Subaru

[eldirector]

Saw a couple of Subaru wagons at the Badlands in Attica a while back. They had some itty-bitty All Terrain tires. Got around pretty well, as long as they had enough ground clearance. Ruts and rocks would stop them dead. Pretty funny watching them scamper around in the dirt/sand, bouncing off the rev limiter, and undercarriage banging/clanging away.

We see them up at the Sand Dunes in Michigan all the time. Other than high-centering at the top of a dune, they get around really well.

For what the general public thinks of "off roading", I bet they are pretty decent. Even better with some upgrades a judicious application of throttle.

 

[COOPADUP]

Right now, I think the Crosstek is the only one with an available manual.

It seems crazy that you have to request a manual transmission at all. They are good at making them. Before long, there will be no one left to even operate one.

 

[snorko]

The approach angle for Subies is really good as well for a daily driver. I am not sure why there is so much hate for the CVT. I drive a "19 Forester and find it to be well performing. Acceleration is smooth and fiesty enough when needed. Not as quick as my old VW VR6 manual but that thing was peppy.

 

[two70]

My wife had two Subaru's and in my opinion they are good in snow and that's about it. She totaled the first one just before (thankfully!) ~ $1500 in scheduled exhaust system repairs and the second one started using oil to the tune of a quart plus at every fill up. After the problems with number two she switched to at Toyota Venza which drives about as well in the snow and better overall in my opinion.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I have no dog in this, never having owned one, because if I need to go Offroad I do it in a jeep or a truck. Of course, my 2005 Corolla has been off-road places where people’s fancy SUVs don’t dare tread...

However, I went to Mount Blanca in Colorado last summer and hiked to the summit, it’s about 12 miles of off-road to get to the highest camp and they allow it because it’s national forest. Some of it is some really serious off-road and rock crawling, to the point where just hiking was a challenge, and I found several Subarus about halfway up. Stock. They were gone when I hiked back a couple days later, so I know they weren’t just abandoned.

Having driven off road most of my life, if you’re willing to beat up a vehicle it is amazing what you can make even a stock sedan do.

 

[88E30M50]

We are on our 2nd Impreza. The first was a 1999 Outback Sport and that one would go anywhere I asked of it but I never did serious off-roading. Only heavy snow. I ran Blizzaks on that one and it would motor along even when the snow was deep enough to plow with the air dam. The second is a 2018 Impreza and so far, so good. The first one did daily driver duty, then was the first driver for both of the sons. The second is the wife’s daily driver and we’ve had no issues with it other than the windshield trim near the wipers keeps falling off. Subaru replaced the first one about a month into owning it and the second came loose about 6 months after having the windshield replaced.

 

[Tactically Fat]

I am not sure why there is so much hate for the CVT.

Because they're not as robust and long-lasting as traditional automatic transmissions.

And even within the CVT "umbrella" there are differences in reliability. I'd posit that Subaru is probably the best of the bunch. And a distant second would be Honda and Toyota. I don't know enough about the Korean entries. Nissan's CVTs have, historically, been bottom of the barrel disposable trash. But apparently they've been totally redesigned here recently. AND they've put a traditional automatic back into the 2022 Pathfinder - a definite step in the right direction.

But playing the law of averages - you're more likely to get 150k+ miles out of a traditional automatic than you are a CVT.

That means for folks who'll drive cars until the wheels literally fall off (speaking from personal experience) - a traditional automatic is probably the better bet to make it without major repairs being necessary.

If you switch cars out frequently - then it really doesn't matter.