Do Subarus come in FWD only?

qslim

qslim

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We wheeling with the family today in the TJ & my buddy brought his fam in his 4-Runner. Went up to about 9k feet, rode the ridge, & dove down through some pretty tight technical stuff to get to a few ponds & let the kids get dirty. As we were packing it up to leave this guy & gal hanging out by what looked to be a late-ish model Legacy wagon asking if we would wait for a sec so they can get packed up & ride out of the rim with us. We said sure, hung out for ten minutes & began the trek out of this bowl system with the Subi behind us.

Me & my pal had it in 4L just crawling up over rocks without much of a problem, but we had to keep hopping out to help this Subaru stay on the right line, get around rocks (it was really rocky) & manage the ruts so he didn't get more than one wheel up in the air.

At one point I got out & walked to the back to see what's going on & this Subaru is just shredding his front wheels trying to get around a pretty decent obstacle that he definitely would have gotten hung up on. I asked the guy if it was AWD because his rear wheels were just sitting there, but he said he didn't know. I tossed my tow strap out & attached it to my buddy's 4-Runner, he was able to get him up & over until he got around.

Is that a thing with Subi's? I've never owned one & don't a lot about about them, I just thought their whole gimmick was the symmetrical AWD thing.
 
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All recent Subarus are AWD. They made 2WD vehicles back in the 80s. The AWD vehicles use either viscous couplers or clutches between front and rear. I think they all have continuously variable transmissions now also. All of those things can slip and burn up.
 
I believe the Subaru BRZ is the only one that comes without AWD, it's rear wheel drive. I had a 1984 hatchback that was front wheel drive, awesome car until I crashed into a trash truck & totaled it. Replaced it with a 1980 4WD, another awesome car. Currently have a 2014 Crosstreck, best car I've ever owned hands down. Though, there's no way in hell I'd take it where that dude in the Legacy took his, guy is out of his mind; considering all the help he needed to get out of there it makes you wonder how he got down there to begin with???

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Unless it was real old it was AWD. But that's what happens when you don't have lockers.

They are great all weather cars on road, but some poor saps believe their marketing and take them places they shouldn't.
 
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Subaru come awd from factory now days. However, I don't think they are meant for rock crawling or off roading. They are more for snow and loss of traction In rural areas
 
Hopefully this was his first, and last, off road trip with the Subaru. Driving my wife's Forester in any weather condition has been great on the road but I don't think I'd do much more than a wet backyard off road.

I don't think the transmission part of his transmission is bad or no wheels would be powered but the viscous couplers or clutches between front and rear are probably shot.
 
How late-ish? They offered the Legacy with FWD up until 1999. From the sounds of it, they didn't have operational AWD. They were very lucky that you were there to assist.

I have a '15 Outback with full Primitive skid plates and have had it on some fairly gnarly FS roads. The AWD plus 'X-Mode' (available at 18mph and less) works very well, but even with its excellent clearance (for a non-offroad vehicle) you really have to pick your lines carefully and slow way down over larger obstacles. I only take it when I want the quieter, comfortable ride to my destination.
 
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Westtown Willy said:
I believe the Subaru BRZ is the only one that comes without AWD, it's rear wheel drive. I had a 1984 hatchback that was front wheel drive, awesome car until I crashed into a trash truck & totaled it. Replaced it with a 1980 4WD, another awesome car. Currently have a 2014 Crosstreck, best car I've ever owned hands down. Though, there's no way in hell I'd take it where that dude in the Legacy took his, guy is out of his mind; considering all the help he needed to get out of there it makes you wonder how he got down there to begin with???

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It's a lot easier to go down than up! I really wasn't a challenging trail at all for my TJ with 4" of lift & my pal's 4Runner with 3". We were in 1st gear 4 low just plugging up hill, watching our lines around the big stuff we couldn't clear. It was just real tight, the Subi bro had far fewer options. Something had to be wrong with his Legacy, at several points he was just spinning his front wheels in loose dirt trying to get traction. The look on his wife's face when he was two-pointed on a tight banked turn was pretty good. We had to push him backwards to start over.

Later that night my wife mentioned the fact that as soon as we started packing up they were rushing to get their tent & paddle boards put up, she thinks they knew we were their only ticket out of there.

Anyway it's a great little spot, if anyone's ever in N Utah hit me up & I'll take you up! It's about a 5k foot climb up a fire road, little jog around a cliff, then trails for miles.

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RMETeeJay said:
From the sounds of it, they didn't have operational AWD. They were very lucky that you were there to assist.
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Might have been something wrong with it, but in general that's exactly what happens with basic AWD when you've got good traction on one end and little to none on the other. I don't care how "symmetrical, torque vectoring, blah blah blah" the system is, put it in a real off road situation and that's what you get, some tires spinning and others doing nothing.

I can run either way on my 4Runner. The TC is in what I call AWD mode when you first engage the front axle. Can drive around on pavement all day like that. But even on fairly mild off road trails I frequently run into a spot that I can't get up in that mode, at which point simply locking the TC fixes that problem. Without that option, stay on-road IMO.
 
qslim said:
We wheeling with the family today in the TJ & my buddy brought his fam in his 4-Runner. Went up to about 9k feet, rode the ridge, & dove down through some pretty tight technical stuff to get to a few ponds & let the kids get dirty. As we were packing it up to leave this guy & gal hanging out by what looked to be a late-ish model Legacy wagon asking if we would wait for a sec so they can get packed up & ride out of the rim with us. We said sure, hung out for ten minutes & began the trek out of this bowl system with the Subi behind us.

Me & my pal had it in 4L just crawling up over rocks without much of a problem, but we had to keep hopping out to help this Subaru stay on the right line, get around rocks (it was really rocky) & manage the ruts so he didn't get more than one wheel up in the air.

At one point I got out & walked to the back to see what's going on & this Subaru is just shredding his front wheels trying to get around a pretty decent obstacle that he definitely would have gotten hung up on. I asked the guy if it was AWD because his rear wheels were just sitting there, but he said he didn't know. I tossed my tow strap out & attached it to my buddy's 4-Runner, he was able to get him up & over until he got around.

Is that a thing with Subi's? I've never owned one & don't a lot about about them, I just thought their whole gimmick was the symmetrical AWD thing.
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It has a center differential.

Probably has a 60/40 torque split favoring the front, to make matters even worse off road.

Some WRXes (I think just the STI) let you adjust the center differential's torque split, even letting you fully lock it.
 
qslim said:
It's a lot easier to go down than up! I really wasn't a challenging trail at all for my TJ with 4" of lift & my pal's 4Runner with 3". We were in 1st gear 4 low just plugging up hill, watching our lines around the big stuff we couldn't clear. It was just real tight, the Subi bro had far fewer options. Something had to be wrong with his Legacy, at several points he was just spinning his front wheels in loose dirt trying to get traction. The look on his wife's face when he was two-pointed on a tight banked turn was pretty good. We had to push him backwards to start over.

Later that night my wife mentioned the fact that as soon as we started packing up they were rushing to get their tent & paddle boards put up, she thinks they knew we were their only ticket out of there.

Anyway it's a great little spot, if anyone's ever in N Utah hit me up & I'll take you up! It's about a 5k foot climb up a fire road, little jog around a cliff, then trails for miles.

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Glad you were willing to help them, sounds like they got lucky. Likely won't make that mistake again .
 
I’ve owned 6 subis and have taken them on service roads/trails with no issue, but I understand their limitations. Great cars, but not meant for crawling. They were lucky you were there.
 
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