the XT gained only a hood scoop. Nobody takes the Forester seriously as a performance car, but in the case of the XT that would be a mistake. If you’re a street racer and find yourself alongside a Forester, I’d recommend looking for the hood scoop–it’s the only indicator of the XT’s fire-breathing performance potential. The XT isn’t particularly expensive, either–it starts in the mid-$20K range.

Given all this, and my well-chronicled weakness for wagons, it’s no surprise that the Forester captured my imagination in a big way. I dreamed of driving into remote backpacking spots one day, then embarrassing preening Ferrari drivers the next. I’d forget myself and refer to the Forester as a “cool car” to my friends, only for them to guffaw at the latest blemish to my already dubious automotive taste. Not that this is a new thing.

Looking at these photos again–yikes, it’s certainly not a looker, is it? But at least I console myself with the thought that maybe, somehow, the “XT” suffix for the performance Forester is some kind of tribute to the original Subaru sports car,the flying-doorstop Subaru XT. If so, that’s cool enough to overlook the Forester’s homely visage.

Thanks to Flickr user meody for the photos here.

–Chris H.