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Turbo diesel - Bendleby Ranges SA

6K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  geckoz 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Ive just returned from my weekend camping trip in my new car. Just thought id post a few pics and my thoughts on the car.

To start its a 2012 Turbo Diesel, at the start of the trip i had 1000km on the clock now sitting at 1600km. (and on a side note i averaged 7.0L/100KM over the trip!)

We went to the Bendleby Ranges in South Australia - Welcome to Bendleby Ranges

Well i must say straight away i was happy with the Foz however 1st gear is not low enough for slow crawling/steep descents and the stall speed can make precision driving difficult. Clearance is not really the limiting factor to the Fozz's offroad ability, i actually found the approach/departure angles to be more the issue. The standard tyres (Bridgestone Duellers) are pretty average, they dont provide enough grip on the loose stuff, however once i lowered the pressure down to 28psi they were a bit better but still a set of 225 - 235 with a 75 side wall would be much better. Traction control is a joke, it limits engine power and stops the wheels spinning loosing momentum, its very annoying that each time you turn the car off/stall then you need to switch it off again. In saying all this though i got the car a lot further than the station owners thought i would, in fact in some areas it climbed better than the other two cars i was with.

Now given the car was brand spankers some might say i was crazy taking it but oh well. I finished with this damage


This is a rock chip on the A pillar, picked up from the road on the way to the ranges.


Dropped in a rut after stalling


Stone chips - there are about half dozed around the front bumper.


View of our camp





The views







A few of the "outdoor" Foz


Got up this first go


Whole car was covered in this

I have a few vids that i will upload over the next week or so.

Oveall had a blast, loved every minute of it and the car really out performed my expectations! Will be going a 1" lift and some bigger tyres along with a custom front bar protector.

Cheers
 
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#4 ·
Congrats on the trip, NTMID8. Nice scenery. Consider the stone chips and cracks 'AWD badges of honour'!

You'll definitely benefit from better tyres. I changed from the OEM Duelers (same as yours by the looks of the tread pattern) to Yokohama A/T-S which are much better on dirt roads. Not as good on-road when pushed- don't try hanging it into a corner quickly, it must look untidy and feels even worse! Also perhaps noisier but not a huge amount. I star fractured one of the Duelers but that may be due to over pressure- was running between 35-40psi on a hot day because of on-road duties. By the look of the rocky terrain you may wish to change sooner rather than later.

I'd be interested to hear what you ultimately choose and how they go.

Loscaldazar, it must be said that the Subaru diesel lacks any real engine braking. A moderate mountain pass descent is enough to exceed even 2nd gear's engine braking whilst 1-up with no load. My petrol road vehicles have better engine braking.

And yes, it stalls far too easily at too high rpm, even with a comparatively short (for the road) 1st gear to be considered a 'real' crawler. Even in traffic! It basically won't crawl along at idle.
 
#6 ·
The car has plenty of torque and i have the latest software, the issue is under about 1600 rpm the engine feels like its struggling. There is little to no engine breaking and on some of the steeper declines the engine would just run away. An auto would be the better option offroad providing the car remains with a 50/50 torque split.
I will be getting a diesel chip to increase the torque down low and bigger tyres. Id really like to instal a lift but have concerns about jeopordising my factory warranty (which i have 5yrs unlimited km's - bargained with Subaru when i bought the car). Overall the car was quite capable with some of the climbs being very steep with lots of loose dirt/slate. Picking your line is the key to front bumper survival lol, the mufflers copped a bit of a hiding to as the sit slightly low, the plastic side steps have pitting from the 60km dirt/gravel road we travelled on to get to the ranges.
Hopefully i will have some vids up by weeks end showing some of the climbs and more technical areas.
 
#9 ·
hi nice forester, i have a my 12 diesel. i've got a subaxtreme sump guard sitting in front of me waiting to be fitted and some yoko 225/60r17 tyre to go on this weekend. i would love to see a video of your diesel making that climb man it looks steep!
 
#10 ·
Video has been downloaded from the camera, i will upload the footage on thurs, there are a couple of steep climbs on the video.

Best advice i can give is dont rush anything, the forester will surprise you and you will go alot further than you think but you really need to pick your lines. The approach and departure angles are your biggest killers, also remember to turn your traction control off when the surface is slippery as the TC only applies the brakes reducing your momentum.
 
#14 ·
Hm. Those 'stock tyres' were they by any chance Bridgestone Dueler 693 H/T? Got this as spare in my boot from when I bought the car second hand. I understand that the Bridgestone Dueler 697 A/T Light Truck are far superior and probably on par with the Yokohama Geolander for the rough stuff. I just bought 4 of these and hope that they will take the punishment on weekends.
 
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