Other people when you ask them if they could un-invent one thing:Subaru's CVTs will always be their weak points.
Snorko, get a set of these:I drove an Outback from 2012-2018 and have been in a Forester since. published ground clearance is around 9"-9.5" and the lack of traditional axles makes it a pretty clean underside. I never had a problem in snow.
I am an appraiser and do a lot of bulk land and corridors. Think 15,000 acres of reclaimed strip mined lan, 25 mile rail corridors, etc. No, I would not want to rock climb in one but I have never not been able to go where I wanted. I previously drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Dodge Dakota 4WD so I have an idea what they can do. The one significant weakness is tires. I would not go down a road that was 100% deep soft mud. I am soon to need new tires and will probably stay with an all season tread, but it is tempting to get a slightly more aggressive tire.
This. For a commuter car that needs to travel on snow/ice and park on grass/dirt, it's hard to beat a stock Subaru. Per my previous post, I've helped to beat the snot out of a Subaru. I would just point out that one doesn't see too many Subaru's with extensive mods. One also doesn't see many stuck on the side of the road. CVT's, per say, aren't inherently bad.Avoid a CVT at all costs. Avoid the newer ones with eyesight and all the nanny crap. My FIL has spent more on repairs in 3 years and 90k WITH a service contract/insurance/extended warranty thing, than I did on my 18 year old Baja in 4-5 years and 38k. Almost all the problems were with equipment my Baja didn't even have.
Headgaskets are an over-hyped failure. 90% of the time they just leak oil externally. I got my NA Baja with them leaking and sold it 38k later with them still leaking. They don't "blow" the head gaskets (combustion chamber failures) any more than the average car from what I've seen. Turbos use MLS gaskets and are usually only a problem when modded without tuning.
As for offroad... that's largely up to the tires.
ATs use active center diffs, after slippage they tighten up. MTs usually use viscous center diffs to always provide some lockup at the expense of never fully locking. Only rear LSD used was also viscous unless you got a top performance edition. Most are geared too tall for actual crawling but just rough unpaved terrain they do better than the average sedan. Do some research on weights and gearing between models before you buy, I've heard lots of comments on the forums and failbook about how the Bajas (like mine) are so much slower than, say, a forester. well yea, it's 400lbs lighter with shorter gears.
I haven't done any serious offroading with mine but in the generous snow last year I drove around my wife's car stuck in the driveway to try to pull her out. As long as the weight's on the tires it'll move. *Note that due to the viscous center and rear diff's limited total lockup, you need weight on all 4 tires. start getting one airborne and it'll stop quick.
CVTs are the spawn of Satan. Inherently, no but in execution, yes. Like communism, they're great on paper but leave you wanting in reality. Granted subaru rates them to tow as much as the other transmissions and they've come a LONG ways since 20 years ago but no, just no. We've coming full circle with them where people are complaining about the engine just sitting at a certain RPM because of them so automakers are programming in steps like it's a traditional auto. I'll take a good, old fashioned, mechanical drivetrain, manual transmission any day of the week.This. For a commuter car that needs to travel on snow/ice and park on grass/dirt, it's hard to beat a stock Subaru. Per my previous post, I've helped to beat the snot out of a Subaru. I would just point out that one doesn't see too many Subaru's with extensive mods. One also doesn't see many stuck on the side of the road. CVT's, per say, aren't inherently bad.
I asked about manual transmissions when I purchased a 2017 outback, they won’t even make them in the US.I wish they still made the baja. And maybe tweaked it or allowed for aftermarket tweaking. It was the modern BRAT but never really caught on. CVT's? It seems like they're ideal on paper but never work out in practice. The alternative of 6-10 speed trannies don't seem much better. Towing with a Subaru is rather limited at any rate. And manual transmission? Practically unheard of in daily drivers.
Right now, I think the Crosstek is the only one with an available manual.I asked about manual transmissions when I purchased a 2017 outback, they won’t even make them in the US.