Lifted Subarus

I had a 2011 Impreza wagon I bought for the Colorado winters and the engine self destructed the gasket at 50k miles. That kind of ended my Subaru love.

 

I would buy one of those Crosstreks for sure except I live in California. The friggin registration fees are so outrageous here. My little 650GS ,2016, still cost me 185 a year. Obviously 400 pound scooters are responsible for all the bad roadways in California. My 2017 Tacoma still cost me 600 a year. I am sure a new Crosstrek would rack up another 800. Then my wife always has to have a high powered new model of something or the other that, since she pays for, I don't even want to know what that friggin cost.

 

I LOVE my wife’s crosstrek. I put some mud flaps and falken wildpeaks on that bad boy and it drives like a dream in any conditions, has plenty of interior space and gets 30 something mpg. No point in lifting it though, like playing with an rc car vs an atv compared to even a stock taco

 

My old WRX was fun to drive in all weather but snow was especially entertaining. AWD, but with no traction control and a turbo that came on hard. With some good snow tires it was a riot.

 

Add some of these and she’ll take the bumps.

 

I honestly have gotten the Outback more dirty than my Tacoma...



Yea, that's not dirty to some, but I've never gotten a vehicle that dirty. Still cleaning bits of mud out of the underside...

 

There is something to be said for light weight, to be fair. Razors are an example of how being lightweight can make up for some deficiencies in hardware. My 2006 CR-V has no wizardry and has primitive on-demand AWD but my goodness it’s a little beast. Obviously the Tacoma is far better off road, but I’ve been amazed where that little CR-V can go.

Btw, I think Mazda is a big up and comer in the quality and reliability department. Their cars seem to be proving to be pretty darned good. I have a CX5 and it has been pretty much trouble free for 60k miles so far. Just an ECU software bug resulting in CEL that they flashed and fixed for free, and needing new front pads and rotors resurfaced (typical when you live in Colorado). Lots of reports of much higher mileage too. Big fan so far.

 

We do see some weird electrical issues with Mazda but we also don't see that many Mazda's in general. On the subject of Honda's AWD system I had an element many years ago and I loved it. It got me into some surprising places. I did end up pushing it farther than it was meant to go and then traded for a tacoma. It's the kind of vehicle thats perfect for most outdoorsy people though.

 

That answers the question “How can I restrict air flow to my radiator?”

 

I think the new Pilot is going to do well, as long as Honda can build them, and people start buying vehicles again.

The Trailsport trim looks very good for a CUV. The new Pilot is the closest thing to a BOF 5th gen 4Runner can buy. They share a lot if the same lines, and the Pilot rides better, and I'm sure it's more peppy than a T4R.

Honda might even sway a few new Sequoia buyers who don't need the capacity of a fullsize SUV.

 

Ive seen so many Crosstreks out here in NV doing great off-road. My buddy has one at work and in the snow/ICE I’d definitely trust it more than my Tacoma

 

Yeah that looks great. We have a 2021 passport and it’s so capable

 

Man, this quote totally sums up my experience with Subarus. I had a 2007 Outback that had small issues from Day 1. Nothing that ever kept it off the road, but it needed constant looking after.

It went thru oil a bit, had a rear main seal leak, went thru CV boots every two years, and the dashboard melted (not isolated an isolated Subaru issue, radio/cd player died within 3 years of ownership, had a constant lean code we couldn't run down.

Finally, the head gaskets went south. After just 10 years and 100k miles I dumped it.

But despite it all it always drove fantastic and I really loved it. Weird.

Given my experience I won't recommend a Subaru to anyone.

But I do love them.

They are an enigma....

 

I put a lot of turbos and cam sprockets on the 2.3 turbos. The Rx8’s i was able to do two engines in a day after a while. The Miata’s were great. There were some strange electrical things on the 6 and 3 that usually were fuse box related.

 

That’s exactly what I’ve heard as well.

 

I just put new struts on my wife's 2007 Forester, 165K. I gotta say you can't beat that thing on snow and ice in the winter. Weird car to work on, but pretty reliable.

 

Meh, I never got the subi thing. My gf’s Impreza outback sport never did as well in the snow as my e46 wagon or vw alltrack (golf), and they all had the same Michelins. The sube would cut loose when the others just got on with it. The e46 was a manual but the vw is dsg. Everyone says sube made the best awd but I never found that to be the case. And the sube’s stamped metal plate components didn’t do that great with the salt over time. Had to replace the oil pan when it rotted out, which meant lifting the engine for clearance. (Da fuq?) sold it for waaay more than it was worth at the height of covid with 130,000 m.

I don’t really see comparing how awd compares to 4wd on the taco tho, seems like you drive them very differently.

 

Spot on. The Turner's near me has separate pistol/rifle indoor ranges. Periodically the Riverside County Sherrif rents out the rifle side and they get to play with their M4s & MP5s in there. Kinda cool to witness, but there is no interaction with the public at all.

Now that's the funniest line of this whole thread

 

This is something I can relate to. Subaru's are not Toyota or Honda quality, they beat the shit out of Dodge, but then in my experience a Dodge is only a step above a Yugo (and I remember Yugos). But Subaru's do what they do well, very well.

There are a lot of things I dig, that I would never recommend to someone else. Dating a nekid dancer (kinda tough on your psyche) buying an 07 Suzuki Grand Vitara, (brutal little beast in 4WD but the brakes sound like a freight train emergency stop and the ground clearance of a go-cart) and owning a Beretta Pico (most unobtrusive carry gun I have owned, but not fun to shoot).

Subaru's are fun, just like Jeeps, I would not recommend a Jeep, but they are fun (I'd buy another Subaru before I'd buy a Jeep, but damn was my CJ7 a hoot)

Lifes too short to worry about what someone else likes

 

Here was mine. 3.6R bought new in 2015, just sold it at Christmas with 145k miles on it.