2016 Outback: The Traveler - Long Distance Expo Build

[CurtStyler]

Looks cool so far so good! I may have missed it but Did your MPG calcs. take into account the tire size change and the effect it might have on your Odo./Speedo?

I did not account for that. I do know it's roughly a 2 MPH change at 70 MPH. ie) 68 MPH indicated = 70 MPH ground speed

Just out of curiosity I calculated the difference in MPG just now using my Fuelly data. The tires have a 3.5% larger circumference than stock. Using that I multiplied my miles driven by 1.035 then calculated the MPG using the new larger number. Here are the results:



It comes to be just under 1 MPG with the corrected odometer reading. It's a bit more than I was expecting and could be interesting to see 1 MPG better over the life of the car. That said MPG's are pretty much always ballpark figures. If you end up missing just a few tenths of a gallon on a fill up you can swing that calculation by 1 MPG as well, but on the same token the trend is consistent. Kind cool that I may be getting slightly better than I thought. Lol.

Any rubbing with those tires? Are you running wheel spacers?

Funny you said the Coopers are smoother than the Bridgestone Duelers. As soon as we took delivery of our 16 Outback I felt like there was a slight tire vibration. I wasn't surprised though as we had a similar experience with our 2012 Impreza with stock Yokohama tires. They were crap. There is something about OEM spec'd tires on Subarus.
Looking hard at replacing them with 235/65-17 Cooper AT3s. Although the stockers did well on the beach the other day.

No rubbing at all. I didn't have mud flaps on my car, but I think if you have them from the factory they may rub just a bit on those. The biggest surprise was how much quieter the Coopers were. My dad even noticed. I did a 300 mile road trip the day I got the car and was disappointed with how much of a hum there was, I got new tires on and it was much more refined. I'm very happy with them so far.

 

[calicamper]

Both my 2.5 Subies saw mileage improvement till about 25,000 miles. The peaks were higher, the lows were higher and the averages were more consistent after they had 25k on the clock. I started to see an obvious trend at around 15,000miles and it seemed to level off at 25,000. So I would expect that you will continue to see your averages creep up and/or become more predictable.

 

[kojackJKU]

I had a horrible subuaru experience in 2001. 9 months of ownership and 7000 out of my pocket in "warranty" work with wind noise, leaky sunroof and computer issues. Plus while in the shop, they powerwashed the paint of my front bumper. I was fit to be tied. Since then, I have looked at the outback and always said, That's just an awesome rig. more so with the new ones and more space inside.

 

[calicamper]

I had a horrible subuaru experience in 2001. 9 months of ownership and 7000 out of my pocket in "warranty" work with wind noise, leaky sunroof and computer issues. Plus while in the shop, they powerwashed the paint of my front bumper. I was fit to be tied. Since then, I have looked at the outback and always said, That's just an awesome rig. more so with the new ones and more space inside.

My 2001 Legacy GT Limited 5spd mt was a great car only issue Subaru fixed no questions asked at 65k. Beat the living hell out of that car. Only reason we sold it was for more space in the new 2010 OB.

 

[kojackJKU]

I have no idea what was going on with mine....it was the GT limited but auto. It was a huge POS. wind noise from every window, sunroof always leaked no matter how many times back to the dealer, 3 ecus, etc.

 

[Victorian]

We have a 2016 for a 18 hour test drive. Even the base model impresses us. The passenger space at the rear is insane big . Question about RTT mount: Loocking at the factory cross bars, they "only" lock in with a plastic latch. Did you beef up the system? I think we are pulling the trigger... Apparently delivery times are around 3 months... Hope we can get one before Expo West...

 

[kojackJKU]

I think there is metal inside the plastic.......I THINK. If not, having a RRT up there, would be dangerous in high winds. You can add thule bars or something however.

 

[Theprofessional]

I have no idea what was going on with mine....it was the GT limited but auto. It was a huge POS. wind noise from every window, sunroof always leaked no matter how many times back to the dealer, 3 ecus, etc.

There's always individual cars from manufacturers that are just utter ****.

you basically had the same experience as the guy with the Range Rover that never has a problem.

 

[CurtStyler]

I have no idea what was going on with mine....it was the GT limited but auto. It was a huge POS. wind noise from every window, sunroof always leaked no matter how many times back to the dealer, 3 ecus, etc.

Haha, funny story. I had to convince my mom that Subaru's are good cars. She bought one back in the early 80's. It was the car from Hell. It broke down the first day, took it back got a new one. That one lasted a few weeks. She got into a fight with the dealer and ended up returning it in the end. We went for the first test drive and she was like "Well it looks a lot better put together than my car" I was just like "Yeah that was 30 years ago, things change!"

I will say that my 2016 feels very well built. I just got back from 2 days of forest roads and handled everything like a champ.

We have a 2016 for a 18 hour test drive. Even the base model impresses us. The passenger space at the rear is insane big . Question about RTT mount: Loocking at the factory cross bars, they "only" lock in with a plastic latch. Did you beef up the system? I think we are pulling the trigger... Apparently delivery times are around 3 months... Hope we can get one before Expo West...

I went with the Premium, it had a few nice features like leather steering wheel, power driver seat, better radio, dual zone climate, fog lights and a few other nice items. I ended up haggling the price and got out the door for $28,350. That was last October. I think it was 6 weeks to get mine. They said 8 but it show up sooner than expected. I was ok with that!

My original plan was to remove the stock roof rack and build one that would support the tent. After I procrastinated a few weeks I gave up and mounted it. It's fine. If I remember right the clips that pop out to hold the rack in place is plastic, but everything else is metal, although there was some rubber bushings to cancel out vibration. The plastic clips don't do much other than keep the bar down and locked in the hole, so there's not much force put on them.

I was more worried about the crossbar bending with my 235 lbs behind up there. I had a spotter check for flex but it was all rock solid. I've been driving with it up top for about a month and haven't had an issue. There's been no rattle, no shake, even with me getting up top. The tent weighs 116 lbs according to the shipping company and the stock rack is rated to 150 lbs so the tent shouldn't stress it at all.


Little Build Update:

I spent many hours trying to figure out a way to build a drawer system that was both lightweight and could hold all my gear. I gave up and bought boxes. It's a tried and true system that is removable and lighter weight than anything else I was looking at. The only thing I have to do is replace the floor section with a piece of plywood so I can create a cutout to the wheel well below for additional storage. That will be heavier than the current fiberglass, but way lighter than any of my other options. I figure it's going to be heavy enough with all the gear back there, if I can spare the suspension another 20-25 lbs then I will.

The boxes I went with are from The Container Store and are "weather resistant". They have a foam gasket around the inside of the lid to keep air out, I figure it should help keep bugs out too. They were the only ones I found in the exact size I needed, they fit perfect. Only about 1/8" on wither side, if that.

Trunk Boxes by Curt Styler, on Flickr

And here's a pic from the weekend. I drove all over central Florida and spent some time exploring the Ocala National Forest. I camped 2 nights and passed the 10,000 mile mark!! Woohoo! I'll create a trip report once I've gone through all the photos.

Just Another Day! by Curt Styler, on Flickr

What I Learned

I look at every trip I go on as a learning experience. I'm new to Overlanding, but I'm really pushing to be able to make it to Alaska this summer. That mean's I have a lot to get ironed out before spending a lot of time alone on the road. With that said, here are the things I took away from this trip.

1. Google Maps does not know the difference between an ATV trail and a road.
2. Simply having boxes, does not an organized camp site make. I'm going to have to optimize setup and break down a bit.
3. My cooler is not a long term solution. By dinner on the second day my hamburgers were water logged and thawed and I don't know if blood escaped the bag and could have contaminated other food.
4. My propane lantern, while functional, takes up too much room. I'm going to look at going LED.
5. Bear spray would give me piece of mind when standing in a field with bushes taller than me and I can only see 5 feet in any direction.
6. The RTT is nice, but got really cold when temperatures dropped.
7. I need a sleeping bag.

 

[Hodaka]

Re: LED lantern, try this: http://fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=1173&tid=31&cid=30#.VsprTPD9erU
We used the smaller 165lm version when we had an extended power outage last year, and it lights up an area nicely - I'm sure the bigger one would suit your needs.

 

[kojackJKU]

Haha, funny story. I had to convince my mom that Subaru's are good cars. She bought one back in the early 80's. It was the car from Hell. It broke down the first day, took it back got a new one. That one lasted a few weeks. She got into a fight with the dealer and ended up returning it in the end. We went for the first test drive and she was like "Well it looks a lot better put together than my car" I was just like "Yeah that was 30 years ago, things change!"

I will say that my 2016 feels very well built. I just got back from 2 days of forest roads and handled everything like a champ.




I went with the Premium, it had a few nice features like leather steering wheel, power driver seat, better radio, dual zone climate, fog lights and a few other nice items. I ended up haggling the price and got out the door for $28,350. That was last October. I think it was 6 weeks to get mine. They said 8 but it show up sooner than expected. I was ok with that!

My original plan was to remove the stock roof rack and build one that would support the tent. After I procrastinated a few weeks I gave up and mounted it. It's fine. If I remember right the clips that pop out to hold the rack in place is plastic, but everything else is metal, although there was some rubber bushings to cancel out vibration. The plastic clips don't do much other than keep the bar down and locked in the hole, so there's not much force put on them.

I was more worried about the crossbar bending with my 235 lbs behind up there. I had a spotter check for flex but it was all rock solid. I've been driving with it up top for about a month and haven't had an issue. There's been no rattle, no shake, even with me getting up top. The tent weighs 116 lbs according to the shipping company and the stock rack is rated to 150 lbs so the tent shouldn't stress it at all.


Little Build Update:

I spent many hours trying to figure out a way to build a drawer system that was both lightweight and could hold all my gear. I gave up and bought boxes. It's a tried and true system that is removable and lighter weight than anything else I was looking at. The only thing I have to do is replace the floor section with a piece of plywood so I can create a cutout to the wheel well below for additional storage. That will be heavier than the current fiberglass, but way lighter than any of my other options. I figure it's going to be heavy enough with all the gear back there, if I can spare the suspension another 20-25 lbs then I will.

The boxes I went with are from The Container Store and are "weather resistant". They have a foam gasket around the inside of the lid to keep air out, I figure it should help keep bugs out too. They were the only ones I found in the exact size I needed, they fit perfect. Only about 1/8" on wither side, if that.

Trunk Boxes by Curt Styler, on Flickr

And here's a pic from the weekend. I drove all over central Florida and spent some time exploring the Ocala National Forest. I camped 2 nights and passed the 10,000 mile mark!! Woohoo! I'll create a trip report once I've gone through all the photos.

Just Another Day! by Curt Styler, on Flickr

What I Learned

I look at every trip I go on as a learning experience. I'm new to Overlanding, but I'm really pushing to be able to make it to Alaska this summer. That mean's I have a lot to get ironed out before spending a lot of time alone on the road. With that said, here are the things I took away from this trip.

1. Google Maps does not know the difference between an ATV trail and a road.
2. Simply having boxes, does not an organized camp site make. I'm going to have to optimize setup and break down a bit.
3. My cooler is not a long term solution. By dinner on the second day my hamburgers were water logged and thawed and I don't know if blood escaped the bag and could have contaminated other food.
4. My propane lantern, while functional, takes up too much room. I'm going to look at going LED.
5. Bear spray would give me piece of mind when standing in a field with bushes taller than me and I can only see 5 feet in any direction.
6. The RTT is nice, but got really cold when temperatures dropped.
7. I need a sleeping bag.

You will figure that out as time goes on. Sleeping bag is essential. I have a house close to you in Zephyrhills. Camping must be awesome....no cold weather. And no. sweatshirt is not cold weather...ha ha.

I am totally guessing I had a lemon roo. But it did sour me from buying another....maybe because of the dealer more than the car.

 

[calicamper]

Haha, funny story. I had to convince my mom that Subaru's are good cars. She bought one back in the early 80's. It was the car from Hell. It broke down the first day, took it back got a new one. That one lasted a few weeks. She got into a fight with the dealer and ended up returning it in the end. We went for the first test drive and she was like "Well it looks a lot better put together than my car" I was just like "Yeah that was 30 years ago, things change!"

I will say that my 2016 feels very well built. I just got back from 2 days of forest roads and handled everything like a champ.




I went with the Premium, it had a few nice features like leather steering wheel, power driver seat, better radio, dual zone climate, fog lights and a few other nice items. I ended up haggling the price and got out the door for $28,350. That was last October. I think it was 6 weeks to get mine. They said 8 but it show up sooner than expected. I was ok with that!

My original plan was to remove the stock roof rack and build one that would support the tent. After I procrastinated a few weeks I gave up and mounted it. It's fine. If I remember right the clips that pop out to hold the rack in place is plastic, but everything else is metal, although there was some rubber bushings to cancel out vibration. The plastic clips don't do much other than keep the bar down and locked in the hole, so there's not much force put on them.

I was more worried about the crossbar bending with my 235 lbs behind up there. I had a spotter check for flex but it was all rock solid. I've been driving with it up top for about a month and haven't had an issue. There's been no rattle, no shake, even with me getting up top. The tent weighs 116 lbs according to the shipping company and the stock rack is rated to 150 lbs so the tent shouldn't stress it at all.


Little Build Update:

I spent many hours trying to figure out a way to build a drawer system that was both lightweight and could hold all my gear. I gave up and bought boxes. It's a tried and true system that is removable and lighter weight than anything else I was looking at. The only thing I have to do is replace the floor section with a piece of plywood so I can create a cutout to the wheel well below for additional storage. That will be heavier than the current fiberglass, but way lighter than any of my other options. I figure it's going to be heavy enough with all the gear back there, if I can spare the suspension another 20-25 lbs then I will.

The boxes I went with are from The Container Store and are "weather resistant". They have a foam gasket around the inside of the lid to keep air out, I figure it should help keep bugs out too. They were the only ones I found in the exact size I needed, they fit perfect. Only about 1/8" on wither side, if that.

Trunk Boxes by Curt Styler, on Flickr

And here's a pic from the weekend. I drove all over central Florida and spent some time exploring the Ocala National Forest. I camped 2 nights and passed the 10,000 mile mark!! Woohoo! I'll create a trip report once I've gone through all the photos.

Just Another Day! by Curt Styler, on Flickr

What I Learned

I look at every trip I go on as a learning experience. I'm new to Overlanding, but I'm really pushing to be able to make it to Alaska this summer. That mean's I have a lot to get ironed out before spending a lot of time alone on the road. With that said, here are the things I took away from this trip.

1. Google Maps does not know the difference between an ATV trail and a road.
2. Simply having boxes, does not an organized camp site make. I'm going to have to optimize setup and break down a bit.
3. My cooler is not a long term solution. By dinner on the second day my hamburgers were water logged and thawed and I don't know if blood escaped the bag and could have contaminated other food.
4. My propane lantern, while functional, takes up too much room. I'm going to look at going LED.
5. Bear spray would give me piece of mind when standing in a field with bushes taller than me and I can only see 5 feet in any direction.
6. The RTT is nice, but got really cold when temperatures dropped.
7. I need a sleeping bag.

Same spot I put our Ice chest. Coleman Classic. Drain plug facing out. I have space infront of the Ice box for gear storage. I dont tote a full sized spare though. Tire plugs and airpump and the skinny spare. Given I'm hauling 4 and a dog, and trailer our off road clearance is limited to mellow dirt roads. We'll beat the crap out of this one for 10-12yrs then who knows. Were at 6yrs now.

 

[calicamper]

Last weekend. An hour and a half drive on Friday.

 

[poriggity]

Make the jump to a fridge. I guarantee you won't regret it.. And fridges like the 50 qt arb will take up less room than your current cooler. Best mod I ever did.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

 

[calicamper]

Make the jump to a fridge. I guarantee you won't regret it.. And fridges like the 50 qt arb will take up less room than your current cooler. Best mod I ever did.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

Yes I know. But I need to sell our big toy 28ft sailboat, and redistribute the toy monies into other stuff. Block ice in the old cooler has been fine for our short trips.

I want this before a fridge. Can park it at home vs a $250 slip fee every month;-)
http://swallowyachts.com/range/bay-raider-expedition/