Curious what the "best" Subaru, new or old, for an overland build.

[Bill_P]

I have recently completed a 10,000 km outback trip in a gen 5 Subaru Outback. I love sleeping in the back but the best thing with this car is the range. I got 1070km on one tank of diesel on rough roads between Broken Hill and Thargomindah. I can fit 3x 10litre jerry cans upright lashed down in each rear footwell to double that range. I've recently lifted it 2". Love it!

 

[Numbchux]

Interesting. I didnt know you could swap transmissions or that there even was a dual range one. I am hitting the google machine for that info!

Yep, they had a low range option in the manual transmission cars almost everywhere else in the world but the US (low range was available here in the '70s and '80s...but not since).

It's only like a 1.2:1 or 1.4:1 reduction, so it isn't much. I much prefer the reduction of a torque converter, but each to their own.

 

[Grassland]

What are the newer Forester XTs like for a platform? They strike me as mighty underpowered when not turbocharged. Like the 2013+ style.

And isn't somebody here driving/ was an article on an outback 6 cylinder with some larger tires and a roof rack etc that looked pretty nice?

 

[perterra]

What are the newer Forester XTs like for a platform? They strike me as mighty underpowered when not turbocharged. Like the 2013+ style.

And isn't somebody here driving/ was an article on an outback 6 cylinder with some larger tires and a roof rack etc that looked pretty nice?

Probably depends on what your idea of under powered is. It's an absolute streak of lighting compared the the 89 Jeep wrangler I had.

 

[Buddha.]

What are the newer Forester XTs like for a platform? They strike me as mighty underpowered when not turbocharged. Like the 2013+ style.

And isn't somebody here driving/ was an article on an outback 6 cylinder with some larger tires and a roof rack etc that looked pretty nice?

I bought a '17 Forester new, NA 2.5 6spd. It wasn't any slower than my 4.3 blazer I had at the same time. I wasn't afraid to rev out that little 2.5 though, if you want low end torque look elsewhere it's a 4cyl.

I bought it as a replacement for my '01 blazer which I liked the size of. It was better in the following ways, it rode nicer, handled better and got twice the mpg. The bad was that it's rear cargo area didn't fold flat(which bugged me more than expected), the cargo area wasn't long enough to sleep in(my 4dr blazer was), and there was no low range(which wouldn't be a big deal if it was an automatic). The 6 speed always bugged me, why 6 speeds? Five would have been fine as I never used 5th gear. A granny gear plus another 5 speeds would have been better than the stupid double overdrive setup.
After 18 months unexpected life changes caused me to trade it in on a 3/4 ton truck. I kind of miss the little Subaru, when a blizzard hit I felt like a rockstar with my snow tires on it driving past everyone else that was struggling.

I don't miss that at the end with less than 25k on it I was burning three quarts of oil between oil changes, ****** Subaru. I did the proper break in procedure and I didn't treat it any different than other cars I'd had that all 100k-200k more miles on them.

 

[Grassland]

I bought a '17 Forester new, NA 2.5 6spd. It wasn't any slower than my 4.3 blazer I had at the same time. I wasn't afraid to rev out that little 2.5 though, if you want low end torque look elsewhere it's a 4cyl.

I bought it as a replacement for my '01 blazer which I liked the size of. It was better in the following ways, it rode nicer, handled better and got twice the mpg. The bad was that it's rear cargo area didn't fold flat(which bugged me more than expected), the cargo area wasn't long enough to sleep in(my 4dr blazer was), and there was no low range(which wouldn't be a big deal if it was an automatic). The 6 speed always bugged me, why 6 speeds? Five would have been fine as I never used 5th gear. A granny gear plus another 5 speeds would have been better than the stupid double overdrive setup.
After 18 months unexpected life changes caused me to trade it in on a 3/4 ton truck. I kind of miss the little Subaru, when a blizzard hit I felt like a rockstar with my snow tires on it driving past everyone else that was struggling.

I don't miss that at the end with less than 25k on it I was burning three quarts of oil between oil changes, ****** Subaru. I did the proper break in procedure and I didn't treat it any different than other cars I'd had that all 100k-200k more miles on them.

is the sixth gear an extra tall OD in the Subarus? I drove my brother in laws 11' WRX twice, but never got out of 3rd. That thing was a blast

There is a guy in my city I should track down. He has a newer XT Forester with larger tires and a 1 or 1.5" lift, and a few other mods. I spoke with him briefly and he camped out of it. He said he slept inside. It looked good.

 

[Buddha.]

Fifth and sixth gear are both overdrive, I always skipped fifth.

 

[Smileyshaun]

The best one will be the one you feel the most comfortable in, one model may be more capable than another but if you hate being in the driver's seat you'll never truly get the joy out of it. Something to always take into consideration is it still in the off-road World kind of a low vehicle, if your goal and plan is to go off road with it are you more likely to be okay with scratching up a 30k+ vehicle or a 10K vehicle.
I just traded off my 2018 Forester for a 2003 due to it having some issues and I will say while the 2018 did have a bit more comfort it honestly just felt kind of dead inside to me.You feel so disconnected from the vehicle and the road like the car has no real heart and soul.

 

[Regcabguy]

And then there's direct injection.

 

[deeve]

And then there's direct injection.

Is that a good thing or bad thing?

 

[JRenna]

This guy I wheel with has a cross trek I believe. The places this thing can go is unreal. Everyone else is in lifted trucks and big mud tires and he still hangs! I kick myself for not taking pics of him on the trails we rode this past weekend. It was jaw dropping lol.The only pics I have of his Suburu are on some very tame trails. These do not do his rig justice though. I think this thing would make a killer overlanding rig if you are set on a Suburu.