2014 subaru forester?

[munna1]

Thinking of buying a diesel manual model of this particular car. It will be used 95 percent of the time on road. But the times I will take it offroad are through sand dunes and beaches with very heavy sand.

I am very experienced in this style of driving and have driven VW amarok, Triton, Navara etc many times in these conditions and all are very capable with the correct tyre pressures and all the TC/stability controls completely turned off.

I have however never had any of these so called soft roaders through the dunes. All the competitors in this segment seem to lack ground clearance. With the Subbie by far having the best clearance in this regard.

After reading this article I am worried about the VDC system in this car and the ability to completely disengage the system.
https://www.caradvice.com.au/219849/compact-suv-comparison-test/

That’s the downfall of the Subaru Forester – a stability control that just won’t quit. It grabs a front brake, only to upset the rear end, then tries to fix the problem it has created. Otherwise, the Forester is just as capable as the RAV4 and Outlander, and offers class-leading ground clearance.

Is it possible?
Or has anyone driven the Manual diesel in these conditions without this issue.

thanks

 

[Kevin]

Welcome aboard munna1. I don't have a manual diesel Foz - but in general Subies love sand.

 

[Robbks]

Fear not my friend,
the VDC is disabled with a single short push of the VDC button.

I have an MY10 2.0D Premium and it loves the sand with VDC off.
I'm running BFG All-Terrains and I haven't even had to bother airing down for teh beaches I've been on so far.

It was actually better on the sand on this trip along the beach than my mate's Colorado,
he was complaining the colorado was needing to be pushed hard on the soft sand to keep it moving, while the Forester just kept on rolling with no issues.
being 500kg lighter and having almost the same width tyres makes it float on the sand naturally

 

[Tigger]

Turning off VDC is as easy as pressing the traction control button as Robbks has said above. You will need to remember to turn off VDC again if you stall or restart the engine as it is activated as default on starting the vehicle...

I have a MY12 2.0D Premium and have also taken it on the beach - one thing I must stress though is that you upgrade your bash plate as the standard plastic one just digs into the sand and rips off of your vehicle, leaving the very delicate DPF exposed. For some reason someone in the Subaru design department thought it would be a great idea to put the DPF right at the front of the vehicle in the lowest point so that it is exposed to everything!! If you damage your DPF it is very costly to replace so it is definitely worth spending the $$ to replace the standard plastic bash plate to something a little more sturdy!

 

[Red XS]

I don't have a 2014 Forester myself, but have done a few trips with newer Foresters.

We had a pair of SH Foresters (08-13) make it up Calcup, one of the tallest sand dunes in Australia with no issues. Landcruisers, Patrols ect. there were all running 10-12 psi, so very soft sand.

And we also had all 4 generations of Forester do a Tim's Thicket beach drive, in moderate sand, all vehicles running about 18psi. Neither the SH (08-13) or SJ (14-present) had any issues with their VDC, between all the vehicles we had a total of 0 bogs that day.
The Toyota club there had many bogs, but that's more an airing down issue than a car issue.

Generally speaking Subarus go great in sand because they are light and their awd system is great for loose surfaces. Not as good as 4wd for lifting wheels, but loose surface like sand they go well. Beach driving was the reason I got my 06 Forester.

 

[Tweaksta]

That’s the downfall of the Subaru Forester – a stability control that just won’t quit. It grabs a front brake, only to upset the rear end, then tries to fix the problem it has created. Otherwise, the Forester is just as capable as the RAV4 and Outlander, and offers class-leading ground clearance.

Just as capable?? What a crock! I've seen plenty of Foresters way out there where RAVs and Outlanders simply won't make it.

 

[MiddleAgeSubie]

The current RAV4 competes with the Legacy, clearance-wise. The 1990s model, I have heard, was a really neat small machine, but the current RAV4s are not going anywhere beyond a well-maintained dirt road.

 

[Ratbag]

Gidday Munna

to the ORS forum, mate.

As for that article, I stopped believing what motoring writers write when I was about 16 y.o. - more than 50 years ago! For exactly the reasons I see repeated in the article you linked.

While there is usually at least some truth in what such reviewers write, they rarely seem to address either the totality of the items, or their fitness for specific purpose. In this article, the dislike of the Subaru internal styling/materials and the throw-away line about the drive train indicates a lack of objectivity and/or actual knowledge.

I am quite sure they will have made similar errors in assessing the other vehicles ...

All of which renders their opinions relatively worthless IMNSHO ... :iconwink:.