All,
I'm getting a Legacy Diesel in a few weeks time (company car) and have a question about the 4wd system.
Does it have locking diffs or can you spin all the power away if one wheel doesn't have traction OR does it spin the power away if one wheel per axle doesn't have grip but this means that the alternative axle can 'pull' the vehicle out?
I'm just really looking for an explanation of how sophisticated the 4wd system is....
Thanks
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There is an excellent description of how the system works on the Subaru Legacy website. Diagrams, pretty pictures, examples of assorted wheels on slippery surfaces, plenty of info.
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No locking centre diff.
It will easily cope with mud/snow.
It wont manage serious offroad as the approach angle, etc is rubbish.
How it works in practice is not important.
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We had a Mitsubishi Shogun and a Subaru Leone (predecessor to the lagacy) in Kenya for a couple of years. My wife was taking a friend off on Safari and was worried about getting stuck in the mud, so we took a towrope and the Shogun and went off to play with the Subaru in the mud. I couldn't demonstrate a rescue, because we couldn't get the Subaru stuck (NB. We had fitted all terrain tyres to it).
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Have you driven one? It is not universally praised, some say it has an all or nothing power delivery and others critisise the refinement. Of course many have the opposite view and also praise the character though I wonder if they may be hardened Subaru fans.
I would drive it before ordering defo, if you get one it will be interesting to hear how you get on.
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...We had fitted all terrain tyres to it...
Which is where 99.9 per cent of the traction came from.
The most super-duper 4X4 in the world will get stuck on wet grass if it has road tyres.
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>> ...We had fitted all terrain tyres to it...
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>> Which is where 99.9 per cent of the traction came from.
There is some truth in that. I now run a Landcruiser on all terrain, snowflake rated tyres. Not much is going to stop me getting through!
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>> I would drive it before ordering defo, if you get one it will be interesting
>> to hear how you get on.
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Not an option for me I'm afraid. It's been a long story, starting with a Merc C250CDi that I couldn't order due to the injector issues, then a Volvo V70 1.6d that I was worried about the performance of so I went into a long term hire car hoping that I could then order the Merc once the injector issues had been sorted. In this time, a Subaru Legacy (2009 model) has come available from the current fleet. So I'll be getting that.
In fairness I'm reasonably satisfied with that as it is very well equipped, a good size for the family and lowish BIK. Of course, that's subject to it driving OK....
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The Autocar or Auto Express, i forget which one i'm subscribed to - they all look the same... they had a "long term drive" update on theirs last week.
Generally the guy liked it, but he had 3 complaints:
The boxer diesel was getting a bit noisy approaching service time.
The interior wasn't long lasting enough (~1 year old i think)
Parts are an issue -- couldn't source a windscreen through dealer or autoglass, then couldn't source a tyre through the main dealer
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On road you wont notice the AWD until you boot it out of a junction on wet road and get no wheelspin.
I've got a Forester petrol turbo with 260hp / 300lbft and only lunacy breaks traction in the wet.
Because of this, I suspect frying the clutch can be managed by the mechanically unsympathetic as wheelspin is the 'pressure release valve' for moronic driving.
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Subaru Legacy and Outback Diesel - Subaru 4wd system - Old Navy
