Upgrade time, opinions

Tuckerman · Post by **Tuckerman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:08 pm

Am looking at upgrading to a newer car. Basically spend a bit of time offroad and towing a trailer with my traily on it. My thoughts are either a Gen3 or Gen4 outback. I am thinking the H6 as the 2.5 might be a bit underpowered ? Also like the idea that the factory towpack on the H6's comes with a transcooler. Was thinking basic mods such as a slight lift and possibly LSD in the rear just to make it a bit better for beach and trail work as they aren't great for clearance. Thoughts ?

I know with the Gen3 you could rig up the ability turn off the traction control so it didn't cut power when you were offroad etc. Is this possible / necessary with the newer outbacks ? Overall what is the offroad prowess of these wagons like ?

Is it worth considering a 2.5L Forester (better ground clearance as standard so maybe no need for lift or *gasp* an Xtrail ?

Basically it just has to be decent and car like on the road (hence why i am not considering full 4wd's) and within reason ok on fuel.

Currently have a 1990 Liberty GX AWD Wagon (all the usual options + has been swapped to WRX struts and Liberty RS springs with 15" rims and tyres). 190 thou on the clock. What sort of coin should I expect for this ? Cheers

Hamish71 · Post by **Hamish71** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:23 pm

I do exactly what you do, and have an XT Luxury Forester. It is dam near perfect, with the exception that in a perfect world I could hit a button to harden and lower the suspension to take advantage of that power in corners.

I know, demanding bastard, aren't I....

Tuckerman · Post by **Tuckerman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:22 pm

yeh mate I had thought about an XT forrester as well. I have driven a 2.5i (my mum has one) and the car had a decent feel to it but yeh was a bit underpowered but the turb version would be decent. I quite like the look of the Forrys also. The new ones are a bit too expensive, my budget is probably $30k max spend and then whatever I get for the Libby is my coin to spend on the minor mods needed.

I currently have that Liberty and an RS Turbo sedan in my garage which is the fun car and was thinking of upgrading to a later model Outback and then a GT Lib later on. I had considered the XT luxury but yeh my thinking was what u mentioned that if i raised the suspension it would loose the sports appeal of the XT. need some in cab adjustable suspension (decent stuff unlike the dodgy adjustable air suspension that was in my wagon, that was a saga.

Tuckerman · Post by **Tuckerman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:41 pm

Is your XT manual or auto ? do they have a rear LSD as standard ? Also what real world fuel figures are you getting, roughly how many k's to tank

Cheers

Suby Wan Kenobi · Post by **Suby Wan Kenobi** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:28 pm

AFter having come back from a bit of an outback tour i must admit i was pretty impressed with the late model Outbacks they seemed to keep the bull dust at bay fairly well and they ate up the miles easily and cheaply