Thread: 3.0 or 3.6 Outbacks

Anyone have any experience with these? I'm looking for a 4x4 hunting wagon but these are pushing a few buttons, what are they like off-road/ on forrestry tracks etc

I wouldnt have one as a hunting wagon and i love mine. Awd isnt 4wd and will let you down eventually. Great motors and the only suby motor id buy. If youre only driving gravel it will be fine go a slightly larger profile tire see if theres a bigger spring available. Mine has a cream swede interior so not for me lmao.

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I had a 3.6 facelift with the CVT, really nice crusing car, with enough go for an overtake. great on gravel and farm acess tracks and sand but not an offroader.
My only grumble was if I started pushing a bit too hard up a tight wind bit of (damp) road as it would start to understeer as a warning to back off.
gravel road oversteer was possible if you came onto the power after the front end started pulling you around.
To be fair I had it from new so could not coment on reliability.
The one before was the Diesel legacy wagon(with the ugly slantly headlites) that I ran out to 140-150K. It had the occasional issue the DPF.
Z

Nothing wrong with an old school Sube "Outback or Froster" as a basic hunting wagon bud

I had a first gen 96 Outback ( only a the 2.5 ) but fuk me that thing was awesome for gravel n farm tracks etc, the long wheel base n shit plastic bash plate weren't great for full balling but we could drop the seats fully flat & it went any where, very impressive for a station wagon

The 08 Froster was even better on gravel, just a bit more compact length wise

I love Sube's, they are very underrated not just a Ski wanker wagon, but now they've gone to CVT not so much

Originally Posted by Philipo

Nothing wrong with an old school Sube "Outback or Froster" as a basic hunting wagon bud

I had a first gen 96 Outback ( only a the 2.5 ) but fuk me that thing was awesome for gravel n farm tracks etc, the long wheel base n shit plastic bash plate weren't great for full balling but we could drop the seats fully flat & it went any where, very impressive for a station wagon

The 08 Froster was even better on gravel, just a bit more compact length wise

I love Sube's, they are very underrated not just a Ski wanker wagon, but now they've gone to CVT not so much

Full on 4x4 would be good but it's not something I'd use much, just be forest roads/tracks getting to road ends etc and towing a small boat. I figure one of the first gen pre CVT 3.6's would do that and be ok on long road trips. A mate had a 2l legacy years back and it got into a lot of places you'd think were 4x4 only.

i have the 3.0 legacy, 5 speed auto. wont buy a newer model as cvt which is bloody horrible

got a 2004/5 outback 3.0, have had it for near 10 years now, dont want to get rid of it. for anything with a formed trail and not too much suspension travel requirements, they are unstopable. Have had mine balancing on two wheels crossing some nasty lumps that some solid axle twits had made in central otago and it keeps on going, mud in skippers? keeps on going. they run on 95 minimum but its no big issue.

From 1992 to 2008 I had 5 Legacy 4WD wagons ...... then an Outback for 5 years. All were manual transmissions, which meant they came with a transfer case, while the auto's didn't. Once they stopped being available in manual with the transfer case I stopped buying them.

In my experience with them their limiting factor was ground clearance ( particularly the Legacy's), so they all bottomed out well before anything else stopped them.

Hi/Lo range was really useful for teaching kids to drive/reversing with trailers etc.

Also spoiled the wife and bought a 3.0 litre manual Legacy sedan in 2005 ...... that car was a weapon.

Never had reliability issues except for a catalytic converter that crapped out in the Outback, but they were alll bought new, and run for 3-5 years except the 3.0 l which we kept for 10 years ( 125000 km) without any issues.

What do people have against CVT gear boxes?

I had a 2005 2.5L auto for a couple of months until it got stolen. That was an awesome car. Much nicer to drive than our previous 2008 X-trail.

I'd been hunting for a few days when some unexpected heavy rain came through. The 4WD access track out was super wet, slippery, and way deeper than I would have liked! Luckily there was a dude with a serious 4x4 leaving the block at the same time as me, I tailed him out thinking that at any point I would be fully stuck, but the Outback tracked incredibly well, got out no dramas.

Anyway, it got stolen and I recently replaced it with the 3.0L H6 2006, what a dream to drive!

Re the CVT, I've had 2 the 3,6 outback and a Levorg (WRX wagon),
Then just cruising its just differant as we are not used to it, Then they have the paddle shifters and preprogramed steps that simulated gears for say getting ready for an overtake, or engine breaking down hill. I've driven 2 Euro Dual clutch boxs since then.
Yes the dual clutch is probably a little more direct but at low speeds and around town the CVT is way smoother. (and more fuel efficent)
Don't compair any of the old CVT's with what Subaru has done with their ones. Drive one first.
Remember just beacuse something is differant does not make it bad. And the new ones are rated to tow 2.4 ton. The older first gen 3.6 CVT was only 1.8 ton from memory
Reliability wise they seem good. (not hard to be better than the Ranger 10sp box)
Z

Maybe this is a jafa thing but i've not encountered too many public places that let you go off road in the bush for ages. usually the roads are rooted so you have to walk anyway.

2 friends have outbacks and for towing/soft roading they are awesome. nicer to drive than a 4wd daily that is for sure

Originally Posted by 300wsm for life

What do people have against CVT gear boxes?

because belt drives belong in turntables not cars. having that the subby ones are reliable (its just like driving with a slippy clutch) the nissan ones are horrically unreliable

Originally Posted by gonetropo

because belt drives belong in turntables not cars. having that the subby ones are reliable (its just like driving with a slippy clutch) the nissan ones are horrically unreliable

Haha classic. @gonetropo thanks for the tips about the H6 version on my post in the buy/sell page. Loving it. Cheers.

The new generation CVT's have improved out of sight compared to the earlier versions - but they are still mushy unimpressive things in regard to driving 'feel'. I just hate how they can feel lurchy in stop start traffic or surgey going over undulating terrain especially in cruise control - seems like the cruise control takes an age to slow down after going over one crest, then ages to power back up then tries to Apollo 18 you over the next crest to completely die and not power up at all up the next hill...