Researched this car segment for the last 2 months, my findings, - 5th gen forester rated #1 in safety and readability over all others including RAV, trial hawk, honda and bronco sport. That said, it has been a long road for Subaru from the CVT tranny , oil consumption, head gasket issues of past generation vehicles. At 6'3, CR just announced the Forester is #1 with tall drivers as well, no surprise as the "green house" visibility is very attractive. All the safety dings can be disabled permanently, with the exception of engine on/off at stop. After market solution will solve that as well. So, I will be picking up my Subaru Forester Wilderness / pearl white next week. Comfortable driving on and off road, safety and readability, looks, honest service advisors that I have visited with during this time, all have pushed me this direction. And finally driving my daughters 2017 Forester premium, sold me on being a Subie owner. Suggested maintenance to ensure long life; 30k diff (F/R) service, 40k CVT Transmission service, and oil changes every 4k. Compared to the Outback, Off road analysis/videos show the turbo in the Outback gets totally in the way of performance when climbing, as the Forester's new gearing and software changes bring much more to the equation over the turbo, in my opinion. ua-cam.com/video/ZF_JtgJ7aKQ/v-deo.html HAPPY TRAILS but MIN ROCK CLIMBING for this cowboy. 🙂
Me and my mother took her new wilderness mudding, down the gnarliest muddy road that ive gotten stuck on before. But it did amazing, didnt skip a beat. Stock tires too.
Thank you for actually airing down tires for offroad stuff. So many channels say stuff like, "Well this is how it comes from the factory so this is how we're gonna test it," and that just doesn't hold up offroad with vehicles that are factory setup for street riding and meet MPG/emission requirements.
Recently got a Forrester Wilderness and took it on a trail in the CA desert. It was the only SUV out there; we only saw ATV buggies and full-sized 4x4 trucks but the forester made it with no problems!
pretty impressed with the forester. Alot of this stuff is way beyond what it's intended use is, and it handled it really well. But, that Baja...I miss the old quirky and bulletproof Subaru's.
Yall subaru guys are awesome. Crazy, but awesome. Im a 2 door Bronco guy, and man, I’ve got all this undercarriage, rocksliders, bashplates, i got aftermarket control arm protectors and all that. All this armor and a 2 in lift because I was so worried that I’d damage something. And I scrape or even touch maybe once a trip. I’m watching y’all subaru guys and it’s like bang band bang …that’s a tough little car!
I've watched several Forester Wilderness videos trying to get a handle on its capabilities and limits. This is definitely the most hardcore, so thank you. Plus, it looks like you've got a good mob. Kudos!
Awesome video @Bruceyyyyy ! This video dropped when I was on a 4 night /4 day trip on the Mojave road overlanding trail. Looks like I missed the party! The Forester Wilderness did pretty darn good for stock! Interesting that they now have a rear diff temp warning. I wonder if the rear diff is any different than the outback wilderness. Looking forward to more videos! If I may, I like to request a where you make a ramp out of bricks and and make it increasingly steeper. I’d like to see both the outback 3.6R and the forester wilderness drive straight up it (no cross axle) and see which one encounters torque converter speed stall first. This episode was awesome! The trail was legit!
I have a sketchy ramp V2 built. I have concluded testing for the Ironman standard and just need install the flatout coil overs, run the same tests, install the Ironman Spec C, run the same tests, gather all the data, edit the video and write the post. No big deal.
I'm not sure. The Outback wilderness does not get one. The thought that comes to my mind is the Foz Wildy has double the towing capacity of the standard model even with the same engine and (revised) transmission.
I'm a geologist so I truly appreciate my 2023 Forester Wilderness as a field car. There's pretty much no place I need to get to that it won't bring me. And then there are those long higheay rides to the sites--something the Forester will do more cheaply and more smoothely than a 4runner. The initial sticker prices are vastly different, too.
I have a 21 Forester Sport, 2inch Ironman lift and skid plates but still rocking factory size tires, but they are Wildpeak all terrains, once they ware out I’m getting smaller wheels and bigger tires next time. But this thing is a beast for what I use it for, I just like overlanding and getting to harder to reach campsites on unmaintained forest roads in the forests of Minnesota for now. Can’t wait to venture out further.
Such a cool video! Thanks for posting! I just bought a 2022 Forester Premium 2 weeks, and now I kinda wish I bought the Wilderness model! No worries, maybe that'll be my next Forester! Liked and subscribed! Love what y'all do to your Foresters and where you drive them.
The Baja proved to have a better on the surface than the newer cars with technology other than the tank. I own a manual Baja and I’ll never get rid of it because it’s old school even with temp controls😂😂. Awesome video watching you guys having fun🤙🤙
Thank you for REALLY stressing the capabilities of the Forester Wilderness. Most reviewrs put it on a dinky course that my 1965 VW Beetle could negotiate. I bought the Forester Wilderness because of reviews like this one
We have some videos about the Ironman lift on our outback. ua-cam.com/video/LcuEJc_2bFg/v-deo.html We are also working on another series with a new product Ironman sent us that addresses the sag problem discussed in this video. Stay tuned!
The OBW definitely has more power available but in my experience the TR690 is more likely to stall out in a crawl than the TR580. Check out the video of us going up Imogene Pass with Jon DZ. My 3.6 had plenty of power (similar to the OBW) but it just couldn't get it out.
Im really impressed with the Suburban. Despite its enormous size it still had great approach and departure angles even with the tow hitch. It also looks like it might have an LSD in the rear. Not so sure the modern Suburbans would do as well.
Oh yea it's my favorite $500 van. Solid axle, low range, decent axles, and yes a locker/limited slip. It's also super comfy and isn't as bad on gas as one would expect. Break over isn't great with its 130"+ wheel base. But besides that!
The Suburban made it look easy. Those suckers are very capable off roading in stock form even. Yes the length of those things can be an issue with humps or tight spaces but at the same time the length can be a plus because you are able to get one set of wheels past a slippery patch or over an obstacle for grip whereas a shorter vehicle may have all 4 wheels in a slippery patch or stuck in a rut or something. Great video though showing several different vehicles taking on the terrain and also showing different angles and such. Some people show video from the cabin driving through stuff which is useless because you can't see what is going on outside the vehicle with wheel spin and clearance and such.👍
Ya the Suburban is easily the most capable vehicle in the convoy even though it's also the size of a bus. If you want to check out more similar videos, you might like the Union Springs video we have.
Call me biased, but Foresters are the best Subarus! 😆 At lease delete the rear sway bar. I’m selling my KO2s and black wheels if you wanna drive up to Dayton and pick them up, but I’m moving in two weeks so you’d need to do it pretty soon.
Having just picked mine up, thinking a 3/4 strut tower lift (or half inch, keep away from any potential driveline/steering issues) and slightly bigger tires. I’m not even sure I want the 235/65r17, maybe a touch smaller. It’ll be some years before I even get there though, let it be new for a while.
I bought a ‘24 base model that I ordered from the factory. I ordered mine though with about $4K worth of options. Curious if I could get skid plates for mine and curious what mine or if you all had a similar base model (non X-Mode) what it could do on the trails you all were on. 👍🏼👍🏼 on the video. Kinda gives me an idea of what mine could do.
What pressure did you deflate your tires to in the Roo? I just bought a 2017 2.5 as an everyday driver, but I'm going to start setting it up for trial riding. I also own a 2018 Outback 3.6 (that's my Lil Millenium Falcon, you know it made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs).
19 00 - that's the best forester ad ever, especially after the outback on the same trail. OB is cool but those angles, Forester wins for sure. Question - I heard a rumor that in manual mode you can get more torque in Forester, because you set it to 1 gear when by default is starts from somewhat more equal to 2 gear (it's CVT of course but still). Do you know if it's true or just a rumor? Great video, helped to choose my next car))
I know the gear ratios can change versus locking them in. I'm only aware of it for the opposite side though, that leaving it in auto it can get a longer gear than manual mode. I personally appreciate the control that comes from manual mode.
What a beautiful trail! Where is this at? I’m in Southern WV, and I’d just like to test out my Cherokee more thoroughly. So far it has impressed me with just the base 4x4 (ADI). Always great seeing WV peeps. Take care!
@@bruceyyyyy by chance do you know of any groups that may be going there soon? I’ll likely go in mid August. My local Jeep group seems to not be fond of anything that’s not a Wrangler.
I think the wilderness options are great soft roaders but people are thinking these are real 4WD like Landcruisers, Patrols etc and the transmissions won't cope well with that kind of punishiment long term. They just aren't designed for it
exactly. just because you can doesn't mean you should. pushing these Subies this hard, on trails like this is far beyond their design parameters or what 98% of Subie owners will do. This was Jeep/4Runner/Tacoma terrain. i love them and we have an Outback, wouldn't even consider doing this with it. that's what the truck is for.
The car at 22:15 looks like AWD wasn't locking the spinning wheel(s). What year is that outback? Seems like it should have been able to go up that first route without too much trouble.
It is a 2015. However, due to a bad coil it threw a check engine light on this trail. After that, ABS and X Mode disabled itself which resulted it in driving like the older pre VDC Subaru.
@@michaelptm2269 Around 15k. We sold it to Carvana because they paid us more than we paid for it. The 3.6 Outback shown here we also bought new and still have. I have a full list of what has failed on it but it's also been minimal.
Impressive. How does your buddy like those AT3’s? Been looking at those, wildpeaks, nitto, and Cooper been thinking about getting those for my 19 forester. Tires can make all the difference I know, there’s just so many options out there.
@@bruceyyyyy yeah I’m in Wisconsin and we get a lot of snow lol. I’m more concerned about snow and mud and general forest service road conditions than rock crawling. I’m not the type to bash up my car on rocks 😆. Although I’ll eventually get a mild lift I suppose just not right now.
@@bruceyyyyy I thought about it. I had some on my old legacy and it was a beast in the snow. Of course the downside being you can’t run them in the summer time because the compound is too soft. Less aggressive tread too compared to a dedicated AT. But amazing on road performance and breaking is great.
This Forester wilderness might be the best off-road Subaru yet. The TR580 transmission on the forester seems much less prone to the dreaded CVT stall on the TR690s. The forester also has naturally better angles than the outbacks due to the shorter overhangs. Excited to see what mods you will be doing to yours.
Yup. Agreed on all points. It's worth noting here that the red Outback and the FW both have the FB25 and TR580. But seeing the difference been the two climb, I can't help but feel they've done more to the programming than just change the gear ratios.
That Forester Wilderness is a beast! They really look awesome. But, everybody knows that CVTs can’t off-road because the explode LOL! I love those tools that hate on CVTs and new Subarus.
@@bruceyyyyy hello Bruceyyy. Fisrt, thank you (from France !!!), for this amazing vidéo ! Very interesting to watch ! And more with the Suburban. I am Ob 2.5 owner of 2008. Except the problem of head gasquet, very good and beautiful car. Mine is with à manual gear box. Everybody Who says CVT is not good, doesn't really know this gear box. Of course if you don't change the oil you will have problems. Of course if your gear box is 15 years old or more than 200 000 kms, you will may have problems if you make off road... Otherwise, very very good gear box. Used by a lot of brands.
@@jeannice3475 I was kidding about CVTs exploding. So many people seem to like to coment about how older Subarus are better and how they would never own a new one because of the CVT. I'm pretty sure people leaving those comments have no experiance with a newer Subaru. Personally, I have a 2025 Outback 3.6r with a CVT and I've had 0 issues so far. I'm not a fan of automatic transmissions in general but these CVTs are very smooth and seem to find the correct ratio 99% of the time.
@@bruceyyyyy I know and I couldn't resist making a joke about that. People just need to experiance the CVT for themselves. I do realize that some CVT do suck but not the ones from Subaru. Having a chain driven system makes a big difference.
Best 4x4 were the dogs, easily. Put everyone else to shame. Now I *really* I don't wanna wait until July for our Forester Wilderness to come in. But I have to.
I wouldn't have taken ANY of those vehicles on that trail, let alone the Subaru (my current vehicle, however, is another story)! To me it's not worth the trail-damage (the risk of it or actually damaging something). Subarus are very capable (I had a 2014 CrossTrek XV) but they lack the needed ground-clearance...AND rock-rails! -- BR
No wonder you wanted to give me those Wild Peaks, LOL! Y'all get intense with your off-roading, LOL! I think I'll stick to the forest roads here in Kentucky, thank you... 😂🤣
About how far down in pressure do you guys go when airing down the smaller profile tires of the Subarus. I'm always conscious that I have less sidewall height than some other cars because there is a physical limit on how small of wheels I can put on my new Subaru. So I don't want to go down too low, also because you might lose some clearance height. On the other hand I want to make sure I go down enough. And looking at the video here it looked like you guys were aired down perfect for those rocks. Just enough not to tear up the tires, but still a ways from bottoming out or pinching rims. I am guessing about 15-18? But honestly I've never aired down much. I've got the valves and compressor to do it now on my new rig, but haven't tried it much yet. Like I said, I would start at around 18 as a guess, but I don't know. And Im guessing on super fine soft dry sand I might be able to get away with like 12 without losing a bead. But again, I am guessing. What says the community? BTW this would be for 245/65/17's which are about 29.5" tall At cruising PSI. so not too shabby, but If I could have I would have got a smaller wheel. I have the Wilderness too but the Outback version. The taller tires give it a bit more clearance which hopefully makes up for it being pretty long for rough terrain roads. Databyter
@@bruceyyyyy Wow, I saw a lot of deformation. I thought you did. I guess it was just due to the rocks. I wonder if airing down would have helped traction a lot in that last slippery obstacle and saved that tire? Thanks for the answer, thats about the area I was thinking psi wise also.
...if you stop when you hear a crunch, you get stuck. You have to go against instinct and drive through the crunch. Metal skid plates are meant to take a small beating...step rails are not.
Great video guys, good job all around! I have had my new SFW for 2 weeks now and am crazy about it. I noticed you put a tow hitch on it. What kind/brand did you go with? Did it cause any ground clearance/departure angle issues for you?
The CVT is in constant save mode and cuts power to save itself. That one thing I hate with my MY17 OB. It really needs momentum or a regular Auto... Owner of MY 17OB, in 2inch Ironman lift on 17inc Yokohama Geolanders.
I still think it's a programming thing. Look at the difference between the Red Outback and the Forester on the climbing areas. The Forester took a harder line and went right up. Then when the red car started acting up it started acting just like the old school Subaru as a double open diff wonder.
That Wilderness out wheeled the entire convoy. Good momentum too - crawling and Subarus don't mix well. That 2015 was way out of its comfort zone though.
The Forester Wilderness IS the best off-road capable vehicle that Subaru has right now. It's crawl ratio is higher than the Outback Wilderness. Let me do some some math: FW: (First gear) 4.066 x (Final drive) 4.11 = 16.7:1 OBW: 3.490 x 4.44 = 15.5:1 Crosstrek Sport (Outdoor for you Canucks): 4.066 x 3.7 = 15.0:1 On paper, the OBW is only marginally more capable than the CS Sport. However in the real world, the CS Sport is much more capable than the OBW if good tires are installed. The CS Sport and FW share the same engine and transmission with the exception of the 4.11 ring and pinion sets in the FW. Forget turbocharging the Forester/Crosstrek, as it only accelerates overheating the CVT off-road. How? The turbocharger heats up the engine oil, the engine oil heats up the coolant, the coolant heats up the CVT fluid, then the CVT itself overheats and cuts power.
@@computerguru70 It's been seen all over UA-cam how crappy the OBW's TR690 is when climbing over obstacles. It stalls like crazy, even over a small rock.
@@octurbojoe I don't understand why they didn't use the D/R gearboxes in the USA. It has synchros on the hi/lo so you can shift while moving, and it's such an easy shifting action that I use it everyday. Slow moving traffic, carparks, steep hill starts, starting with a heavy trailer. Ohh and off road haha. It's pretty amazing how steep it can climb with the ratio that I have! Coupled with 2x LSD diffs I can crawl up things, without having to send it too fast ✌️
I've been impressed with what the Forester Wilderness can do! Keep bringing us more videos like this 👍. The red Outback in limp mode really showed how bad open differentials can be with no traction control.
Researched this car segment for the last 2 months, my findings, - 5th gen forester rated #1 in safety and readability over all others including RAV, trial hawk, honda and bronco sport. That said, it has been a long road for Subaru from the CVT tranny , oil consumption, head gasket issues of past generation vehicles. At 6'3, CR just announced the Forester is #1 with tall drivers as well, no surprise as the "green house" visibility is very attractive. All the safety dings can be disabled permanently, with the exception of engine on/off at stop. After market solution will solve that as well. So, I will be picking up my Subaru Forester Wilderness / pearl white next week. Comfortable driving on and off road, safety and readability, looks, honest service advisors that I have visited with during this time, all have pushed me this direction. And finally driving my daughters 2017 Forester premium, sold me on being a Subie owner. Suggested maintenance to ensure long life; 30k diff (F/R) service, 40k CVT Transmission service, and oil changes every 4k.
Compared to the Outback, Off road analysis/videos show the turbo in the Outback gets totally in the way of performance when climbing, as the Forester's new gearing and software changes bring much more to the equation over the turbo, in my opinion. ua-cam.com/video/ZF_JtgJ7aKQ/v-deo.html
HAPPY TRAILS but MIN ROCK CLIMBING for this cowboy. 🙂
love that the baja quietly followed along and kicked ass. can’t wait to get mine ready for the trails 💕
Yeah, that Baja is sweeeetttt!
Me and my mother took her new wilderness mudding, down the gnarliest muddy road that ive gotten stuck on before. But it did amazing, didnt skip a beat. Stock tires too.
Thank you for actually airing down tires for offroad stuff. So many channels say stuff like, "Well this is how it comes from the factory so this is how we're gonna test it," and that just doesn't hold up offroad with vehicles that are factory setup for street riding and meet MPG/emission requirements.
I always air down for comfort.
Recently got a Forrester Wilderness and took it on a trail in the CA desert. It was the only SUV out there; we only saw ATV buggies and full-sized 4x4 trucks but the forester made it with no problems!
Wow the Forester Wilderness it's amazing, definitely seems to have the best combo diff transmission!
I have the 22 Subaru Forester Wilderness and I LOVE!!!
pretty impressed with the forester. Alot of this stuff is way beyond what it's intended use is, and it handled it really well. But, that Baja...I miss the old quirky and bulletproof Subaru's.
Can’t wait to bring my Outback Wilderness out with you guys!
Yall subaru guys are awesome. Crazy, but awesome. Im a 2 door Bronco guy, and man, I’ve got all this undercarriage, rocksliders, bashplates, i got aftermarket control arm protectors and all that. All this armor and a 2 in lift because I was so worried that I’d damage something. And I scrape or even touch maybe once a trip. I’m watching y’all subaru guys and it’s like bang band bang …that’s a tough little car!
I've watched several Forester Wilderness videos trying to get a handle on its capabilities and limits. This is definitely the most hardcore, so thank you. Plus, it looks like you've got a good mob. Kudos!
Awesome video @Bruceyyyyy ! This video dropped when I was on a 4 night /4 day trip on the Mojave road overlanding trail. Looks like I missed the party! The Forester Wilderness did pretty darn good for stock! Interesting that they now have a rear diff temp warning. I wonder if the rear diff is any different than the outback wilderness. Looking forward to more videos! If I may, I like to request a where you make a ramp out of bricks and and make it increasingly steeper. I’d like to see both the outback 3.6R and the forester wilderness drive straight up it (no cross axle) and see which one encounters torque converter speed stall first.
This episode was awesome! The trail was legit!
I have a sketchy ramp V2 built. I have concluded testing for the Ironman standard and just need install the flatout coil overs, run the same tests, install the Ironman Spec C, run the same tests, gather all the data, edit the video and write the post. No big deal.
what is the significance of the rear diff temp warning label? genuinely curious lol..
I'm not sure. The Outback wilderness does not get one.
The thought that comes to my mind is the Foz Wildy has double the towing capacity of the standard model even with the same engine and (revised) transmission.
I'm a geologist so I truly appreciate my 2023 Forester Wilderness as a field car. There's pretty much no place I need to get to that it won't bring me. And then there are those long higheay rides to the sites--something the Forester will do more cheaply and more smoothely than a 4runner. The initial sticker prices are vastly different, too.
The Wilderness Forester is really awesome - that´s SUBIE performance at it´s best !!!
I have a 21 Forester Sport, 2inch Ironman lift and skid plates but still rocking factory size tires, but they are Wildpeak all terrains, once they ware out I’m getting smaller wheels and bigger tires next time. But this thing is a beast for what I use it for, I just like overlanding and getting to harder to reach campsites on unmaintained forest roads in the forests of Minnesota for now. Can’t wait to venture out further.
That’s it. My next off road vehicle is going to be a motorcycle.
Such a cool video! Thanks for posting! I just bought a 2022 Forester Premium 2 weeks, and now I kinda wish I bought the Wilderness model! No worries, maybe that'll be my next Forester! Liked and subscribed! Love what y'all do to your Foresters and where you drive them.
The Baja proved to have a better on the surface than the newer cars with technology other than the tank. I own a manual Baja and I’ll never get rid of it because it’s old school even with temp controls😂😂. Awesome video watching you guys having fun🤙🤙
Can't compare vehicles this way unless you have the same driver in each. Driving skill is the most important metric.
Thank you for REALLY stressing the capabilities of the Forester Wilderness. Most reviewrs put it on a dinky course that my 1965 VW Beetle could negotiate. I bought the Forester Wilderness because of reviews like this one
Great video. Thanks for sharing. I'm getting my Forester this week down here in Brazil, just shipped from Japan.
Would love to have a Baja to work (coffee farm)
That's exactly where those steps belong I just hope nothing else was messed up while removing it.
Came for the Forester stayed for the chevy lol
nice review. the dogs 🐕 on the trail were the cutest.
They love getting dirty with us!
I wanna lift my 2020 Forester and put A/T tires after seeing this cool video.
We have some videos about the Ironman lift on our outback. ua-cam.com/video/LcuEJc_2bFg/v-deo.html
We are also working on another series with a new product Ironman sent us that addresses the sag problem discussed in this video. Stay tuned!
It could be that color from rust, but it's more likely that it's tannins from leaves and other detritus.
That's why the OBW is the one to get with the turbo and more torque available. All those non-turbo Subies struggled sending power to the rear wheels.
The OBW definitely has more power available but in my experience the TR690 is more likely to stall out in a crawl than the TR580.
Check out the video of us going up Imogene Pass with Jon DZ. My 3.6 had plenty of power (similar to the OBW) but it just couldn't get it out.
That Baja was a beast!
When that step rail came off I laughed too, that's exactly how I took mine off
Im really impressed with the Suburban. Despite its enormous size it still had great approach and departure angles even with the tow hitch. It also looks like it might have an LSD in the rear. Not so sure the modern Suburbans would do as well.
Oh yea it's my favorite $500 van.
Solid axle, low range, decent axles, and yes a locker/limited slip.
It's also super comfy and isn't as bad on gas as one would expect.
Break over isn't great with its 130"+ wheel base.
But besides that!
That Chevy Suburban (I think it wa a Suburban) had an amazingly easy time! That surprised me!
They are surprisingly capable vehicles in stock form. Solid axle and locking differential, body on frame, 4WD with low range, etc.
Love the Forester and that Wilderness owned it, but the Baja is my dream car 🥴
The Suburban made it look easy. Those suckers are very capable off roading in stock form even. Yes the length of those things can be an issue with humps or tight spaces but at the same time the length can be a plus because you are able to get one set of wheels past a slippery patch or over an obstacle for grip whereas a shorter vehicle may have all 4 wheels in a slippery patch or stuck in a rut or something.
Great video though showing several different vehicles taking on the terrain and also showing different angles and such. Some people show video from the cabin driving through stuff which is useless because you can't see what is going on outside the vehicle with wheel spin and clearance and such.👍
Ya the Suburban is easily the most capable vehicle in the convoy even though it's also the size of a bus.
If you want to check out more similar videos, you might like the Union Springs video we have.
You had me at the bumper coming off
Sorry it’s taken me months but what a great vid
Brucey being Brucey never gets old 😄
I do alright huh?
Call me biased, but Foresters are the best Subarus! 😆 At lease delete the rear sway bar. I’m selling my KO2s and black wheels if you wanna drive up to Dayton and pick them up, but I’m moving in two weeks so you’d need to do it pretty soon.
Shoot me a message! My email is listed. I think you're on my Facebook too.
Having just picked mine up, thinking a 3/4 strut tower lift (or half inch, keep away from any potential driveline/steering issues) and slightly bigger tires. I’m not even sure I want the 235/65r17, maybe a touch smaller. It’ll be some years before I even get there though, let it be new for a while.
Those are all pretty damn capable cars besides a little more ground clearance some meatier tires and they would go anywhere.
I love my Wilderness. best Subaru Ever.
I loved it as well.
I bought a ‘24 base model that I ordered from the factory.
I ordered mine though with about $4K worth of options.
Curious if I could get skid plates for mine and curious what mine or if you all had a similar base model (non X-Mode) what it could do on the trails you all were on.
👍🏼👍🏼 on the video.
Kinda gives me an idea of what mine could do.
What pressure did you deflate your tires to in the Roo? I just bought a 2017 2.5 as an everyday driver, but I'm going to start setting it up for trial riding. I also own a 2018 Outback 3.6 (that's my Lil Millenium Falcon, you know it made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs).
20 psi give or take
11:04 laughed at their laughs. Proper verification of all the Subaru claims. Well done!
19 00 - that's the best forester ad ever, especially after the outback on the same trail. OB is cool but those angles, Forester wins for sure. Question - I heard a rumor that in manual mode you can get more torque in Forester, because you set it to 1 gear when by default is starts from somewhat more equal to 2 gear (it's CVT of course but still). Do you know if it's true or just a rumor?
Great video, helped to choose my next car))
I know the gear ratios can change versus locking them in.
I'm only aware of it for the opposite side though, that leaving it in auto it can get a longer gear than manual mode.
I personally appreciate the control that comes from manual mode.
@@bruceyyyyy Thank you!
Looks like a bunch of fun.
Nice videos. If you are ever in the pa area let me know we can hit some of the offroad parks
I'm game! Where in PA are y'all?
I can't seem to find any stockists in my area - is this available in Australia?
that baja is the best
These Subaru drivers are crazy 😂
What a beautiful trail! Where is this at? I’m in Southern WV, and I’d just like to test out my Cherokee more thoroughly. So far it has impressed me with just the base 4x4 (ADI). Always great seeing WV peeps. Take care!
It's Canaan loop near Davis. A stock Cherokee shouldn't have much trouble assuming it's got a good set of tires.
@@bruceyyyyy did you all enter from the entrance closest to the resort or the other way?
I believe from the resort side.
@@bruceyyyyy by chance do you know of any groups that may be going there soon? I’ll likely go in mid August. My local Jeep group seems to not be fond of anything that’s not a Wrangler.
@@jeremystout412 Shoot me an email. I could always run this again.
bruceygastation@gmail.com
i agree with you Brucey, that Forester Wilderness is great from the factory. Not much modifications needed, cant wait to get one!
The wilderness has a good spotter
You think you can also test a Toyota and jeep suv , off road style
Hey Bruceyyyyyyyy… think my 2015 wilderness outing front driver’s side cv assembly is going out at 117k. Have you had to replace yours yet?
Haven't had the pleasure.
Actually need to make a video showing everything that's gone wrong in 100k.
I think the wilderness options are great soft roaders but people are thinking these are real 4WD like Landcruisers, Patrols etc and the transmissions won't cope well with that kind of punishiment long term. They just aren't designed for it
exactly. just because you can doesn't mean you should. pushing these Subies this hard, on trails like this is far beyond their design parameters or what 98% of Subie owners will do. This was Jeep/4Runner/Tacoma terrain. i love them and we have an Outback, wouldn't even consider doing this with it. that's what the truck is for.
The Forester however does come with a transmission cooler.
The car at 22:15 looks like AWD wasn't locking the spinning wheel(s). What year is that outback? Seems like it should have been able to go up that first route without too much trouble.
It is a 2015. However, due to a bad coil it threw a check engine light on this trail. After that, ABS and X Mode disabled itself which resulted it in driving like the older pre VDC Subaru.
@@bruceyyyyy That makes sense, thanks for the reply!
Hey how would you rate the Subaru after two years in reliability? Thank you
Excellent
@@bruceyyyyy how many miles have you put on it?
@@michaelptm2269 Around 15k. We sold it to Carvana because they paid us more than we paid for it. The 3.6 Outback shown here we also bought new and still have. I have a full list of what has failed on it but it's also been minimal.
Brucy, my wife would kill me if I took her Outback off road like that.
But I’d be happy to do it to my X wife’s 🤣
Impressive. How does your buddy like those AT3’s? Been looking at those, wildpeaks, nitto, and Cooper been thinking about getting those for my 19 forester. Tires can make all the difference I know, there’s just so many options out there.
I have had the AT3W's before and love them. I'm kinda meh about the AT Trail. THE KO2's were great on rocks and mud and meh everywhere else.
@@bruceyyyyy yeah I’m in Wisconsin and we get a lot of snow lol. I’m more concerned about snow and mud and general forest service road conditions than rock crawling. I’m not the type to bash up my car on rocks 😆. Although I’ll eventually get a mild lift I suppose just not right now.
In your case why not get dedicated snows?
@@bruceyyyyy I thought about it. I had some on my old legacy and it was a beast in the snow. Of course the downside being you can’t run them in the summer time because the compound is too soft. Less aggressive tread too compared to a dedicated AT. But amazing on road performance and breaking is great.
I was thinking run snows in winter then switch. Having one tire that can do EVERYTHING is going to make it pretty compromised.
Hey bruceyyyyy what’s your take on fitting 225 65 17s on the stock Forester wilderness suspension? Thinking about it for mine. thanks in advance!
I could be mistaken but I believe that's the stock size for the wilderness models?
Stock is 225 60 17…
@@stevem4438 I think that should be safe. The Stock Gen 5 Outback size is 225/65/17.
Thanks for your take!
Unless you’re doing it for kicks, y’all should turn VDC off when off-road.
Yup. I had forgotten to do so up until I needed it. (:
What about switching to manual transmission if you have a outback wilderness with turbo? Would that disengage the turbo?
No
Is there any situation where the manual transmission be helpful with out turbo in the Outback
nice video again brucey, what camera are you using? Im looking to upgrade mine.
GoPro 5, my phone (S21), and my old phone with a bad battery and cracked screen (S9).
@@bruceyyyyy ok thanks, I was looking at a GoPro 8
Why do the Subarus do 3 wheels a lot?we have a Wilderness coming.
Lack of suspension travel.
This canaan loop? Been out it many times in my 08 forester without spinning a tire.
Sounds cool. Would love to see video!
Great 😀
The outback wildernesses doesn’t have the sticker on the door bust is the diff the same?
I do not believe it has the sensor there.
I've murdered more than a few Chevy steps in my time. 😁
Nice color, like my 20 OB Onyx, are you planning on putting on the IM ATS or Flatout?
No current plans beyond the primitive plates.
“Special sticker” isn’t meant for serious off roading.
This Forester wilderness might be the best off-road Subaru yet. The TR580 transmission on the forester seems much less prone to the dreaded CVT stall on the TR690s. The forester also has naturally better angles than the outbacks due to the shorter overhangs. Excited to see what mods you will be doing to yours.
Yup. Agreed on all points.
It's worth noting here that the red Outback and the FW both have the FB25 and TR580.
But seeing the difference been the two climb, I can't help but feel they've done more to the programming than just change the gear ratios.
And still, classical tg5 series or tv-serias subaru automatic transmission is much better for off-roading than CVT. :)
you know why the baja had an easier time? 4EAT, not the crappy CVT
I think the wilderness did the best of the Subaru if I'm honest.
That Forester Wilderness is a beast! They really look awesome. But, everybody knows that CVTs can’t off-road because the explode LOL! I love those tools that hate on CVTs and new Subarus.
No, the CVT is very good.
It still amazes me that I have all kinds of videos of CVT's doing amazing things but half the comments are still "CVT FAIL"
@@bruceyyyyy hello Bruceyyy. Fisrt, thank you (from France !!!), for this amazing vidéo ! Very interesting to watch ! And more with the Suburban. I am Ob 2.5 owner of 2008. Except the problem of head gasquet, very good and beautiful car. Mine is with à manual gear box.
Everybody Who says CVT is not good, doesn't really know this gear box. Of course if you don't change the oil you will have problems. Of course if your gear box is 15 years old or more than 200 000 kms, you will may have problems if you make off road... Otherwise, very very good gear box. Used by a lot of brands.
@@jeannice3475 I was kidding about CVTs exploding. So many people seem to like to coment about how older Subarus are better and how they would never own a new one because of the CVT. I'm pretty sure people leaving those comments have no experiance with a newer Subaru. Personally, I have a 2025 Outback 3.6r with a CVT and I've had 0 issues so far. I'm not a fan of automatic transmissions in general but these CVTs are very smooth and seem to find the correct ratio 99% of the time.
@@bruceyyyyy I know and I couldn't resist making a joke about that. People just need to experiance the CVT for themselves. I do realize that some CVT do suck but not the ones from Subaru. Having a chain driven system makes a big difference.
Love the video I'm currently working on building my 08 tribeca into a soft roader/overlander
Wait a minute, i never saw that rear Diff sticker on my girlfriend wilderness
Awesome video! That definitely looks like a fun trail to test the various rigs on.
Best 4x4 were the dogs, easily. Put everyone else to shame.
Now I *really* I don't wanna wait until July for our Forester Wilderness to come in. But I have to.
You almost ran over your dog man
They know to get out of the way.
I wouldn't have taken ANY of those vehicles on that trail, let alone the Subaru (my current vehicle, however, is another story)! To me it's not worth the trail-damage (the risk of it or actually damaging something). Subarus are very capable (I had a 2014 CrossTrek XV) but they lack the needed ground-clearance...AND rock-rails!
-- BR
Where's the fun in that?
@@bruceyyyyy Never mind...sorry for the intrusion. ;-)
-- BR
@@billredding2000 Well hope you enjoyed watching us take ours out at least!
@@bruceyyyyy I take mine out but do my "off-roading" differently. -- BR
Everyone has different ideas of off road. Same with on road driving really. (:
No wonder you wanted to give me those Wild Peaks, LOL!
Y'all get intense with your off-roading, LOL! I think I'll stick to the forest roads here in Kentucky, thank you... 😂🤣
Yeah see why I was kinda meh about them? LOL
The forester is the most capable subaru in off road
these subarus are cool and all, but these 'obstacles' are literally not even that for something like a stock 4runner or xterra
They seem pretty gnarly for any vehicles really.
About how far down in pressure do you guys go when airing down the smaller profile tires of the Subarus. I'm always conscious that I have less sidewall height than some other cars because there is a physical limit on how small of wheels I can put on my new Subaru. So I don't want to go down too low, also because you might lose some clearance height. On the other hand I want to make sure I go down enough. And looking at the video here it looked like you guys were aired down perfect for those rocks. Just enough not to tear up the tires, but still a ways from bottoming out or pinching rims. I am guessing about 15-18? But honestly I've never aired down much. I've got the valves and compressor to do it now on my new rig, but haven't tried it much yet. Like I said, I would start at around 18 as a guess, but I don't know. And Im guessing on super fine soft dry sand I might be able to get away with like 12 without losing a bead. But again, I am guessing. What says the community? BTW this would be for 245/65/17's which are about 29.5" tall At cruising PSI. so not too shabby, but If I could have I would have got a smaller wheel. I have the Wilderness too but the Outback version. The taller tires give it a bit more clearance which hopefully makes up for it being pretty long for rough terrain roads.
Databyter
We didn't air down for this trail but we could have. I usually go for 15-20 PSI
@@bruceyyyyy Wow, I saw a lot of deformation. I thought you did. I guess it was just due to the rocks. I wonder if airing down would have helped traction a lot in that last slippery obstacle and saved that tire? Thanks for the answer, thats about the area I was thinking psi wise also.
I think it would have helped with traction. But I was worried about clearance. Except for what's here it was basically a dirt road. (:
@@Databyter looked to me like the red (possibly 2015) outback was airred way down. (before the puncture )
awesome vid!! new subscriber.
Welcome aboard!
11:15 lol you hear a crunch!... most would stop, I loved that you just kept going like nothing wrong. haha
...if you stop when you hear a crunch, you get stuck. You have to go against instinct and drive through the crunch. Metal skid plates are meant to take a small beating...step rails are not.
The Wilderness made it look easy. Nice to see one put to use.
Oh what a strain on those CVTs.
Is the wilderness a temporary replacement for the bronco?
We're not sure yet. Ford is still dragging their feet.
Great video guys, good job all around! I have had my new SFW for 2 weeks now and am crazy about it. I noticed you put a tow hitch on it. What kind/brand did you go with? Did it cause any ground clearance/departure angle issues for you?
I don't think we have a hitch on the FW yet. We plan on getting one but it's back ordered from Subaru. So we will likely get aftermarket.
Minute 17:21 the lady partner could have communicated a bit better.
That Baja is sweet!! I wish they still made those!
You missed it in full dress form! Check out the video I linked to see what it looked like then!
The CVT is in constant save mode and cuts power to save itself. That one thing I hate with my MY17 OB. It really needs momentum or a regular Auto...
Owner of MY 17OB, in 2inch Ironman lift on 17inc Yokohama Geolanders.
I still think it's a programming thing.
Look at the difference between the Red Outback and the Forester on the climbing areas.
The Forester took a harder line and went right up.
Then when the red car started acting up it started acting just like the old school Subaru as a double open diff wonder.
the real stars are dogs
They out climbed every car here!
That Wilderness out wheeled the entire convoy. Good momentum too - crawling and Subarus don't mix well. That 2015 was way out of its comfort zone though.
The Suburban outwheeled them all.
@@bubbalo3388 And died shortly after.
The Forester Wilderness IS the best off-road capable vehicle that Subaru has right now. It's crawl ratio is higher than the Outback Wilderness. Let me do some some math:
FW: (First gear) 4.066 x (Final drive) 4.11 = 16.7:1
OBW: 3.490 x 4.44 = 15.5:1
Crosstrek Sport (Outdoor for you Canucks): 4.066 x 3.7 = 15.0:1
On paper, the OBW is only marginally more capable than the CS Sport. However in the real world, the CS Sport is much more capable than the OBW if good tires are installed. The CS Sport and FW share the same engine and transmission with the exception of the 4.11 ring and pinion sets in the FW.
Forget turbocharging the Forester/Crosstrek, as it only accelerates overheating the CVT off-road. How? The turbocharger heats up the engine oil, the engine oil heats up the coolant, the coolant heats up the CVT fluid, then the CVT itself overheats and cuts power.
ua-cam.com/video/ZF_JtgJ7aKQ/v-deo.html. start at 222 (although I dont think she gave OB a chance when not airing down)
@@computerguru70 It's been seen all over UA-cam how crappy the OBW's TR690 is when climbing over obstacles. It stalls like crazy, even over a small rock.
My AUD 2003 dual range Outback = 25:1. I love it so much haha.
@@procrastinator1842 Haha, I forgot how you Aussies get the good stuff. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼😆
@@octurbojoe I don't understand why they didn't use the D/R gearboxes in the USA. It has synchros on the hi/lo so you can shift while moving, and it's such an easy shifting action that I use it everyday. Slow moving traffic, carparks, steep hill starts, starting with a heavy trailer.
Ohh and off road haha. It's pretty amazing how steep it can climb with the ratio that I have! Coupled with 2x LSD diffs I can crawl up things, without having to send it too fast ✌️
Been waiting for a video like this. Awesome content! Getting my FW next month and will surely put it to the test.
I've been impressed with what the Forester Wilderness can do! Keep bringing us more videos like this 👍.
The red Outback in limp mode really showed how bad open differentials can be with no traction control.
guy in the red outback needs a bit of practice.
Cringed the whole way. 😂
one word: Jeep.
We didn't want to buy an Italian vehicle so we bought a Bronco.
@@bruceyyyyy there ya go. another appropriate vehicle for this trail.
Check out our new stuff. We took it on this same path.