Subaru owners: Let's see your expedition rigs!

[calicamper]

How much did the RTT effect your gas mileage? I'looking at getting a new Outback or Forester. Going to test drive today.

Pay close attention to load ratings the Forester shares the same load limitations as the Impreza which may be way to light if your really into gear and extended trips. The OB/Legacy has a higher load rating but when your packed with extended trip gear your still easily pushing its load rating. I like our OB but you need to pack light to take advantage of its positives. The Forester would be a micro light adventure rig. Nothing wrong with that just keep your style or trip type and gear in mind when comparing the two.

 

[CurtStyler]

I haven't had it on a long trip yet. I just did 250 miles of back roads from Tampa to Orlando. Mix of traffic, 60 mph and a short bit of 70 mph. 24 mpg (hand calculated) on the trip, but I was pretty light on the gas the whole way. I was surprised how well it did. The car is also very stable, not much jerking in high winds (we had some big storms yesterday morning when I was driving).

Im curious how it does on some longer highway trips. I normally get around 28 mpg on the highway at 70, curious how much that will change.


The tent weighs around 115 lbs and I don't have anything else up there at the moment. I'm a little concerned about the stock cross bars holding the tent and my large behind. I'm about 235 lbs. So far they haven't shown any signs of stress but its something I want to keep an eye on.

 

[calicamper]

The original Lifetime Tent Trailer and the 2010 2.5 Limited camping rig for 4.
No bikes on the roof we run 21mpg ish averages at 65-70mph. With bikes on the lid in fork mounts we typically do 18mpg.

We were packing lots of extras on this trip for some rookie campers borrowing gear.

 

[Theprofessional]

 

[PHeller]

Hey guys,

I've been avoiding Subarus because I'm worried about all the catastrophic failures, even on the newer models. I'm interested in a 2004+ Outback. Are there years that are better than the other in terms of major engine issues?

 

[Hondaslayer]

Catastrophic failures? How so?

Stop reading NASIOC. Even there the failure rate is quite low, and many of those cars are modded or abused. I used to work for a Subaru dealer (for 10 years) now I work for a KIA / Mitsu / Suzuki dealer. I see more KIA engines fail in 3 months than I saw Subaru engines fail in a decade. It's bad enough where I would stock one if they didn't have a core charge on them. Have 3 in the shop this week alone, one we just did and the bottom end was defective out of the box.

If you are calling headgaskets a catastrophic failure, meh. Many of those "failed headgaskets" were due to seepage, not an outright failure (ie: overheating) Overheating failures were pretty much limited to the twin cam 2.5's in the Outbacks from 96-99 and the Forester and Impreza RS in 98.

 

[Mountainhound]

Don't know where you got that idea but it is way off. My wife's last forester 06 went 320k when she traded it in still running fine. It did burn some oil and I basically did oil changes by just adding 4 quarts oil. Thing still ran like a top.

Hey guys,

I've been avoiding Subarus because I'm worried about all the catastrophic failures, even on the newer models. I'm interested in a 2004+ Outback. Are there years that are better than the other in terms of major engine issues?

 

[calicamper]

I will say the Legacy/outback in 2010 got a very very much needed bump in cooling capacity. The older wedge design didnt do wonders for air flow. Hot trips I watched running temps like a hawk. Never had any issues but there were plenty of slow it down run the heater to head off a temp spike. The 2.5L was great easy to work on, durable as hell and other than weak cooling did great. 180,000 miles of boat towing on the west coast zero issues. We upgraded to the 2010 for more space. The 2.5 got a few more tweeks and has been really good no cooling challenges with the new body design and the larger more free flowing exhaust helps too. CVT has been great gear ratio for every need keeps the 2.5 in its happy place all the time. Big improvement over the 09 and older cars.

 

[PHeller]

I guess my concern is that more than anything I don't want to be replacing an engine, and I know on these cars the headgaskets aren't easy. Sounds like a lot folks avoid or dump the 2.5L models because of impending head gasket woes.

Sounds like the H6 is more of the "buy and dont worry" purchase.

More than likely because of my budget, I'm forced into the 05-09 model years.

 

[calicamper]

I guess my concern is that more than anything I don't want to be replacing an engine, and I know on these cars the headgaskets aren't easy. Sounds like a lot folks avoid or dump the 2.5L models because of impending head gasket woes.

Sounds like the H6 is more of the "buy and dont worry" purchase.

More than likely because of my budget, I'm forced into the 05-09 model years.

HG job is super simple on the 2.5. For a few reasons. Super simple engine. Very strong compact heads that rarely ever need to be replaced. Only heads that get replaced are the cars driven till meltdown temps. Which case typically after a head gasket job a lower bearing lets go due to being cooked in the first dumb move of melting down the engine.

The one thing I warn people about USED subarus... Its a subaru, not a Lexus someone really really used it.. My vehicle shopping rule new Subarus, used Toyota trucks and used Luxury cars. Never had an issue with that approach.

 

[Hondaslayer]

HG job is super simple on the 2.5. For a few reasons. Super simple engine. Very strong compact heads that rarely ever need to be replaced. Only heads that get replaced are the cars driven till meltdown temps. Which case typically after a head gasket job a lower bearing lets go due to being cooked in the first dumb move of melting down the engine.

The one thing I warn people about USED subarus... Its a subaru, not a Lexus someone really really used it.. My vehicle shopping rule new Subarus, used Toyota trucks and used Luxury cars. Never had an issue with that approach.

Pretty much all that. Yes, the H6 is set it and forget it, but I would not overlook an EJ25. Hell, my 98 Forester has had a slight low end noise for the last 60,000 miles and I would not hesitate to hop in it and drive it across the country. Like calicamper said, these cars are used very hard. On the plus side, Subaru owners (for the most part) take good care of their vehicles.

 

[Theprofessional]

Nothing is in any way difficult to fix on a Subaru provided you have a beer.

Like, nothing.

 

[Peter Adamic]

Subaru Forester 2.0, Automatic, Lift kit 1", SLOVENIA

 

[freshlikesushi]

untitled (2 of 37) by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[subarubobby]

soon!