Thinking about an 05. Plan is to use it on dirt, gravel, and/or sand roads. Nothing totally off road. I live in the Las Vegas area and do a lot of hiking and need a high clearance for the "poorly" graded back roads leading to the various trailheads. Comments? Thanks in advance.
Should be perfect for dirt and gravel roads. I've driven my '99 Forester on plenty of them in California and the Southwest, including some fairly rough ones, and the Forester has been great. As long as the clearance is sufficient to get over rocks and negotiate ruts, and the grade isn't so severe that you really need low-range gearing you should be fine.
I'd be cautious in any sand though - although I've gone along some sandy stretches of road in the desert, I usually avoid any really sandy areas if I can. Maybe others here have more experience driving in sand than I do and can add their comments.
My 2003 Forester offered an optional limited slip rear diff. If it's still optional on 2005 models, you might want to consider getting that and maybe the rear diff protector.
-DanD
I recently bought my first Subaru, a 2001 Forester S, which includes the limited slip rear differential, and I had the dealer install a rear differential protector. So far I've driven it up into the Blue Ridge Mtns several times, and its performance on uphill or flat asphalt, gravel, and rocky dirt roads has been excellent.
Check out this link for photos and story of a group outing of Outbacks and Foresters along a muddy gravel road near North Carolina's Mt. Pisgah:
I've taken my 2002 through mud and snow my Taurus would never have made it though.
"ZZ" wrote
I use my '99 to drive a road near Shenandoah National Park in Virginia that hasn't been maintained since the CCC stopped working on it in the early
40's. Some bits are hairy, but it does fine.You may want to consider an Outback. The '05 Forester has a ground clearance of 7.5 inches. The OBW has 8.4.
I owned a '90 Legacy sedan and a '95 Legacy wagon when I lived in the mtns. We searched the logging roads for interesting rocks to extend a retaining for a flower bed. I occasionally had to move a boulder or small tree, and drove around or over the small stuff. Our driveway, 800' with a 200' rise in elevation [25% grade?], was solidly packed rock. Our trunk carried 200+ pounds of rocks sometimes. Occasionally, when not loaded, we had to stop for a grouse or fawn that was reluctant to move. We could start up again without a spin of the wheels. To further describe the drive, if you braked to a stop going down and applied the emergency brake, when you took your foot off the brake, the car would slowly begin to slide, dragging the rear tires.
We presently have an '02 ForesterS which is our favorite Subaru so far.
Your planned use should be no problem at all for ANY Subaru. Choose the model you like best and prepare to enjoy.
BoB
I've had my '04 Forrester XT for 6 months now, and I can say that it's a real blast on such roads. No worries.
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