Image via Subaru
There’s a certain level of delusion among some Subaru drivers, as well as other owners of all-wheel-drive crossovers, that their ride is a bonafide off-road rig. This is a topic we’ve covered before, especially with the newer Wilderness models from Subaru, and the marketing which makes them look like rugged trail machines.
Which of these off-roaders would you buy?
That explains why a Subaru Crosstrek owner was humiliated by the National Park Service last summer after he was caught taking his symmetrical all-wheel-drive wagon on a trail designated for four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicles.
The guy took to Reddit to share a letter he received after visiting Canyonlands National Park in Utah. He drove down one of the trails where it’s posted that “high clearance four-wheel drive is required on motor vehicles” that use it. Not understanding what that means, he thought his Subaru qualified.
We’ve encountered this attitude many times in real life, and even more on the internet, so we knew immediately the Subaru owner would be mystified, mortified, and a little outraged by the whole thing. After all, there’s a certain camp of them and other all-wheel-drive vehicle owners that really believe they own something equivalent to a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
In stock form, the Crosstrek has 8.7 inches of ground clearance. To someone who used to driving a Honda Civic, that probably seems like plenty. But consider this: stock Wranglers have about 12.9 inches of ground clearance.
But there’s more: an all-wheel-drive vehicle has only one set of gears. There isn’t a four-low set for when the going gets really tough, allowing them to power through tough spots. Plus, Subarus have an open differential with no lockers, unlike a Jeep and other true off-road vehicles.
Ther are more factors, plus we can get into how Jeeps and other off-road rigs aren’t truly great trail machines unless they’ve been built, but the point is still the same: this refusal to understand that Subarus and other all-wheel-drive vehicles aren’t true off-roaders comes with consequences.
We know it’s a point of pride, but the National Park Service is tired of rescuing prideful Subaru owners stuck in the backcountry where they should have never ventured. That’s why this guy was threatened with a $5,000 fine, possible prison time, collateral forfeiture, and possibly other penalties if he took his Subie on a trail marked for four-wheel-drive vehicles again.
Lead image via Subaru
Humiliated? I doubt it. It’s an asinine abuse of power.
There are plenty of 4WDs that are less capable off-road than many AWDs these days, especially an AWD like a Crosstrek. Skidplates, rocker guards, a rear diff-locker, front and rear LSDs, off-road suspensions, winchmounts, steel high-clearance bumpers with recovery points, and offroad-caoable AT/MT/hybrid tires are all available for something like a Crosstrek.
That said, a stock 1st-gen Crosstrek can crawl some off-camber places that a stock Jeep YJ with open diffs and no TCS couldn’t…until traction diffs were added and/or the anti-sway and/or trackbars were disconnected. The Crosstrek’s TCS vectors torque that well, even without the X-Mode TCS of the newer-gen Crosstreks.
FWIW…Many sand-rails aren’t 4WD either. Most aren’t even AWD. They’re still taken off-road all over the place.
This is one of the most misinformed articles I’ve read in a while. Not sure why Subarus seem to get so much hate but here are a couple things you should know.
1. AWD vs 4WD. It’s true that years ago 4WD was preferred, but specifically with Subaru and companies like Toyota, in todays age AWD is better in most cases. It allows the average family hauler to become a reasonable off-roader without having to manually switch to 4WD, and on top of that, cars like this Crosstrek Wilderness have what is called single and dual X-mode that acts like a proactive 4-low albeit with different technology. So where the article states “There isn’t a four-low set…” it’s just called something different.
2. Ground clearance. Stock wranglers do not have 12.9 inches of ground clearance. The base trim Wrangler has 9.4 inches, this crosstrek wilderness in question has 9.3. You can get the wrangler fitted with higher ground clearance from factory but there are much cheaper after market options for both Jeeps and Subarus so this is a totally bogus point.
3. Misunderstanding of Subaru/ small offroader culture. I’ve been overlanding in a stock 2021 Rav4, driven Subaru Outback Wilderness and a stock Tacoma. I’ve also been offroad in a Jeep Wrangler JK. Most off-roading trails in Colorado, Utah, Wyomning ETC are fine for all vehicles mentioned. The attempt to say that these vehicles are equal is incorrect, no one should deny that, but the average Rav4 owner or Wilderness owner are not trying to rock crawl their daily driver. However, to say that these kind of vehicles are incapable of going off the beaten path or even the average Jeep trail is insane. And to quote Car and Driver’s Experience with their own donor Crosstrek wilderness ” Despite ascending and descending at serious angles, we never heard any sickening scrapes from the Subie’s front end, nor did we end up high-sided on a narrow peak.” They even admitted that these cars are not designed to jump sand dunes or to climb Kilimanjaro but that’s kinda the point. A small offroad capable car that is liveable but can travel almost anywhere while forgoing discomforts of traditional offroaders..
4. You completely missed the best part of the article you’re referencing. The Driver of the aforementioned Subaru Crosstrek had zero issues on this 4×4 only trail. Without any modifications at all he scooted up and down and around Canyonlands National State Park and didn’t even know there was a problem until he received a letter from the park. To quote Road & Track ” ultimately, the Crosstrek driver in question still says they were able to drive along the road without a problem. The surprisingly effective Crosstrek is notably capable among compact crossovers, but that makes it a rarity among all-wheel-drive cars; and even the Crosstrek Wilderness is not exactly designed with the hardest trails of a national park in mind.” So if anyone should be humiliated it should be whoever wrote this stupid article.
What a bunch of bunk! I remember this story when it first broke. The driver of the Subaru did not take his vehicle on the more demanding section of the trail. Even that part of the trail did not require the modifications that come with the Rubicon option. What that action did was to reinforce that only certain vehicles can drive the rough tales. But the reality is that the computer and modern braking systems make up for a much of the kind of experience needed to properly drive “jeep trails” The clearance of a stock Wrangler 2025 version is 9.7 inches, a half an inch taller than the Subaru Wilderness. And that figure is a good inch or more of my first Jeep, a 1976 CJ-7 bought new when I traded my 1970 LandCruiser bobtail. I drove many trails where experienced drivers drove 2WD vehicles with under carriage protection. This led to the old joke about all 4WD did was take you farther in the woods till you got stuck. The comment about “gears” was comical. Is the author referring to CVT that is found on most SUVs sold today, the lack of a low range (something the computer/ABS system is able to compensate for), or the myth that real off road vehicles have on demand 4WD, sort of like needing to have a body on frame. BS again. My first Dodge (1978) was a full time system, although admittedly with a low range transfer case. And a full lock up position on that transfer case. But Jeep offered “Quadratrac” that did not require a lever to lock up the transfer case. I found out how effective that system when I tried to get my brother stuck in soft sand. I think that was the first use of the name “Gladiator”. Except for extreme trails, the microprocessor age was trumping experience and skill. And many jerks are threatened by that fact. Disclosure, most of my offroading is east coast. Many of the trails from 50+ years ago are either closed or have been improved. But just recently I drove on a “jeep” trail that only really required clearance and a little bit of knowledge about low traction areas. My experience is the label “jeep” trail is strictly a label to say “if you have to be rescued, it is going to cost you”. Not a label that means “you broke the rule by completing this trail in a vehicle that I don’t like and I am going to bring the full weight of the Federal government down on you”
It’s a free country, a person shouldn’t need a jeep to drive a 4wheel drive trail. I take my 86 vanagon synchro off roading. even with great and front lockers it has limits but will outperform trucks without lockers.
Jeep/ Toyota drivers are generally nice they always chuckle at me and don’t hesitate to help if I get stuck. Except one time folks in a jeep yelled at me for being on their trail, I replied ” where did you rent that jeep”
Not only is this article crazy, but so is the NPS on this issue. They’ve put a bunch of 4WD NOT AWD signs in various parks on roads where it is completely unnecessary. We drove such a road yesterday with a *real* 4WD vehicle. But we never put the vehicle in 4WD. We have about 9.5 inches of ground clearance and didn’t need that much — we never so much as clunked a rock underneath. By requiring ‘real’ 4WD, the NPS is trying to make its own life a little easier by marginally reducing the chances of somebody needing a rescue — at the expense of pushing people to buy bigger, heavier, thirstier vehicles than necessary to enjoy National Parks. They fret endlessly about recycling in the parks, but then *require* gas guzzlers when they’re not needed. Their ‘real 4WD only’ rule, probably bans EVs like the Rivian and upcoming Scout from the back-country roads as well. Stupid, stupid, stupid.