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Hi Guys in 2 weeks and shopping for an offroader/daily

I have a budget of around 4 grand and I am torn

Subaru outback manual with duel range

or Subaru L-series/Leone wagon manual or automatic (ideally touring wagon).


Which is better off road?

welcome to the board FALCONCONVERTTOSUBARU

and a brumby is better off road

Try to get a manual what ever you get.

TOONGA

would go a brumby but I need a passenger vehicle

First gen forester, 1997 - 2002.
Has a 2lt efi engine, decent low range and has better approach and depart angles than an outback.
It also has nice things like aircon and power everything.


Sent from my new touchy phone thingy

Gannon wrote:First gen forester, 1997 - 2002.
Has a 2lt efi engine, decent low range and has better approach and depart angles than an outback.
It also has nice things like aircon and power everything.

+1. The Outback has very limiting overhangs front & rear.

With your budget you'd get a nice SF Forester (or maybe a SG if you look around) or a mint L-series

IMO depending on what you want it for I'd go the auto as it gives you more flexibility offroad & better reliability (esp no burnt clutch lol). Downside is you lose a little power & economy with the older autos, but not much

ok so conventional 4WD vs duel Range all wheel drive?

Forester over outback over Liberty over L series/leone (the L and Leone are too old for me and parts are more accessible and easier to swap between the later models)

Welcome to the forum

I love the L Series but I agree with Bumpty in that they are getting a little old now and parts/a good vehicle for your money are becoming few and far between unfortunately - it seems the good L's that are out there are owned by people that don't want to sell them... Hey, you might be lucky and jag an awesome one but the search may take longer than you may want to take...

So I say go for a Forester too - I really wanted a Brumby but was convinced to get a SF Forester instead and although I would absolutely love a Brumby to have some fun in I am glad that we decided to go with the Forester option, as once again with Brumby's the good ones are very few and far between and then you always have the problem of sourcing good reliable parts etc... Also, the Forester gives a little more flexibility when it comes to carrying passengers

Definitely the Forester over the Outback as well - I think they look way better but I may be bias

Good luck with your search!!!

L series is the best offroad with locking center and best low range but is getting quite dated.

Outback is the nicest build ,design and drivability wise (far more grunty 2.5L engine and refinement) but in stock form less capable offroad due to bumpers ,wheelbase and useless low range.
Then again for some light beach work it will be fine, or put a bit of lift in and there wont be a problem unless your going hardcore.

SF forester is a good all rounder with being more modern than an L series and still reasonably capable offroad with better low range. However the crappy 2.0L leaves a lot to be desired.

Welcome to the forum FALCONCONVERTTOSUBARU

Gannon wrote:First gen forester, 1997 - 2002.
Has a 2lt efi engine, decent low range and has better approach and depart angles than an outback.
It also has nice things like aircon and power everything.

I totally agree through a 2" lift and your ready to go anywhere within reason
The low range in an SF is all you'll need, If you buy an SG the low range is a lot worse

Davidov wrote: SF forester is a good all rounder with being more modern than an L series and still reasonably capable offroad with better low range. However the crappy 2.0L leaves a lot to be desired.

Why do some WA guys think the 2l is so gutless

Jan

Hi and Welcome FALCONCONVERTTOSUBARU

+1 for 97 to 02 Forester. At a budget of 4K, then you should be able to find a very nice one. As for transmission, I'd go with what works best with the plans you have for the vehicle, if doing lots of towing, go the manual. Auto or Manual are AWD which works well as long as all 4 wheels stay on the ground. There are mods to either transmissions to help them in more serious offroad conditions but depends on what your offroad plans are like?

if they go in situations where only 3 wheels are on the ground what happens? and isn't manual the only one with low range anyway? wouldn't that kinda kill the automatic for off road capability?

When one of the wheels is lifted off the ground 30-40% of drive is lots through the free spinning wheel. They will still drive but not to full capacity. There is lots of options for both manual and auto to reduce this loss.

Only the manual trans is available in Dual Range but the automatic doesn't require it, as it uses the torque convertor to bring the revs up higher to the torque range. Again, it's really dependant on what your plans are for the car, no point suggesting you a manual if you're not going to do any towing and the car is only going to be doing beach driving.

Automatics are best for beach driving but aren't great for mountain terrain compared to the manual.

What are you wanting/expecting from the Subaru?

FALCONCONVERTTOSUBARU wrote:if they go in situations where only 3 wheels are on the ground what happens? and isn't manual the only one with low range anyway? wouldn't that kinda kill the automatic for off road capability?

When you go off-roading in a Subaru it is very common to lift a wheel, With the newer cars traction control and a like will help with that
The auto will hold it's own they are quite strong the torque converter takes all the strain. You would be surprised when you select 1 gear just how steep a hill you can get up
I have done a lot of rough off-roading in my auto Forester and have had no issues the only thing i have added is an Oil cooler

Have a look at this video from 10.28 till the end i went up this very steep hill, My foot was flat to the floor at 2300 rpm turbo hadn't kicked in so the the torque converter was slipping all the way with out any wheel spin
The other Forester that went up had a modified low range a lot lower than standard and still took two goes to get up

Jan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moGZA7DGRhE

Tigger wrote:Welcome to the forum

I love the L Series but I agree with Bumpty in that they are getting a little old now and parts/a good vehicle for your money are becoming few and far between unfortunately

I disagree with this. They're not few and far between - you just have to have a keen eye. Parts are not an issue. Upgrades are easy and available.

Tigger wrote:I really wanted a Brumby but was convinced to get a SF Forester instead and although I would absolutely love a Brumby to have some fun in I am glad that we decided to go with the Forester option, as once again with Brumby's the good ones are very few and far between and then you always have the problem of sourcing good reliable parts etc...

Once again, you just need to know where to look for good parts. FROG is always the first place to look As for good units, there are loads of them out there - you just have to be prepared to pay the best part of $10K for one of those super clean units

yarney wrote:Why do some WA guys think the 2l is so gutless

Because Taza killed two EJ20s due to driving them like a WRX - he was after power they just didn't have...

I'd sugget going with what you want deep down - just make sure it meets your needs. I love my L series but I can't say "go with one of these" as it's highly modified to suit what I want it to do. But in saying that if you're ok with doing the work yourself it's quite easy to get it to where you want it for offroading...

The newer stuff is also good in some aspects and not in the approach/departure angle department... If all out power is what you want do what Venom and Hydrowill have - a H6 with dual range manual. Hydro will did his with an auto H6 outback that he converted to manual, Venom got his already converted to H6 - then built his desired offroad gearbox.

The H6 is crazy good offroad with the manual - forget the auto with this engine!

Cheers

Bennie

I've been shot down :P

I loved my L Series to death but I'm really loving all the mod cons the Foz has to offer while offroading

Brumby's are still awesome though!

El_Freddo wrote:If all out power is what you want do what Venom and Hydrowill have - a H6 with dual range manual. Hydro will did his with an auto H6 outback that he converted to manual, Venom got his already converted to H6 - then built his desired offroad gearbox.

+1 for this conversion

I bought an L series in the end Its a GL automatic wagon with a Carburetor EA82 with 175 000 and next to no rust on the body. Came with a towbar as well was 1800 dollars.

I then set about getting it road worthy and registered. Then the mods began, I sourced flares and a bull bar and some spot lights. Scored the flares for $10 the bull bar for $50 and the spot lights for $25. Then had my mechanic retrofit the bull bar (complete with tow points) and the flares to my car for $120.

Then came maintenance items the exhaust was shot, the wheel bearings worn, and previous owners had overfilled the engine with oil which seems to have popped the crank seals and tapid covers, it has had the wrong rack boots fitted to it and needs new rack ends and a fractured gearbox mount.

It now has a custom made 2 inch exhaust, and at the moment is in getting new boots and ends put on the rack and new wheel bearings.

Leaving only the oil leaks which has prompted me to save up and do the timing belts while I am fixing the crank seals and the gear box mount.

Then scored a touring wagon interior for $150 and roof racks and a spare 13 inch for $50.

Plans will be a 2 inch lift, trans cooler and 14 inch rims.
below are the pics

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Nice one mate!

Let the mods begin!

What sort of time frame are you looking at for the mods you've mentioned? I took my time with mine - did a lot of research, then searched for parts/bits at the price I was willing to pay for them... Then ended up with what I've got today

Cheers

Bennie