Took the Subaru on the Beach

[buster]

I've driven Jeeps and an F-150 on the beach and the Subaru is as good or better. I also took it on a few trails today. It handled the sand with ease. The pics I have below are not in the deep sand.

I was going to bring this up in another thread, but this is probably the best place for it. A cop on the beach said AWD's are not allowed on the beaches of Brigantine, NJ. He said you'll get stuck. I didn't want to argue with him but he doesn't know how good Subarus are.

Unfortantely, most of the AWD's out there today are not that good at all. Even Mazda's AWD system is not that good in the sand.

The guy said "just trust me".

I was going through deep sand with no problems. I lowered the psi down to 20. Cut right through it with ease.

 

[LeakySeals]

The second to last photo is the last Subaru that dared go near salt water.

 

[GreeCguy]

I thought it was lunch

 

[JHZR2]

Awesome. Take it to island beach state park and drive to the end.

 

[buster]

^ I want to do that soon.

Something is up with my iphone camera. Pictures are coming out too bright.

 

[Gabe]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
The second to last photo is the last Subaru that dared go near salt water.

I thought it was funny.

 

[buster]

LOL!!

 

[FFeng7]

I think the cop has a point but its not the all wheel drive system that is the problem. The problem is that some all wheel drive Subarus have a lack of ground clearance. That is not the case with yours but maybe like an Impreza might do as good on the deep sand. Your Subaru look great! I have always liked the forester and look like fun out on the beach!!

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: FFeng7
I think the cop has a point but its not the all wheel drive system that is the problem. The problem is that some all wheel drive Subarus have a lack of ground clearance. That is not the case with yours but maybe like an Impreza might do as good on the deep sand. Your Subaru look great! I have always liked the forester and look like fun out on the beach!!


I think it's also that most awd "SUVs" are really just fwd cars with some power share to the back that gets controlled by clamping the brakes or some other such scheme. Good for making people think they have better control, and good enough for certain conditions, but certainly not a real drive system for doing much besides snowy roads.

 

[buster]

^ I agree JH, that's exactly right.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: FFeng7
I think the cop has a point but its not the all wheel drive system that is the problem. The problem is that some all wheel drive Subarus have a lack of ground clearance. That is not the case with yours but maybe like an Impreza might do as good on the deep sand. Your Subaru look great! I have always liked the forester and look like fun out on the beach!!


The Legacy and Impreza have maybe 4.5" I belive the Forester and Outback have between 8"-9" which is quite good for this purpose.

Subaru to make CAFE actually jacks there suspensions up enough to classify them as light trucks.

AWD works perfectly fine. I remember going through deep sand in my parent AMC Eagle AWD although it was Jeep derived including the CJ-7 4.2L torque monster engine. I cross 8-10" rivers in low wide areas to go to river beaches as teen. The Subaru AWD at least with manual transmission seemed on par with AMC Eagle system.

The people in rental canoe's seemed shocked.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Subaru to make CAFE actually jacks there suspensions up enough to classify them as light trucks.


I don't doubt that at all...I have regular use of a Forrester Naturally aspirated automatic.

It has gone some decent places (hate the "stability" control with a passion). If you properly pick your lines, and rely on the two driving wheels to get where you need to be (computer brakes the other two), you can go places.

However, the thing that impresses me the most is that a 2012 car, 4 cylinder auto, while failing to have enough grunt to pull a greased knitting needle out of an echidna's bum, gets exactly the same fuel consumption as my 1997 Caprice L67...makes it way easier come fill-up day on the Holden. (Holden does use premium, however).

 

[buster]

Good points. I also lowered the tire pressure, which helps a lot. Subarus are no joke in sand/mud/snow. For their size, they are among the best.

You'll get looks from guys in Jeeps etc but if you know anything about Subaru's AWD system, you know it's capable.

 

[rg200amp]

Subaru AWD is hands down a fantastic system that leaves others in the dust.

* Vid says it's a WRX, but it is not. The car in the video is a standard Impreza. WRX has totally different styling/body/tail lights.


I can't wait to throw some all season tires on the WRX and the snow to fall!!!


Originally Posted By: JHZR2

I think it's also that most awd "SUVs" are really just fwd cars with some power share to the back that gets controlled by clamping the brakes or some other such scheme. Good for making people think they have better control, and good enough for certain conditions, but certainly not a real drive system for doing much besides snowy roads.


+1000