What factors make Off Road Ability?

question is how much spare wrx axles you can find and have and how much oem you can have and for what price. and who knows how outback axles goes there, at least in front BP outback 3.0 front axles are much more thicker then 2.5 axles. so maybe its same as for forester non turbo and turbo models. but we have same in rear though
braking most expencive and most rare axle there wont help you much there i think. braking oem axle at least cost some 20-30 euros at least. easy to have spare.

seems this guy knows why cheap outback can be good car there . not best decision to go with larger but street tires there .
 
@scalman I'm in one of Subaru's biggest markets here in Utah. Subies of every kind are everywhere. I do plan on having a spare on my big adventures. But I'd love to be less likely to need them
 
Veganpotter said:
@Ratbag are the WRX axles a direct fit on an SG? Even if you're driving reasonable off-road trails, and being careful, OEM axles should be fine. But there is always metal fatique as a factor. I'd like that to be less of a worry too
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Metal fatigue in steels hasn't been a problem since about 1960, AFAIK.

I do not know if the axles are interchangeable, or even the drive shaft assemblies.

Some people can break anything. My (dec'd) in-laws both being good examples. How can one consistently break irons, year in, year out? It's beyond me, but they managed ...

Treat things sensibly, and chances are you will never break anything. If it truly must be unbreakable, buy a 1970s/early 1980s Landcruiser. Or a heavy duty military vehicle!
 
@Veganpotter sure spare parts are needed for us all, specially who goes on trips and such off roads localy, just some citys can be very far away apart and subaru scrapyards can be very far, with lockdown its even worse problem, my pretty huge subaru scrapyard is like 25km from where i live , so its just easy to find anything you need and fast too.
 
Ratbag said:
Metal fatigue in steels hasn't been a problem since about 1960, AFAIK.
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The bike industry would disagree with you. I've ran plenty of warranties on steel bikes. Some cracked due to fatigue, others just got massively flexy. Typically, these are touring bikes that are loaded, but also supposed to be designed for that load. *I've never run a warranty on a bike from before 1995 or so. Most changed hands before failure.. negating the warranty.
*Everything can break if you push it enough
 
@Veganpotter Bikes are not a good example. By their use, they have to be lightly built. My brother in law used to own a bike factory, and design and build them.

But, you are right. Everything can develop metal fatigue if it's pushed hard enough for long enough. Even commercial jets. Rare for items where weight is not a major consideration though, like cars and railway engines.

Most cars that break do so because of massive or totally inappropriate loading, e.g. dual cabs with heavily loaded van tops that usually exceed the legal GVM, even before the driver gets into the vehicle.
 
@Ratbag bikes are made to be light. But cars have a much more intense duty cycle than all but the most heavily loaded, heavily ridden bikes. Overall, it's rare for bikes too. But I bet everything I own that a lot of broken axles people experience wouldn't have happened doing the same exact thing, but with brand new axles.
 
For me, the things I start to look for are my travel destinations then I'll decide what type of upgrades I will make to my vehicle.
 
most times its bumpers that get in the way , even if not ground clearance... you can find angles that stock bumper will just be in the way and will hook up onto something ..foresters and imprezas slightly are better at that and legies and obk's kinda worse specially older ones.

kinda cool another video about how much tires matter , just wrong tire too wide not enough agessive or too much agressive can do all differences. doesnt matter how much money you can put in some 4x4 there in lifts in diffs other stuff, if you put wrong tires in the end , like they will look cool maybe but of they will be wrong size and width then car won be very good offroad. just tires.
its in russian bet later on tests language doesnt matter as its all just seen. no lockers no nothing saving car with wrong tires. and yes its mostly about deep mud there... what sinks in mud how much it need to sink how much it needs to dig into it
 
ford new AWD vs subaru AWD
i mean almost anyone right now has AWD system too now, but are the any good ones, well bronco sport has tons options there that subaru doesnt have rly
i mean why subaru cant have those mods there ?
then again if brinco is more heavy means its using tires more too ... as we all know what does air down on tires. so who knows rly. as they cant air down .
so it might be just overinflated tires vs aired down tires in tests
and then its all about how much you press pedal and how much you release it .....you can just make bad other system look if you dont know how to use it
 
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good example when cars sinks into mud and then cant spin wheels , as revs wont raises as not enough torque to wheels and they even put larger wheels then normal which just makes all things harder for engine. still fun , just not fun to watch how they rly struggle to spin wheels thats why getting stuck
 
2 subarus 2 pajeros going muding. both subarus swaped on EZ30 engines. one o them at least have swaped 4.4 gearbox with diffs as well. and some new lockers in front and rear.
with all that those subarus as being lighter showing good performance there .just those really big wheels there it shows how engine/gearbox has hard time to spin them properly . so its still question is it allways better larger wheels but loosing torque with that. as you can see they pushing pedal full and revs not going up in some cases where its just too hard to spin those large mud tires.
as i found on my car as iv now switching between small light and large heavy wheels on and off many times allready car just feels like its changed like its not same car, it drives just so different just with diff wheels, its just no comparison there. so maybe those couple cm on loosing in ground clearance are worth to then get more torque on wheels.
so like to find middle ground like best of both worlds would be best there.
and i must add noone of those mud ready heavy lifted subarus with winches out there had hi lift jack mounting points. i mean they make all other modifications but then when they need lift cars they do it by wheel. its just so not safe and not allways possible .
 

thats what i call a test ... so much cars and so much different things, lift no lift, 4x4 or city off roaders... just pick yours
 
Then again tests are tests, some cars after those "tests" will stay in garage for week maybe and be fixed , parts will be changed and others might not be. So noone tell story there after tests..better car there is who next day still drives and becomes daily driver again. Thats what car is for me.
Or you need second car just for fun then. I try combine both
 
scalman said:

thats what i call a test ... so much cars and so much different things, lift no lift, 4x4 or city off roaders... just pick yours
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Hilarious! Basically, the XJ Cherokee, the Isuzu Vehicross, and everyone else. Honorable mention: UAZ, NIva.
 
maybe VDC is not enough system for harder muddy situations or hills, buts its rly so good for snow, as even with TC off VDC still will brake individual wheel and relocate torque to places... well with some magic there car c an rly find grip and drive on hard situations on snow diagonals
in most cases all 4 wheels are in action or then those that have more grip get more torque and thats what we need.
 
just lifted impreza....looks serious enough rly... i mean weight means a lot too..that patrol didint had a chance
and in this era of petrol prices ..everybody wanna sell those heavy 4wd cars ..and noone buys them anymore too ... in EU at least .... i mean why on earth you would you consider buy old heavy 4wd car after 2022 ?
and in poland they using sooo much of subarus still ...msotly firesters i guess... but then its rly cheap to make anything from anything there ... lifted impreza can be better then forester and lifted legacy kinda better then obk .
i mean torq makes lockers for like $400-500 but russians makes same lockers for like 200-300 . and they have even 2 models of that...full locker or one click locker .
 
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