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

deeve

Observer
I have always had a soft spot for Subi's. My first car was a 1978 Subaru Wagon that I maintained myself, swapped engines, put a 2x4 wood spring lift (not the best idea) and totally had a blast. I grew up in Maine and drove the bejesus out of that thing getting it buried it in the mud, bounced off snowbanks, went "parking" with my first GF and had a bunch of adventures.

I have an awesome AEV built JK but I keep seeing these Forester commercials that totally sucked me in. I really like that new Forester. Their marketing team got me right in the heart. It seems since the late 80's when I rocked the '78 a few companies have come out with some nice overlanding parts like lifts, skid plates, lights etc.

My question is more hypothetical, but you never know what the future brings....what Subaru model would be the best for an overland build. The endstate of the build would be a vehicle that is a daily driver that can knock down highway miles to get to the trails in comfort with MPG in the 20's. No rock crawling, but actual fire roads/trails that you might find in the west. The rig might carry an RTT or roof box, have room inside for a 47-year-old 6'3" 250lb guy who likes to ride in comfort. Aftermarket parts availability and ease of it accepting the mods would be a consideration. I would run it on local trips to central/eastern Oregon exploring, to running down to California for maybe a run through the Mojave Trail or Heart of the West Adventure Trail and back home to nw Oregon.
 

WhatTheZo

Member
I'm jealous of what the community had been doing with the Forester SG's. They seem super reliable and have 5MT and 4eat options. Getting rear lockers seems just around the horizon. Having the option to go long travel is rad. Which minimal modifications they're pretty capable and have plenty of room.

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WhatTheZo

Member
Our last overlanding trip had a nice combination of SH and SG's. Both have done the Mojave Road.
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deeve

Observer
Hmmm...the full-size pickup will be interesting. Hadn't heard that. I need to learn the lingo. What is an SH and SG?
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
“Its claimed Subaru will introduce a conventional style pickup. Should prove interesting.”

Man, please PM any story links you have on this. A Suby small truck is something I’ve been hoping for for a while,
 

Numbchux

Member
If I had an unlimited budget, it'd be a '00-'09 (2 different body styles, but very similar mechanically) Outback. With an EE20 diesel swap, and dual-range manual transmission.

I don't have an unlimited budget, so it's an '04 Outback VDC (H6, and actual AWD with an automatic)
 

Ari3sgr3gg0

Active member
Personally I would go the older route where a true 4x4 with low range was available. One of the older wagons with a little lift can seriously hit some great trails
 

Numbchux

Member
Personally I would go the older route where a true 4x4 with low range was available. One of the older wagons with a little lift can seriously hit some great trails

Those are certainly more capable. But much less comfortable and typically less reliable. I've owned many EA-chassis Subarus, and for "overlanding", I'll trade the comfort and refinement of '00s Outback for the capability of a lifted EA8x wagon every day of the week.

And if the stock drivetrain wasn't working out, an EA82 dual range transmission can be swapped into the newer chassis.
 

snow60X

New member
I went with a SG since the SH model switched to a multi-link rear suspension which somewhat limits clearance and lifting. I also like the body style the best. Mine gets about 21 mpg on the highway at 75-80 mph but would get a few more with smaller tires (235/75R15). The RTT only caused a loss of about 2-3mpg and tires about 3-4 mpg. I put a dual range transmission from a SF in mine and it will go almost anywhere, even with stock open diffs but a rear locker is on the list. There is a well proven Subaru Baja on the classifieds on here right now which I was considering too but they are fairly hard to find sometimes and carry a premium price.
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deeve

Observer
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!
 

snow60X

New member
Ya best way to fine one is through the JDM import places. Sometimes they have one and don't know what it is exactly. You have the source a cable or make one and figure out a way to use the cable. I found a guy on an Australian Facebook group that mailed me a cable and handle and modified my center console to work with the cable. Bolted right up
 

billiebob

Well-known member
this would be my choice, with an ultralight alloy/fabric camper box no taller or wider than the cab.

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ducktapeguy

Adventurer
I love my old Suby, an 01 Forester. One of my favorite cars, even though I don't drive it anymore I still keep it around just for sentimental reasons. These pics were taken almost 15 years and 200K miles apart, but it still runs like new. They're great on the highway, handles like a car and get's decent mileage, while still being able to perform adequately off road. However, one of the major drawbacks of the Forester was the limited space. An Outback is better in that regard, but both have only average ground clearance which limits their capabilities. Nowadays there is a bigger aftermarket for modding Subaru's, but it's still never going to have the availability like Toyota or Jeep's. Also, they're good for very weight conscious people, heavy packers will probably have problems. Once you start adding in things like roof racks, skids, lifts, larger tires, (i.e. all the fun stuff), the mileage and handling suffers pretty badly taking away all the advantages that the subaru had over a more capable platform to start with.



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But if I had my choice of any subaru, I've always had a soft spot for an old Brat. It'd be like a smaller scale overland pickup, even has true low range. Maybe not that practical, but looks like a lot of fun.

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