RAV4, CRV, Subie Impreza/Crosstrek

[AKbruin]

Wife pulled the trigger, and traded her 1-year-old 2020 Outback on the Geyser Blue 2022 Outback Wilderness. Damn, I'm proud of her...

I liked the look so much, it inspired me to get a pair of "more off-road-y" rims and tires for the Crosstrek. Kinda badass now!

Congrats! The Outback Wilderness looks great. I think there's a big market gap between (a) daily-driver CUVs/SUVs (suburban mall-crawlers) and (b) full-on offroad capable ones (Wrangler/4Runner/GX/Trailhawk). I think a lot of people want a vehicle that can handle softroading and light offroading but don't need all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged offroader. And I doubt many Wrangler/4Runner/GX/Trailhawk owners really push their vehicles beyond the comfort zone of an Outback Wilderness anyway. For me, I'd love more options with ~9.5" of clearance, a good AWD system, a little underside protection, and not-terrible approach/departure angles. Money could be saved by avoiding locking differentials, a million different crawl modes, removal doors, a full-size spare, etc. Along these lines, it seems like the best options under $40k are the Outback Wilderness and Grand Cherokee Laredo trims. (I guess maybe the Cherokee Trailhawk, too, but it's too small so I never really considered it.)

But, for me, the best compromise was a Honda Passport because I needed more family/cargo space. The stock clearance isn't great (8.1") and the 20" stock wheels are stupid, but I plan to bump the clearance closer to 9" with smaller wheels and bigger diameter tires in the future. There are 1.5" lift kits, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far.

[whyturn]

Picked a Mazda CX-5 turbo AWD to complement the Alltrack. Pretty stoked and will throw hakkas on in winter. It’s sporty and fast and handles good. Nice features. Got the carbon edition.


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[concretejungle]

Anyone have any opinions on newer Ford Escapes? I don't need fancy or big, just AWD, cheap and reliable.

[SacTo]

Congrats! The Outback Wilderness looks great. I think there's a big market gap between (a) daily-driver CUVs/SUVs (suburban mall-crawlers) and (b) full-on offroad capable ones (Wrangler/4Runner/GX/Trailhawk). I think a lot of people want a vehicle that can handle softroading and light offroading but don't need all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged offroader. And I doubt many Wrangler/4Runner/GX/Trailhawk owners really push their vehicles beyond the comfort zone of an Outback Wilderness anyway. For me, I'd love more options with ~9.5" of clearance, a good AWD system, a little underside protection, and not-terrible approach/departure angles. Money could be saved by avoiding locking differentials, a million different crawl modes, removal doors, a full-size spare, etc. Along these lines, it seems like the best options under $40k are the Outback Wilderness and Grand Cherokee Laredo trims. (I guess maybe the Cherokee Trailhawk, too, but it's too small so I never really considered it.)

But, for me, the best compromise was a Honda Passport because I needed more family/cargo space. The stock clearance isn't great (8.1") and the 20" stock wheels are stupid, but I plan to bump the clearance closer to 9" with smaller wheels and bigger diameter tires in the future. There are 1.5" lift kits, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far.

Locking differentials are a necessity for getting unstuck.

[singlesline]

Congrats! The Outback Wilderness looks great. I think there's a big market gap between (a) daily-driver CUVs/SUVs (suburban mall-crawlers) and (b) full-on offroad capable ones (Wrangler/4Runner/GX/Trailhawk). I think a lot of people want a vehicle that can handle softroading and light offroading but don't need all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged offroader. And I doubt many Wrangler/4Runner/GX/Trailhawk owners really push their vehicles beyond the comfort zone of an Outback Wilderness anyway. For me, I'd love more options with ~9.5" of clearance, a good AWD system, a little underside protection, and not-terrible approach/departure angles. Money could be saved by avoiding locking differentials, a million different crawl modes, removal doors, a full-size spare, etc. Along these lines, it seems like the best options under $40k are the Outback Wilderness and Grand Cherokee Laredo trims. (I guess maybe the Cherokee Trailhawk, too, but it's too small so I never really considered it.)

But, for me, the best compromise was a Honda Passport because I needed more family/cargo space. The stock clearance isn't great (8.1") and the 20" stock wheels are stupid, but I plan to bump the clearance closer to 9" with smaller wheels and bigger diameter tires in the future. There are 1.5" lift kits, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far.

There seems to be growing contingent of "softroading" tires to support this segment--seems like a couple more have entered the market after you posted this.

Looking at the Nokian Outpost APT that was released last year for my wife's Tiguan: https://www.nokiantires.com/all-terr...s-outpost-apt/

I wouldn't be opposed to a pinch more ground clearance than the stock 7.9"...not sure I will go down this road, but larger tires are an option and there's at least one 1.5" camber correcting lift kit out there. MQB platform is super interchangeable so you can add a little more underside protection with an Alltrack skid plate (or a lot more underside protection with an aftermarket metal skid plate).

AWD is sufficiently good for this sort of use. Approach/departure angles are fine for the sort of bad-dirt-road/light-offroad use that the car is subjected to. Biggest fears I have for the car where we normally take it are deep tire ruts that could start to threaten to high-center it (or where an errant rock in the middle could strike the oil pan) and sharp rocks popping the OEM all seasons that it wears during the summer.