WITH well over 100,000 examples sold in Australia since 1997, Subaru cannot afford to get its bread-and-butter Forester wrong. So, for the third-generation, Impreza-based PF3-series model, out go the frameless doors and quirky styling and in comes an all-new body, platform and interior, with significant increases in safety, space, refinement and features. Plus there’s more performance and fuel economy on offer. But the compact SUV competition hasn’t been standing still either, so how does the new base model X stand? And – in its quest for greater mainstream acceptance – has the latest Forester lost too much of its offbeat appeal?