4x4 vs. AWD

I got to go with the consensus here I would choose all wheel drive over 4 wheel drive any day of the week however I've never once been afraid to shift a toyota into 4hi even at freeway speed. But when the roads get real slick I'd rather drive the wifes Yukon Denali.

 

So it would be "Subayota" then.

 

If you are going freeway speed and you need 4wd then the next place you're going is into the ditch.
If my wife didn't already have a 4x4 and know how to drive in the snow, then a Subaru would be high on the list of possible cars for her.

Personally I think people worry way too much about using 4wd. IMHO if the roads are wet that will provide enough wheel slip to prevent any damage. Actually IMHO even driving on dry pavement in 4wd isn't going to instantly cause things to explode. So put that sucker in 4wd if you feel the need.

 

Lol, true that. Most often it happens in a mountain pass either an ice patch in the road big enough to make me pucker or a sudden temp drop. I'll throw it into 4 wheel drive if I'm backing off the Speed.

 

Luv-it

 

It's more or less because of the shared platforms and toyota's influence in their model designs. Subaru used to be quirky but now they've become very mainstream and to me, just AWD toyotas with flat-4s and flat-6s instead. The forester is an inflated CUV now, the impreza sedan is god ugly and the only saving grace to me is their crosstrek.

 

Agreed. I'm very happy to see the overall quality, fit and finish, and tech being brought up to date in Subaru. However they've completely gone away from what makes the Subaru. Granted they'll gain more general public customers, but their loyal crowd will dwindle.

 

Just guessing here, but if what you are saying IS TRUE, maybe Subaru figured there are MORE "general public customers" than "loyal crowd".
Have you ever or do you now own a Subaru?

 

That's precisely what I said. They're going for quantity over quality, like every other business, because that's where the money is.

Yes.

 

The Last gen imprezza sure looked better.

 

New CrossTrek (2018) will be the new Impreza (2017). I hope they can salvage it some. Ha

 

Imo, the 08 forester is the sleeper in the entire line of bu's. It's the old Impreza (read: rally car) chassis, plenty of low end torque in the N/A, 5 spd MT, 9" of ground clearance, and loads of cargo space. Garnished with a GIANT moon roof, heated seats, side mirrors and windshield, the car is my FAVORITE Tahoe rig. Currently 202k miles and counting.

That said, my new Tacoma was butter and had me crackin plenty of smiles this week, plowing through feet of the fresh stuff.

 

You running winter tires, stock, AT, other?

 

Had an 03, really wanted an 06-08 MT forever. Still tempting even next to the new Crosstreks. Phenomenal little utes.

 

No winter tires, but I would have if living in the mountains. I've run GY triple treads, general altimax, some lame econos for a bit... But I feel the oem geolander G9000's were the best performers. Yokohama designed them specifically for the forester.

Everything pretty much stock though. Perfect as is.

 

I own a Subaru as well as the TRD-OR. Ive also owned built Jeeps. I will pick the Subaru over ANY other vehicle when the roads turn nasty. I don't care if it's rain, snow, sleet or whatever. The Subaru flat out performs ten times better on the road. Once I leave the pavement, that is where the taco shines.

 

Totally agree with you!
My 2006 Forestor is still running great, I'm the original owner. It is awesome in bad weather. Sun roof is like having a convertible.
The fit and finish on it are good, mountain bike fits in the back, you can sleep in it.

 

Not sure if this helps...fail here is the tires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGHYZAxKxs4

 

Tires are the big factor as well as ground clearance. The other thing that come into play with TFL Daily is off road driving has always been a factor with these two.

 

A lot of dudes misrepresenting Subaru's symmetrical awd system in this thread. Also, despite what someone else said, you can only use a Tacoma's rear diff in 4lo, which is a very rare occurrence that you really have to go out of your way to be in. Handy, yes, but not likely a deal breaker for most shoppers.

So, I have a 2010 Tacoma TRD off road, wife has a 2018 Outback. For the most part, I wish I had the Outback.

The Taco does pretty well in the snow, but I did get myself into trouble going up an unplowed fire road last winter in 12" of snow, big mistake and I managed to drive-slide out of trouble in reverse. I also don't like driving on roads and highways in snow because of constantly switching back and forth from 2h to 4h, worrying about binding, etc. The Outback wins on general snow driving.

There have definitely been perks to my Taco, namely having a shell and a great way to get me and the dogs to the trail head, having solid clearance and a skid plate for any terrain I cared to take on. Trucks = freedom, too, when it comes to getting things done for landscaping, hauling, towing, etc, I love not having to borrow or rent.

There's no arguing against the resale on Tacomas, either. Subarus aren't too bad in this category either, though.

But I'm overall pretty disappointed with the Tacoma. The mpg is pathetic. There have been too many recalls and service bulletins, tons of vibration issues due to serious drive line problems. I have gotten a lot of runaround from the dealer and corporate and lost a lot of money dealing with those problems, including repairs and significantly reduced life of my tires. They say Tacomas are bulletproof, but I say that's BS, a myth driven largely by a crowd of vocal Tacoma fans who love fixing and modifying their trucks. Despite their similarities, Toyota seems to make the 4runner a much more refined vehicle than the noisy, vibrating Tacoma.

I'm looking forward to selling my Tacoma soon and quite possibly getting a Subi instead. I'm bummed, since a Tacoma was the only vehicle I ever really wanted, they look great (the first two generations, at least) and we're supposed to last forever. But to hell with Toyota if they think I'm going to schlep my kids around in a truck that vibrates so much, has tons of road noise, and might or might not drop its driveshaft on the freeway, just so that I can crawl over the occasional boulder. I wish Nissan still made the Xterra.