OBs and OBWs: Outback, Outback Wilderness

[echo7tango]

Have to agree. After driving a WK2 Grand Cherokee for 10 years, this OB is like driving a sports car. The flat 4 boxer engine keeps the weight down low.

5 months and 13,000 miles so far…

 

[echo7tango]

Last night we drove through The City, heading to Marin:

View from Lincoln Blvd in the Presidio, San Francisco, near Pacific Overlook,
coords ▲ 37.8008, -122.4779
Fri 31 May 2024 @2200hrs

 

[echo7tango]

On the return drive from Bodega Bay we took the same route, so I took a daylight picture from the same location.

 

[Markal]

I had an '21 OB Touring XT. Very luxurious and quite fun to drive on road. I always loved leaving big trucks in my dust from red lights (except the one time I tangled with a Raptor!). I made some minor modifications, including skid plate, A/T tires, and ralitek springs in the back. We took that thing off road A LOT and it was surprisingly capable, but definitely hit its limits pretty quickly (I often went out with a friend and his 4Runner). The approach and departure angles on the normal OB are abysmal, better on the Wilderness. The hesitation of the turbo and CVT from a stop drove me crazy but I did somewhat calibrate my acceleration. And the lack of a low range limited its performance (again, a little better in the Wilderness).

I'd been coveting a "real" 4x4 and finally traded in the OB for a new Ranger XLT with the FX4 package and the difference is huge. It's not as nice on road, but better than most mid-sized 4x4s. But it's WAY more capable off road than my OB was. Obviously, the wilderness trim would have given me a bit more capability, but I wasn't interested in spending the dough for another OB. I think I'll have my fun with this Ranger for a few years and then head back to a Subaru someday.

 

[colodak]

We had a 2013 OB that we loved. It took us on a lot of adventures from Utah to Mexico and all in between. It was very roomy for our family of 4 and fit a ton of cargo inside.

I would have kept it to mod, but the only thing I wish it had was low range. Some of of the places I love to go, 4lo is a must (San Juan’s in Colorado, for instance).

I understand the Wilderness is much better in this aspect (of slow crawling). Have fun with it.

I can't find the clip, but there's a couple video's of some Subaru owners near Red Cone being laughed at by some Jeeper's saying they can't do it, they then proceeded to do it quite well.

 

[colodak]

I had an '21 OB Touring XT. Very luxurious and quite fun to drive on road. I always loved leaving big trucks in my dust from red lights (except the one time I tangled with a Raptor!). I made some minor modifications, including skid plate, A/T tires, and ralitek springs in the back. We took that thing off road A LOT and it was surprisingly capable, but definitely hit its limits pretty quickly (I often went out with a friend and his 4Runner). The approach and departure angles on the normal OB are abysmal, better on the Wilderness. The hesitation of the turbo and CVT from a stop drove me crazy but I did somewhat calibrate my acceleration. And the lack of a low range limited its performance (again, a little better in the Wilderness).

I'd been coveting a "real" 4x4 and finally traded in the OB for a new Ranger XLT with the FX4 package and the difference is huge. It's not as nice on road, but better than most mid-sized 4x4s. But it's WAY more capable off road than my OB was. Obviously, the wilderness trim would have given me a bit more capability, but I wasn't interested in spending the dough for another OB. I think I'll have my fun with this Ranger for a few years and then head back to a Subaru someday.

View attachment 838243
View attachment 838244

Have an aquaintance that in the last decade has gone from an Xterra to a Frontier to a 4Runner to a Ranger to a 4Runner to an OBW and is finally happy, he says it feel like he's back in his Xterra.