Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness Off-Road Trail Review (feat. Falken AT4Ws) 

Hey. What tire would you recommend for beach driving for the outback wilderness?

@@user-ik7wd6de4e we use about 15 psi, but some beaches can do with a little lower, or can work with a little higher (eg: maybe 18-20 psi for a rocky beach).

​@@user-ik7wd6de4eas wide as will fit with non aggressive tread.

The AT Trails are specifically designed for CUVs. The AT4Ws might be designed for pickups/SUVs. Do your research.

Yo, check out the Toyo, open country tires.

Not sure why it’s not there. The Forester , Outback and even Legacy Touring has it.

@@atmartens I think it's due to cost and the smaller size, but I don't think anyone would mind having one

Or make it an option at least

@@TheCreateOutdoors Should be standard on the Wilderness. They don’t do a Touring trim which makes sense for this size.

@@TheCreateOutdoors digital cameras are inexpensive these days. They also happen to be tiny. So it doesn't matter that that is not a large car and the monitor screen is already built into the dashboard / entertainment center. There is No excuse for front and rear cameras not being on any SUV or4x4

I would love to see that as well. Though I fear the longer wheelbase would inhibit it from being able to do it.

If I lived in the area I would do it without question. Only thing I see the OBW struggling with is the nose. With a worse approach angle and overall a more elongated nose. I have a boat load of scraps on the black plastic because of it. Wish it was short nosed like the Crosstrek. Of course custom bumper is an option but black plastic is cheaper :-). I've taken my OBW on some very serious trails where full size trucks without lockers simply fail to get grip or just drag to much to move forward. Even made it up a trail a SR5 taco failed at. OnX rating is kind of a joke honestly. One around me rated at a 6 and a bone stock Corolla can get up. The 2 closer to are rated 7 and they are a cake walk for the OBW. I've abused my OBW but she only seems happy in the dirt and not in the city mall crawling. Who needs a jeep.

@@user-mc8le6tx4y Do you have any skid plates or rock sliders installed?

@@jimbrown7261 Only front skid and diff. I have all 3 but where I'm at the OBW overheats in the summer so I have to remove the aftermarket ones during summer and go back to plastic. CVT plate has sat in my garage since it causes the CVT to overheat even in winter. With the aftermarket skids you lose 1/4 an inch to break over angle but I've yet to find that a problem. Guess it's time to make a trip to the PNW and find out :-) it's only a 26 hour drive time...

@@user-mc8le6tx4y I've heard of the overheated problem a time or two before. Kinda sucks but I understand how it can happen.

That would be awesome

First thing I did was put 235/60/18XL Yoko Geo AT's and new wheels on my Outback XT, sold the Yoko OEM 225/60/18 tires/wheels. Bigger tires provide 9" clearance, wider contact patch and after market wheels are 7lbs lighter (and stronger) to offset increased tire weight. Get home every time. IMO, also looks much better vs Wilderness muffin top look.

You might want to wait for the review after longer yes. There could be your shoes arising from possible additional weight and rolling resistance. Maybe even aerodynamics,?😅😁

put a 2in body lift on it and problem solved haha

The only damage was ripping out the peg that was holding in some sound deadening fabric and tearing the sheet.

Do you have a lift or trimmed fender line?

@@Crusaderhun I have a 2.5in Bilstein lift and did minor trimming. The 4Runner does great on the 285s!

I've heard that the reliability was about one specific model (I forget which) - but people mistake that one issue with the entire Subaru brand.

@@8triagrammer Yes, I think the bigger concern people have is with the CVT overheating when off-roading, despite not throwing any error messages they think it still hurts the longevity. But my understanding is that they are built to a higher standard to tolerate a bit more heat, so they are fine in the reasonable long-term use. Maybe Ryan can give us his personal experience?

@@michaelnoah3795 on all models or just the 2024 crosstrek wilderness?

@@8triagrammer The allegations against CVTs are for all Subaru models across the years. From what I've seen they only fail at very heavy and improper usage which would cause regular ATs without low range to fail as well. The 4WD system however I have never seen any fails.

I don't think you can show long-term reliability with only a one-year car loan. I would think that would take at least 10 or 15 years 😁😉

How noisy are they on the road? Would they be bad on a long trip?

@@judih.8754 I have used these on long trips, on motorways all around Europe, and they are perfect. I obviously got used to the the sounds inside the cabin, (and on long trips I really abuse the sound system) but a friend tested it and he could not hear any extra. There must be some, but it is way below perception. My other findings: Driving stability: I cannot feel any compromise, but because the datasheet gave lower wet surface stability, I drive a bit more carefully on wet or icy asfalt anyway. (Mud, dirt road obviously no problem) One thing I noticed, on old, bumpy asfalt roads I can feel some faint bouncing, but the awd corrects it. Its probably because these are heavy tires. (Do not take the corner faster than 60mph.) Fresh snow: it is perfect, but feels to slide a bit sideways. Again, no problem for the AWD. Obviously a dedicated snow tire is more stable on speed, but snowy woodlands it just goes like a tank. Lastly, be prepared for some higher fuel consumption: no memory what it was before, but I estimate it some 5-6% more. Did I regret it? No! My next set will be the same. It grinds pebbles, wades through mud and snow. Forget spare wheels - I had no punctures anymore. (Well, don' forget spares. The puncture bit is true. And it looks great too:) ).

@@judih.8754 Under perception level. Music usually suppresses it. :) More findings: Carefully on wet and icy asphalt, the spec gives slightly poorer wet braking specification. No problems so far, but to be on the safe side, keep more distance. Dry braking is perfect. Deep snow drive on woodland tracks is perfect, but on snowy road it has a bit more sideway slide, than dedicated snow tires. VDC handles it. Mud, rocky road, no problem. Where I live, I used to have a lot of punctures on stock tires, not one with these. Fuel consumtion is a bit higher. I estimate it some 5-6% extra. And they look great :D. Would I choose another tire? No.

For what it's worth, I have a 2022 WRX and requested a copy of my Lexis Nexis report (one of the main data aggregators explicitly named in the GM SafeDriver data collection reports). It did not contain any driving data.

If you're "major"concerns about a car are the entertainment center, 🙄😅 you're probably don't need an SUV slash all-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive... Maybe that entry-level Chevy are Nissan Versa would be perfect for you 🙂

Nice snarky reply. Thanks.

@@edsmith9855 love your priorities and concerns in a suv. 😁

I have a Forester Wilderness myself and I love the capabilities of it. Ryan was certainly an influence of mine to actually get one.

I used to really dread the snow in Chicago, but since getting the FW, I get all bent out of shape when it DOESN'T snow. I wanna go play!

Going to Trader Joes? Thats how I use my OBW 😅

@@Jaypher Might as well drive a Wrangler... 🤣

@@Blue.Crawler what so it can breakdown in the parking lot? 😭

@@Jaypher haha, they got to be better than a Crosstrek - Everyone keeps telling me to get one when I pass them in the woods. 🤣

​@@Jaypher😅

I’m looking for the same thing. I just a 21 CROSSTREK base but looking for some better all terrain tires for year round here in steamboat Colorado

I’m wondering about this too

I’ll weigh in. I have a 21 bronco sport badlands (don’t worry I love Subies 😅, and my son has a Forrester) My sport came with pirelli scorpion at (the more roady ones) and they were actually decent on trails but they wore fast-50,000 kms. My next set were wildpeak AT trail which I bought from a friend with around 25k easy kms on them to get by until the next new set. I got 15k on those and they were done, best case scenario at 40k kms. I do a fair bit of atv trails in my area but it is also my day to day car so lots of road. I then bought BFG trail terrains. So far they’re fantastic and I’ll be sticking to them. Incidentally the less aggressive pirellis were better on trail with less slipping I assume because they were so soft So yea that’s my take lol

I think the camera is due to cost and the Crosstrek being smaller, but yeah I think it should have one.

Tires alone added a 1+ lift. Lifts can be problematic with CV joints and the safety stuff. I’d avoid them personally.