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Ken Cooke
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Location: Riverside, CA
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Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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Baja Review: Subaru Outback and Legacy for Baja California
The Subaru Outback and Legacy are clean/ecological, reliable forms of transportation that unfortunately fall short when leaving the pavement in Baja.
While running with Jeeps to Guadalupe Canyon in 2006, a Subaru driver unfortunately high-centered atop a cactus mound after parking for a pit-stop.
The small family appeared to be working hard to free the Subaru from the traps of sand and dirt as we continued on to our hot tubs.
On another trip - this time down the bumpy road to Gonzaga Bay, our group came across a driver in a much more troubling situation - read on...
With a sock packed into the intake to keep out dirt - this "Legacy" could not scale the hills leading to Puertecitos.
Thankfully, Subaru's engineers included front tow receptacles to attach our tow strap to.
Home free. This "Legacy" is on its' way to Puertecitos with another cautionary tale for travel, "Over The Baja".
While in Northern Colombia, I looked over this Subaru Outback. It was richly appointed with leather and high-dollar electronics, but fell short in
the area of ground clearance, capable tires, and the kind of hard parts (long travel suspension, monotube shocks, chassis stiffeners) meant to get a
driver and its occupants back safely from...Guadalupe Canyon.
 [/URL]
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David K
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Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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All Wheel Drive and no LOW RANGE is why I left Subaru and went to Toyota in 2000. My previous Subaru (1987) had real part-time 4WD and low range. I
did like the 25+ mpg back then!
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Ken Cooke
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Location: Riverside, CA
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Problem is, Subaru marketing leads people to misconstrue capability with their previous models.
[Edited on 11-1-2015 by Ken Cooke]
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AKgringo
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Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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I think I spotted the problem!
Was the driver of that Subaru aware that there was camp trailer hooked up to him? I mean come on, Subies are great little cars, but that was too much
load for the highway, before he even got to a long rough grade.
Like DK, I had a Subaru GL wagon with a low range 4x4 option, and I LOVED that simple, reliable little car! I cranked the adjustable stock suspension
up to the max, put 14" Mickey Thompson Baja belted tires on it, and was amazed where I could go with it.
I had it in Alaska, not Baja, but in addition to the hazards of driving on beaches, washed out roads, river bottoms, and bogs, deep snow is sometimes
on the menu.
One of my responsibilities in those days was avalanche control at a local ski area, which meant that I needed to be there even before the roads got
plowed. More ground clearance would have been great, but what sometimes stopped me was not lack of traction, but plugging the radiator driving
through fresh snow over the bumper.
In short, if I could not make it up there in my Subaru, neither could the skiers, so we weren't going to open. I wish they still made that mode, but
with maybe a bit more power!
By the way, those are not designed tow points, they are tie downs for shipping the Subies around the world.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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AKgringo
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Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Subaru Forester
I never have checked out the Forester. Aside from a bit more room inside, does anyone here know if it has greater back road performance than the
Outback? How about a low range option?
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
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Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Had a 77.5 4WD wagon, a 80 4WD wagon, and the '87 (or was it an '86?) GL wagon.
The first two wagons had the 1600cc engine and high range only 4WD. The last one had an 1800cc engine and the 2 speed transfer case.
Tom Miller and I really pushed for the 2 speed transfer case. The adjustable height front and rear suspension was also a plus from Subaru.
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basautter
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Thanks for the heads up. I too fell for their advertising and was thinking about getting one. Not anymore.
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David K
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Location: San Diego County
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Rav4, Highlander, 4Runner would be the 4WD Toyota models in the Outback to Forester range of size, I think.
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Hook
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The Foresters and the Outbacks are still great cars for many purposes. Just dont ask it to do what a Jeep or a 4-Runner can do.
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DianaT
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Registered: 12-17-2004
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Quote: Originally posted by Hook  |
The Foresters and the Outbacks are still great cars for many purposes. Just dont ask it to do what a Jeep or a 4-Runner can do.
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Our 2011 Outback has been on the Gonzaga road more that once and did great--- just careful with bigger rocks. Because of its design, while it does not
look like it, it has more ground clearance than did the Toyota Rav. We have been on many dirt roads in the states ---- no, it is not built for
boulder hopping. In the sand and ice it is really good. We intended to buy the Forrester but at the time, the Outback got better mileage because
of the transmission ---that has changed now. We have 98,000 miles on it and other than regular maintenance, we have had zero problems. Great car.
Still have it, and if we could have put a camper on it, we would not have bought our truck.
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philodog
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Registered: 10-9-2010
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For 98% of Baja roads the newer Outbacks would work just fine. The new style, started in 2010 has 8.7 " of ground clearance (Tacoma has a whopping
0.4" more), more than any other mid size SUV and lots more than the older models shown in the pics. No it doesn`t have low range but again, for the
VAST majority of roads in Baja it isn`t needed.
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Bajakiter
Newbie
Posts: 21
Registered: 1-20-2007
Location: Venice Bch, USA & San Quintin
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Hold the phone! What everyone is failing to say is that those Jeeps and trucks in the photo are not stock.
They have been lifted with bigger tires and off road suspension. You can't make that comparison in a fair light.
That being said, the wife just bought a 2015 Subaru Crosstrek and to be totally fair, I was pretty skeptical at first on how it would handle Baja. It
does have a good amount of clearance and the stock suspension is on par with any other stock truck or jeep.
Background on wife. She drives like she's in a Dakar race, average speed is 80mph from TJ to Cabo. Yes, she has been pulled over by both local and
Federal police, but her radiant blue eyes have gotten her out of all of them. Does not matter if she's on dirt roads or the Hwy, same speed which one
has to accept death when in the passengers seat. So my natural inclinations were that her new car would fail to live up to her previous 2007 Jeep
Patriot with 200k+ miles that I substantially beefed up to handle her driving.
To my surprise, the Subaru so far has handled everything thrown at it like a gazelle, from 80 mile rutted roads to the sand dunes of San Quintin. This
SUV is clearly not a Score Baja 1000 rig, but a very capable vehicle that can easily handle Baja.
Now some of you folks might be thinking, well he don't know crap about 4x4 off roading. Many moons back, in my earlier years, I had the fortune of
working with a few well known monster truck shops that enabled me to humbly learn a thing or two. While working in these establishments, we not only
worked on those rigs that you see at fairgrounds that jump cars, but also a fair amount of mud boggers, rock climbers, rally, desert runners and
custom show 4x4's. Our projects pretty much coved everything, if you had the cash did it! We all know how crazy 4x4 folks can be, everything we did
was custom to be able to handle the often brutal punishment that owners expected once it left the shop. We also spent allot of time in the field
"testing" wink wink our projects to make sure they lived up to the customers expectations.
My daily Baja rig.
1997 Nissan 4x4 with 38" tires with custom Dana 44 axels front and rear cut down that have 4.88 gears stuffed in them with ABR lockers. A commercial
grade 12,000 lbs worm winch that can be mounted front or rear and also too many other 4x4 add-ons to mention. This little boy has been all over the
world (almost 700K miles), from Europe to the deep jungles of South America.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Bajakiter, I took my Subarus far beyond their design parameters many times in Baja... and that was when all Subarus had 13" wheels, real 4WD, but in
two of the three, no low range... It is really about tire placement and driver skill. I drove my first Suby to Gonzaga Bay from Puertecitos on the
OLD-OLD road, in '79... Yes, I lost my exhaust on one of the grades... but made it to Alfonsina's from Puertecitos (50 miles) in 5 hours!
10-15 miles south of Puertecitos.
Who is the skinny kid wearing a SCORE hat?
Calamajué Canyon
Between Calamajué and El Crucero, November 1979 pre-running the Baja 1000 section I was to drive in 2 weeks.
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Bajakiter
Newbie
Posts: 21
Registered: 1-20-2007
Location: Venice Bch, USA & San Quintin
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David K, I could not agree more! "tire placement and driver skill" are so key and no matter what you are driving, if you don't know what your doing,
you could get a tank stuck.
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AKgringo
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DK, I had an 82 GL with a four speed with low range. I discovered that the lug pattern, and center hub diameter of the four lug 13 inch Subaru
wheels was the same as a standard six lug rim. I just drilled two extra holes in a set of 14 inch Chevy Luv rims, and bolted them on.
14 inch rims opened up lots of options! I chose Mickey Thompson Baja Belted tires.I think they were 26x8.50, or close to that.
Aside from cranking the stock suspension up to the max, and a few well placed blows with a 4 pound single jack, no other mods were necessary.
I don't have a lot of experience building a 4x4 that will go anywhere, but lots of experience getting stock, (or near stock) rigs places they were
never designed to go.
About the time I am ready to start patting myself on the back for my driving skills, I am forced to tip my hat to the Baja Locals. I guess I am just
average down on the peninsula!
[Edited on 11-6-2015 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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chuckie
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Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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I don't think we are talking about OLD Subarus here...The Outback was not around in 87....One of my hunting partners has an Outback and it seems to go
wherever its pointed. Granted, its not in Baja, but sees an awful of mud, snow, and Colorado forest trails...When it gets stuck, so does most
everything else....Good rig...as far as I know stone stock except I think she may have added a skid plate or two....
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David K
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Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by chuckie | | I don't think we are talking about OLD Subarus here...The Outback was not around in 87....One of my hunting partners has an Outback and it seems to go
wherever its pointed. Granted, its not in Baja, but sees an awful of mud, snow, and Colorado forest trails...When it gets stuck, so does most
everything else....Good rig...as far as I know stone stock except I think she may have added a skid plate or two.... |
Well, this is Ken's thread about how Subaru Legacy and Outback wagons "fall short" in off road ability.
I think you will see nearly all replies are letting Ken hear from those of us former Subaru drivers, that given the right direction... you can get a
Subaru nearly everywhere! Yes, for a couple of us, it was the pre-Legacy/Outback/Forester AWD days when Subaru was a front wheel drive brand that
added a REAR differential and part-time 4 wheel drive to increase the market appeal for those who wanted off highway abilty in the mid-1970's +. The
25+ MPG was also great back then. My Jeep was getting 10 mpg at best, when I sold it and got my first Subaru.
AMC Eagle and Toyota Tercel 4WD vehicles followed Subaru's lead in making 4WD passenger vehicles. The Audi Quattro came along, too.
One of the extreme places I took my Subaru in 1978, was up Matomí Canyon when a flash flood prevented me from reaching the ranch by the waterfall.
This is just a couple miles from the ranch, Tomás Dowling was with me here (the owner of Matomí, then) and tried to help by moving some logs to
deflect the rising water! I was stuck here but saved when I let air out of my tires as the water was about to come inside the wagon.
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chuckie
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Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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K? Your rear view mirror is not the windshield.....
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mtgoat666
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Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Modern subaru can travel 100% of paved roads in baja and at least 90% of the unpaved roads. Subaru will get you to plenty of places in baja. My 4wd
4runner in baja spends 99% of its travel time in 2wd.
Re accessing the coast, if there is a road-accessible fish camp then most any 2wd can get to it.
Dont want to burst your ballons, but yor 4wd is rarely needed, y'all do 99% of your driving on paved or well traveled unpaved roads
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bajagrouper
Senior Nomad
Posts: 964
Registered: 8-28-2003
Location: Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit, Mexico
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Mood: happy and retired
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| Quote: Originally posted by Ken Cooke | The Subaru Outback and Legacy are clean/ecological, reliable forms of transportation that unfortunately fall short when leaving the pavement in Baja.
While running with Jeeps to Guadalupe Canyon in 2006, a Subaru driver unfortunately high-centered atop a cactus mound after parking for a pit-stop.
The small family appeared to be working hard to free the Subaru from the traps of sand and dirt as we continued on to our hot tubs.
On another trip - this time down the bumpy road to Gonzaga Bay, our group came across a driver in a much more troubling situation - read on...
With a sock packed into the intake to keep out dirt - this "Legacy" could not scale the hills leading to Puertecitos.
Thankfully, Subaru's engineers included front tow receptacles to attach our tow strap to.
Home free. This "Legacy" is on its' way to Puertecitos with another cautionary tale for travel, "Over The Baja".
While in Northern Colombia, I looked over this Subaru Outback. It was richly appointed with leather and high-dollar electronics, but fell short in
the area of ground clearance, capable tires, and the kind of hard parts (long travel suspension, monotube shocks, chassis stiffeners) meant to get a
driver and its occupants back safely from...Guadalupe Canyon.
[/URL] |
In the last foto the police have a great picture of the guy stealing the rim and tire...........LOL
FYI, the 2015 model I have has a feature called X-MODE which will let you take your feet of the brake while it creeps down a steep rocky path...works
great on the sand also, I have had 4 Subarus (a 1990-2000-2011 and now a 2015) all Baja tested .......
I hear the whales song
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