Subaru crosstrek vs Wrangler JL Edmunds comparison video

[open_circuit]

Found this funny video cross-comparing a small Subaru AWD vs the JL Wrangler. I got a good laugh watching the Subaru scrape the nose and undercarriage on several very small obstacles.

I like my Wrangler and my Subaru Outback, but they serve very different functions for me.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PRQyNjLaXY

[Mobyjeep]

That was ridiculous take them both down china wall and see who makes it

[Jim]

A subtle chuckle at comparo-s. Different tasks - different tools.

[Java]

That's just a dirt road, I could take my car there. We had a Forester from new to 30k and they are for sure NOT an offroad vehicle. I'm guessing those guys have never really been anywhere aside from established campgrounds like that.

[Igrok]

Great point Paul, my thoughts exactly: Since when are dirt roads considered "Off-Roading"?

[Bob]

Yeah, we have an Outback and although it has excellent ground clearance for it's class at 8.7", it's not an offroad vehicle. But it's probably the next best thing and does a great job in snow and on marginally maintained (but maintained) dirt roads and driveways. Which is why so many people who live in the foothills and mountains have them.

[Spieg]

Would have been a better comparison to put that Subi up against the Jeep Renegade.

[open_circuit]

TFL did a better comparison video up off Switzerland trail


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjmIke01KqE

91 XJ vs 2018 (or is it 2019?) Outback.

[TNTJ05]

After watching that Outback overheat its CVT on a small hill, yeah, no.....

[open_circuit]

After watching that Outback overheat its CVT on a small hill, yeah, no.....

I was pretty surprised by how poorly it performed. All I ever read online is how great the Subaru AWD system is. My outback has a manual transmission, which has a completely different AWD system from the CVT models --- I'm curious if mine is also this inept in a challenging spot.

[TNTJ05]

I was pretty surprised by how poorly it performed. All I ever read online is how great the Subaru AWD system is. My outback has a manual transmission, which has a completely different AWD system from the CVT models --- I'm curious if mine is also this inept in a challenging spot.

I bet you're much better off with the manual. The computer controlled CVT cars these days are terrible as soon as any kind of slip happens.

[JGRubicon]

My 04 Forester XT 5MT did really quite well offroad, it was the fact that I couldn't put on many great mud capable tires that really discouraged me more than anything else.

It would be... very difficult to go back to that car now though.

[Bob]

I've got some questions about that second video.

First, I'm not sure that X-mode was appropriate for the obstacle. As I understand it, in X-mode the engine output is deliberately limited so as to reduce breaking the tires free of a very slippery surface. X-mode also limits wheel slip faster than the normal Vehicle Dynamics Control. But the obstacle isn't that slippery and you need lots of torque for going up the hole on the steep incline, exactly the opposite of what X-mode is doing. It seemed clear that the Outback stalled on the obstacle for lack of torque, not that wheels were spinning.

Second, they turned off the VDC and turned on the hill hold (the "mystery button" as they called it). I don't know if either of those settings interacted badly with X-mode.

I think they should have tried the obstacle in normal driving mode with the VDC engaged, X-mode off and hill hold off. My guess is that it would have negotiated the obstacle, probably with wheel spin until the VDC detected it and applied some braking to that wheel.

Third, the tires didn't look very comparable to those on the XJ. They looked like the OEM tires we got on our Outback and they are basically a highway tire.

But I'm just an Outback owner, not an expert on it's AWD system...I also haven't tried to use the Outback offroad and probably won't. I have a Jeep for that.