2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness: Epic 1,200-Mile Roadtrip
Driving Sports TV2023-10-15
car review#driving sports tv#crosstrek wilderness#2024 crosstrek wilderness#road test#roadtrip#adventure#off-road trip#cross country
392K views|10 months ago
💫 Short Summary
The video showcases a road trip in a Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness from Utah to Washington state, with visits to different terrains and challenging trails. The speaker praises the vehicle's performance, adaptive cruise control, and X-Mode capabilities for off-roading. They discuss driving through various landscapes, emphasizing the vehicle's comfort, ground clearance, and fuel efficiency. The Subaru impresses with its handling on gravel, rocky climbs, and steep descents, making it a compelling choice for off-road adventures and long road trips. Overall, the Crosstrek Wilderness exceeds expectations, offering a comfortable, capable, and enjoyable driving experience.
✨ Highlights
📊 Transcript
✦
Overview of Road Trip in Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness
03:07The speaker is excited to embark on a road trip from Utah to Washington state in a Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness.
They plan to visit Craters of the Moon in Idaho and discuss the vehicle's performance.
Stops for gas are included in the journey, with an estimated arrival time of 6:30 p.m.
The speaker plans to document the trip with recordings but mentions potential fatigue affecting coherence.
✦
Using an electronic calculator to reset trip information and monitor fuel mileage while driving through Southern Utah.
04:58Benefits of cruise control and adaptive cruise control on the highway, particularly in Utah with high speed limits.
Discussion on color choices for the vehicle, with green being the preferred option based on social feedback.
✦
Smooth driving experience on the highway with minimal road noise due to the new chassis of the vehicle.
08:25Mileage and MPGs are reported, with driving speed noted as impacting fuel efficiency.
Adaptive cruise control makes long-distance driving easier by handling steering.
Elevation can affect engine performance, but overall vehicle performance is satisfactory.
Passing power is observed, and upcoming lunch plans in Mona are mentioned.
✦
Off-roading in a Subaru Cross Trek with trail tires.
14:35Importance of having a reliable vehicle for off-roading and cautious about tire punctures on sharp rocks.
Terrain described as rocky and challenging, different from previous locations.
Emphasis on being careful due to having a temporary spare tire.
Desire to avoid driving long distances with the temporary spare tire.
✦
Navigating rocky terrain safely with deflated tires.
16:45Utilizing Yokohama Geolander all-terrain tires and the Subaru Crosstrek's ground clearance.
Engaging X mode for more aggressive wheel locking.
Emphasizing steady throttle and cautious driving to avoid obstacles and potential vehicle damage.
✦
Subaru's X-Mode enhances traction and control on difficult terrains.
21:06The system can quickly adapt and learn different terrains, adjusting wheel braking and power transfer for better performance.
Different modes for snow, dirt, and deep snow/mud provide specific adjustments for each type of terrain.
X-Mode is designed to be aggressive in wheel braking and power shifting, ensuring smoother handling on challenging trails.
The system is built to withstand power transfer shocks, making it effective in handling obstacles and tough conditions.
✦
Journey downhill through Aspen Grove and high valley scenery with X mode for hill descent control.
27:15Narrator praises improved immediate response on slippery steep roads.
Vehicle showcases capabilities despite scratches and minor damage from rocky climb.
Adventure deemed successful, surprising onlookers with performance.
✦
Driving through rough terrain in Idaho showcases car capabilities and fuel efficiency.
30:13Achieving high MPG on the highway despite stop-and-go driving.
Off-road performance highlighted through mud pits, rocks, and trenches.
Anticipating another adventure on the drive.
Car's tire pressure affected by cold weather, but overall performing well in challenging conditions.
✦
Discussion on the visual aspects and features of a vehicle.
34:25Suggestions for improvements include a front camera and crawl control function.
Praise for the product's hill descent control and safety systems.
The suspension is considered suitable for a smooth ride on rough terrain and highways.
Plans to test the vehicle on an off-road course near Ellensburg, Washington, focusing on navigating sticky and slippery mud.
✦
Discussion on driving techniques for gravel roads and the Subaru's performance on loose surfaces.
39:52Emphasis on balance, weight distribution, and throttle control for optimal vehicle handling.
Praise for the Subaru's rally car-like feel and versatility on gravel and snow.
Warning against overdriving capabilities and commendation for the car's quietness, suspension, and overall performance.
Recommendation of the Subaru for adventurous drivers seeking commuter convenience and off-road capabilities.
✦
Road trip through Eastern Idaho and Montana.
46:51Sparse population in the area, with a mention of the Old Schoolhouse Cafe as a lunch spot.
Plans to meet Grandma in Cordelane at 5:00 p.m.
Reflects on friendly interactions with people in Dell.
Time constraints due to breakfast and the importance of reaching Cordelane on schedule.
✦
Road trip experience towards Missoula with family.
49:27Impressed by the quietness and composure of the vehicle at high speeds.
Reflects on the premium driving experience provided by the small Subaru.
Comparison of driving experience to Mazda's 'Horse and Rider as one' concept.
Positive feedback on seat comfort and overall handling of the vehicle.
✦
Performance on Off-Road Conditions
51:33The vehicle handles rocky climbs and gravel roads exceptionally well, providing a sense of control and smoothness.
Its softer suspension offers a comfortable ride even on rough terrain.
Extra ground clearance reduces concerns about rocks and ruts.
Stands out in its class for its off-road performance, making it a compelling option for those seeking a versatile and capable vehicle.
✦
Subaru Cross Trek features 9.3 inches of ground clearance for navigating diverse terrains.
55:24Lower MPG at higher speeds due to engine struggle, but excels off-road compared to other vehicles.
Offers better fuel efficiency and off-road performance in the compact crossover class.
Trade-off between power and MPG, with Cross Trek being a less compromised option for off-road readiness.
✦
Performance and comfort of the car on road trips are discussed, focusing on handling on gravel and pavement, safety features, and confidence at high speeds.
59:18The car is compared to other models like the Jeep Compass and Bronco Sport, emphasizing its value for the price.
Plans for an off-road test course are mentioned, along with a clean car after a visit to the car wash.
✦
Driving through Washington state offers diverse environments, from Puget Sound to High Desert.
01:02:50The speaker mentions a forest fire in the Medical Lake area and appreciates the beauty of the state's landscapes.
Plans to calculate gas mileage at 2,000 ft elevation on a smooth highway at 70 mph.
Observes better engine performance at lower altitude and adjusts speed accordingly.
✦
Highlights from the Road Trip Journey:
01:07:36The speaker has been driving for about an hour, covering 60 miles with an average of 27 MPGs.
Proper air pressure in tires has improved efficiency.
The town of Vantage is highlighted for dinosaur attractions and wind farms.
MPG dropped to 25.6 due to elevation changes on the driving sports test mountain course in Ellensburg.
✦
Review of the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness performance and features.
01:13:24The Crosstrek Wilderness is comfortable, quiet, and capable on difficult terrain, with effective X-Mode and Hill Descent Control.
It climbed steep mountains with ease and maintained good traction in wet conditions.
The infotainment system is glitch-free and functional, offering a pleasant driving experience.
Fuel economy peaked at 27 MPG, making it acceptable given the vehicle's capabilities.
✦
Highlights of the Subaru Cross Trek Wilderness.
01:15:30The vehicle impressed with its capabilities and driving experience, exceeding expectations.
Recommended for those seeking a vehicle with more capability than traditional SUVs like the Bronco Sport or Wrangler, but not for rock crawling.
The adaptive cruise control and Lane centering systems were highlighted for making the driving experience more relaxing.
Viewers are encouraged to stay tuned for upcoming videos featuring the Subaru Cross Trek Wilderness, as it will be loaned until next spring for further testing and reviews.
00:00good morning from just outside Zion
00:02National Park here in Utah just
00:04yesterday we put this 2024 Subaru cross
00:06Treck Wilderness through its paces and
00:09it did a really good job but how is it
00:11on an epic road trip I'm going to load
00:13up the car and then I'm going to head
00:15out according to Google Maps that's
00:17about a 15 and 1/2 hour drive but I'm
00:19not going straight there along the way
00:21we're going to have some
00:26[Music]
00:28fun
00:33[Music]
00:46so yes I am driving away in the same
00:49vehicle that we spent all day yesterday
00:51filming uh we did sand roads and Offroad
00:54and a little Highway uh but in this
00:56video I am going to focus a lot on the
00:59driving the comp Comfort how well this
01:01vehicle is to live with every day cuz
01:03literally I'm going to live with it
01:04every day for the next couple days uh
01:06and then Subaru is actually letting us
01:08keep this for about 6 months uh so we'll
01:10have lots of opportunity to do snow
01:12testing um hill climbs all sorts of
01:15different fun things I'm really looking
01:18forward to it CU I I have a good feeling
01:20about this one I really like this
01:22vehicle I mean fact is I own a cross
01:24Trek Sport with a 2.5 L engine I know
01:27this motor it's a fine motor and
01:29actually here we're already at 4,500 ft
01:32so we're already at elevation which
01:34means that this engine isn't even
01:35running at its full capacity it's
01:37starved for oxygen so getting it back
01:40home to sea level yeah I'm going to look
01:41forward to
01:43that obviously between Utah and
01:46Washington State there's a lot of really
01:49good Adventure opportunities but there's
01:51one place that I've never been that I
01:53think I have an opportunity to hit while
01:55I'm driving back in this car and that is
01:58Craters of the Moon in Idaho um my
02:01grandmother actually lives in Idaho and
02:03I could swing by and say hi to Grandma
02:05uh and also see what crators of the Moon
02:08is really like now I know there's going
02:09to be some easy trails around there I
02:11don't know how much of a you know how
02:14taxing it'll be on this little cross
02:16Trek Wilderness but I think it is just
02:18the kind of Adventure I'm looking for on
02:20this boy how many
02:23miles on
02:25this basically 1500 mile
02:28Journey I have no idea how long this
02:31journey is because I don't know which
02:33way I'm going I will start by heading
02:35north though and I'm going to head to
02:36Salt Lake
02:38City onto the
02:42highway
02:44okay it's a couple thousand more miles
02:47of
02:50this man this is spectacular here look
02:54at those
02:57Cliffs I'm not going to adhere to any po
02:59particular format in this video I'm
03:01basically going to record when I feel
03:03there's something I want to say uh but I
03:05will check in every once in a while
03:07along the Route so basically sit back
03:10enjoy be ready for any major time jumps
03:13because oh yeah they're going to happen
03:16and at some point I might get tired and
03:17I might not make any sense so we'll see
03:19how this goes now my current leg of the
03:23trip is going to have send me to a place
03:25called kry Idaho which is just outside
03:28the craters of the Moon Monument
03:30uh so that's about 8 hours away of
03:33course we're going to have a few stops
03:34for gas um so yeah let's see that's
03:38going to put me there at about 6:30 p.m.
03:41tonight okay right before Sunset that
03:44might be
03:47nice wow this is beautiful cow guard
03:51okay
03:54okay so I don't know how much gas
03:56they've put in this car uh right now I'm
03:58just going to use the electronic
04:01calculator we'll reset
04:03that uh I want to reset my Odo my trip
04:07oh I just reset my trip and yeah let's
04:10see what kind of MPGs we get now it's
04:12currently reporting that I have 330
04:14miles remaining on my fuel tank and the
04:19gauge is showing full so let's see how
04:21far we can go and then after we get a
04:22fill up I'll start calculating based on
04:27Phillips oh funny thing about the Lane
04:29departure warnings on this car they
04:31sound just like a GoPro going off so I
04:34never know whether or not the beeps are
04:36my GoPro or the car I actually told the
04:38engineers that last night and they
04:40laughed and they're like yeah maybe we
04:42should change that so if they do change
04:44that that tone yeah you can thank
04:48[Music]
04:54me man it is um it's pretty empty out
04:58here Southern Utah yeah I kind of like
05:02it though the rocks are especially
05:04beautiful the mountains very nice how
05:07weird must have be to like live around
05:09mountains like this and then go
05:10somewhere else I mean it's like the
05:12drama of your uh environment is just
05:16gone and let's
05:19haul 35 40
05:2450 55 and 60 I will tell you this 4500
05:30ft is not doing this naturally aspirated
05:324cylinder any
05:36favors okay now we're cruising on 15
05:38North I'm just going to basically put it
05:40on cruise control we got adaptive cruise
05:43control going to turn on auto steering
05:46basically the car is driving itself now
05:49that's kind of nice got a whole state to
05:51blow through today so there we go oh
05:54yeah I forgot Utah we have 80 mph as a
05:56speed limit here on the highways or the
05:58major freeways here we go kick it
06:02up so in case you're wondering why I
06:05picked green and I did pick this green
06:07of all the available colors for the new
06:09cross Trek Wilderness I basically posted
06:11on social I'm hey guys what color do you
06:15like and uh it was pretty abundant
06:19everybody liked Green best so I picked
06:22green thank you for that and I think
06:25with this particular vehicle because of
06:27all the clading on the outside the green
06:28just works really well well um also I
06:30like that anti-reflective sticker on the
06:33hood I think it it just kind of makes
06:36the whole thing really come together
06:38this is just really just a nice looking
06:40version of the Cross trck and with the
06:42cladding I think there's certain colors
06:43that work and certain ones that don't I
06:45was surprised with in person the red
06:48looked better than I thought it would it
06:49looked really good actually so did the
06:51orange the white if you want to go full
06:53Stormtrooper look that's a good choice
06:56black of course you lose all of the
06:58cladding it doesn't have any it's not an
07:00accent so that's nice if you're not a
07:03fan of cladding just get black and you
07:05just have a vehicle that looks like it's
07:06a wide body uh and then let's see what
07:08are some of the other colors the
07:10blues the geyser blue which is the like
07:14trademark Wilderness color and it's
07:17available on all the different
07:18Wilderness models it's kind of a mix
07:20between green and blue it is not my
07:22favorite in this vehicle uh it does look
07:25nice but it's not one I would buy then
07:27there's the I think what do they call it
07:29Emerald
07:30blue prettyy color I actually really
07:32like the color but not on this car I
07:34just don't think it works very well on
07:36this car I think it looks much better on
07:38uh one of the road based cars not not
07:40one of the off-road cars so basically
07:43that leads me to silver or
07:46green those two I think are my
07:49favorites man this thing is smooth on
07:52the
07:53highway hardly any road noise on the
07:55outside you get a little wind on the
07:57mirrors but that just happen happens in
07:59pretty much all cars it's very quiet in
08:02here and that's one of the benefits of
08:03this new chassis it's not only more
08:05rigid it's also quieter on the highway
08:08and yeah this is this is nice the fact
08:10that this has mild allterrain tires yeah
08:12I don't even hear them it's just
08:18smooth okay no talking more
08:22[Music]
08:25driving I've now been driving for 1087
08:29miles time to report mileage now I will
08:33be doing calculations based on refills
08:35later uh right now I don't know exactly
08:37how full the tank was so I am merely
08:39reporting what the computer is saying
08:41and it's saying 26.5 MPGs you're
08:44probably saying hey Ryan aren't the MPGs
08:47on this vehicle 29 according to the EPA
08:51well yes that's true it's 29 Highway and
08:5325 City however I'm driving through Utah
08:57and Utah's speed limits on their freeway
08:59is 80 so this is not exactly an optimal
09:02MPG situation uh but I think that I'm
09:05actually pretty happy with that figure
09:07given how fast we're driving here I did
09:10take a look at the map to see how long
09:12it would take me to get to Salt Lake
09:13City and I think what I'm going to do is
09:15stop in the town of Mona uh Utah for
09:19lunch because it's kind of in a nice
09:21spot up between here and there so with
09:24the adaptive cruise control system of
09:25this car it's actually really easy to do
09:27longdistance driving uh because B
09:29basically the vehicle handles the heavy
09:31work I basically set my target
09:34speed hit the little steering wheel icon
09:37so once I set that um I'll take my hands
09:39off just so you can see how it's
09:40centering Us in the lane as we're even
09:43going around corners if it gets too
09:45twisty of course it'll shut down this
09:46isn't really a hands-free system but
09:49what it does do is it does all the
09:51steering for you so your arms basically
09:54just can relax while you're driving
09:56which is really good for Interstate
09:57travel it really cuts down on fatigue um
10:00it's really surprising what all those
10:02little adjustments over hundreds and
10:04hundreds of miles uh can do it actually
10:07makes driving kind of more tired so just
10:10like cruise control gives you a chance
10:11to you know relax your legs um Lane
10:14centering allows you to you know relax
10:16your arms which is pretty
10:18nice so MPGs have improved slightly um
10:21over this last leg I think I'm not
10:23climbing up quite so much and I'm now
10:25looking at 27.7 MPGs according to the
10:28computer
10:30one thing to keep in mind also is that
10:31we're over 6,000 ft of elevation which
10:34makes it difficult for a naturally
10:36aspirated motor to breathe if you have a
10:38turbo obviously that compressor can help
10:40compensate for the lack of oxygen in the
10:43atmosphere uh but this one actually it's
10:44doing pretty good I'm cruising along
10:46here on this 80 mph Highway doing
10:49exactly the speed limit uh and the
10:52vehicles you know pretty calm it's
10:54relaxed it's doing
10:572,400 23 300 RPM it's quiet yeah I'm
11:02liking this this is fun check out what
11:05we have here it looks like a first
11:07generation Forerunner possibly and oh
11:10mercy that is a suspension
11:14mod it's a bit
11:16much dang I bet that thing is fun
11:27though
11:2930 minutes away from
11:31lunch in
11:34Mona I mean passing power is okay in the
11:37car it's not great but it definely
11:40definitely has plenty enough of oomph to
11:42be able to get past around vehicles that
11:44are moving slowly um of course you know
11:47like I was saying it's penalized based
11:50on altitude that doesn't help uh but you
11:53know no real complaints here for the
11:56money I think that this engine is just
11:58fine
12:00would I prefer a turbo
12:05yeah but then you're adding complexity
12:08you're adding cost and what would you
12:11pay 40 grand for a a Subaru cross Trek I
12:15don't know if people
12:16would at least not enough of
12:19them okay exiting into the town of
12:27Mona this does not look very
12:36big good Jun I always like when there's
12:38cattle guards when you get off the
12:44freeway find the nearest fast food
12:48place one option is Mel and backet
12:51burgers on South Main Street mels sure
12:54let's do mels how do I get to
12:57mels
13:01oh I think I see it let's do
13:05that oh maybe that's Mount neibo that's
13:07tall that's that's a mountain okay
13:11sneaky Mountain there we go mels burgers
13:14fries open sure let's do
13:25that I to say uh mels I think it's
13:28called Mel's restaurant or Mel's burgers
13:31or
13:32whatever BLT really
13:35good okay looking for Mona Pole road
13:39where is
13:41that looking for Mona Pole Road and
13:45there it
13:49is actually it's called 2300
13:54North is the actual
13:57Road
13:59wow that is a big mountain now on the
14:02charts it looks like it goes all the way
14:04up to 12,000 ft roughly um the big one
14:08on the right uh the one on the left I
14:10think only goes up to about 11,000 ft
14:12and we're going to take a road that
14:13basically goes right up
14:16it um the entire Loop would take several
14:21hours I don't really have that so I'm
14:23just going to try to get up to a nice
14:24Viewpoint call it good and then get back
14:26on the highway and head north
14:29and also I need to note that I don't
14:31have a ton of gas I'm just below a half
14:33tank which shows that according to the
14:36computer here it gives me 200 mil of
14:39[Music]
14:40range oh this is the road okay road goes
14:45this
14:46way this is why I really like driving
14:49vehicles that are good on the highway
14:50but then also can do some you know light
14:52off-roading is it really gives you an
14:54opportunity to kind of experience an
14:57area a little bit more than just just
14:59passing through like I'm going to go up
15:01that mountain I want to see what that
15:02Mountain's like if I was driving a Prius
15:05yeah I probably wouldn't do
15:13[Music]
15:16that okay this looks like the trail head
15:19and to the
15:22right it starts to get more challenging
15:25now I'll have to be really careful
15:27because I mean these these are trail
15:29tires they're not rugged heavyduty
15:32off-road tires it is quite possible that
15:34I could get a puncture on one of these
15:35sharp rocks and the Rocks do look pretty
15:38pointy here this is definitely different
15:41terrain than what we had out near Zion
15:44that's for sure gosh it looks like they
15:47just carved this out of a gravel
15:50[Music]
15:52pit very
15:54Rocky we do have a spare tire but it is
15:58a temporary spare and I don't really
16:00want to drive all the way back to
16:01Washington state with a temporary so we
16:04got to be super careful here in fact I
16:08might let's see how this goes I might
16:10drop pressure if these rocks continue to
16:13be this
16:14Jagged so far I'm just cruising along in
16:17regular mode no reason to put X mode on
16:18yet we go up and then we go down I think
16:22I'll take this opportunity to air down a
16:24little bit do a compromise air down
16:29maybe just go down to about a little
16:31above 20 so I don't always air down on
16:34Trails but these rocks are very Jagged
16:36and sharp and I just have so much more
16:39of a journey ahead of me I just don't
16:40want to risk it so I'm going to air them
16:42down a little
16:45bit of course these tires are Yokohama
16:48geolander all terrains the g015 model
16:51and they are Peak rated for snow which
16:54is nice they're a 22560 R17 and I
16:57actually really like this this wheel
16:58design I think it looks
17:06great so the idea here is that you're
17:09basically uh deflating the balloon like
17:11just like a fully inflated balloon if
17:13you prick it it'll pop easier uh same
17:15thing with tires so I'm deflating it so
17:17that it's going to have a little more
17:18elasticity in the
17:21sidewall okay think we're ready to go
17:24now if I look at the gauge cluster here
17:26I can go to my TPMS report it look like
17:28everything is around 20
17:34[Laughter]
17:37[Music]
17:41psi got to keep track of time CU I want
17:43to make sure that I don't um get stuck
17:46up here after dark and I have plenty of
17:49time to get back to town and get on our
17:52way that's a that's a pretty steep drop
17:53by the
17:56way so the
17:59the Subaru cross TR here has 9.3 in of
18:01ground clearance and yes it does have a
18:04skid plate on the front but it's very
18:06small I don't honestly think it's going
18:08to save any kind of major impacts let's
18:13put the wheel let's put it right there
18:15on that rock oh there was some oh hey
18:18starting to slip time to put on X mode I
18:20think yep
18:23let's looks like I have to do a little
18:25Trail Improvement
18:27here
18:29cuz uh that's more than 9.3
18:37in
18:39okay if I start huffing and puffing it's
18:42cuz we're going up to 12,000 ft
18:45obviously we're going not going that
18:47high but we started at 6 so this might
18:50be like seven maybe eight I don't
18:53know it's tiring that's what it is okay
18:56rock out of the way
18:58oxygen depleted on we
19:03go so I'm going to turn on X
19:06mode I would prefer a dedicated X mode
19:09button instead of having to go into the
19:11screen okay so I'm in snow dirt
19:14mode which should make for more
19:18aggressive wheel
19:20locking as I continue to progress up
19:25this very Rocky Road once we get moving
19:28here
19:29yeah we got
19:42[Music]
19:48this wow those are some awesome looking
19:55[Applause]
19:57rocks
20:00this is
20:01rough pretty confident though we can get
20:03up it the biggest issue is if there's
20:05going to be a big boulder that's simply
20:07too large to get past in the
20:09way also going to try to avoid any uh
20:12pin striping on the
20:17side let's keep it steady throttle slow
20:20and steady doing about 5 miles an hour
20:22maybe 4 and three between 3 and
20:25[Music]
20:275
20:38okay it's getting a little narrow here
20:40with uh trees and branches this is where
20:43having a small vehicle is really
20:46beneficial uh obviously something like a
20:48gmz Denali yeah this would we would have
20:50had to turn around back there or
20:52completely sacrificed our paint job one
20:54or the other hug the inside here now the
20:58way X mode works is that with
21:00symmetrical all-wheel drive it actually
21:02does detect the surface and it makes
21:04adjustments and it has to learn the
21:06surface so keeping throttle going and
21:10keeping movement forward actually makes
21:13this system much more effective if you
21:15stop completely like we often do for
21:17testing it has to relearn but I think
21:19it's kind of fascinating to see how fast
21:21it can relearn in those conditions so
21:24right here I am just keeping it steady
21:26and it is doing an amazing job this is a
21:29very very difficult
21:32Trail this is about as hard as I think a
21:35Subaru owner would probably attempt in
21:38most
21:40cases but with 9.3 in we're doing pretty
21:44good but I still don't want to go too
21:46fast because we don't have any real
21:48underbody protection on this thing just
21:50that little strip of aluminum in the
21:51front which I already dented yesterday
21:54just a little
21:57dent
21:59H is that R 9.3 in do I want to bet it
22:03is I think it'll actually tip over when
22:05we hit
22:08it didn't hit it oh there it
22:13goes ooh Boulders okay this is becoming
22:17technical
22:19now where approach breakover all of that
22:22comes into
22:24play I'm glad I aired down oop oh oh
22:29come on keep that traction
22:31going this is surprisingly difficult
22:34right there okay there we go we're
22:36moving we're
22:38moving it just detected a object in
22:41front of me so that's always
22:43fun
22:45o this is very loose and very big
22:49boulders so I'm not
22:54stopping man this is this is really
22:57incredible that that this little cross
22:59trck can get up this
23:01stuff oh oh come on come
23:05on come on feeling that X mode kicking
23:09in
23:12hard if you haven't watched any of our
23:14other videos on X mode uh there's the
23:17two different types of X mode snow dirt
23:19and then deep snow mud deep snow mud
23:21actually adds additional wheel spin it
23:24actually you know spins the wheels more
23:26so it reduces traction control
23:28to give you more momentum going through
23:30difficult objects like mud or deep snow
23:34first level just turns on the system to
23:37be um more aggressive in wheel breaking
23:39shifting it left to right you still get
23:41some wheel spin of course because it's
23:43based on that technology but it is very
23:46aggressive in shifting that
23:50power more aggressive than many other
23:52vehicles in this
23:54category Subaru says it's because
23:56they've overbuilt their system system to
23:58be able to deal with the shock to the
24:00system of the power
24:02transfer um in my experience that seems
24:05to hold
24:10true there's a little turnaround spot
24:12good we got a few of those oh my gosh we
24:14got more rocks
24:18here okay let's not damage the frame on
24:21the first day
24:23here let's keep it moving keep it moving
24:26keep it moving whoop getting it we're
24:28getting
24:29it you know what I'm shocked with how
24:31little undercarriage I'm hitting I've
24:34hit what one rock this whole trip that
24:36is pretty amazing of course that'll
24:38change now that I actually called it out
24:39oh yeah we got some big pointy ones
24:41right here that are huge Boulders
24:43planted in the ground maybe do a little
24:45pin striping on the
24:47right
24:50yeah okay there we go up and
24:53over another turnaround spot possibly
24:56that's good
24:59okay moving
25:03on Wow We Are Burning through gas
25:06actually our MPGs have dropped
25:07dramatically and we're down to a quarter
25:09tank but the good news is it's all
25:11downhill when we're done so I could just
25:14roll down
25:17technically looks like dirt first dirt
25:20I've seen in a
25:22[Music]
25:25while Collision detected always
25:28oh we're on dirt now oh this is
25:32nice watch for pin striping still of
25:38course little striping on the side
25:46there the terrain has definitely changed
25:48I feel like I'm kind of more in the
25:49forest now not on a ravine Edge
25:56Ravine oh this is pretty I'm like in a
25:58little Aspen Grove
26:02huh o an opening haven't had an opening
26:04in a
26:06while Aspen Grove clear
26:13nice well this is
26:18spectacular this is a very high Valley
26:22it's really
26:23cool I think we'll stop here turn around
26:26and then head back Let's uh get out and
26:29take a quick
26:45look there a glacier up there Aspens
26:48around there beautiful
26:51grasses it's like it's not real right
26:54this is
26:55amazing hate to say it but I got got to
26:57turn around and go back because I got to
26:59get back on the
27:15road when I uh engage X mode it
27:17automatically enables Hill descent
27:19control which is actually really useful
27:21on a road like this where it's very
27:23Steep and very slippery I don't want to
27:25roll on the rocks so when I keep my foot
27:28on the throttle it'll keep the speed
27:30that I'm rolling at uh put my foot on
27:33the brake stop completely release it and
27:35it'll start easing me at the slowest
27:37speed it can which is about 2 mph now
27:40one thing that is new on this cross
27:42truck Wilderness is it grabs immediately
27:46no longer historically there's like a
27:475ot roll before the um Hill descent
27:50control kicks in this one it's immediate
27:53it's like probably an eighth of a turn
27:56on the wheel uh which which is much much
27:58much much much better than the old Hill
28:00descent
28:11control ezing it down so I drove up at
28:15about about 3 miles per hour I'm going
28:17down about 3 miles hour there are some
28:20big rocks here I actually just passed a
28:22family who are on a quad and they looked
28:25at me like what stop chatted with the
28:28gentleman who was riding uh driving it
28:31and uh he said you came up in that I
28:36said yes yes I did and now I'm going
28:40down well it's going to be this for the
28:41next hour so uh let's just go ahead and
28:44fast forward assuming this all goes fine
28:47and uh we'll pick up with me on the
28:49highway I am back on the freeway I put
28:53gas in the car I aired up the tires and
28:55I even found a car wash so
28:58it's clean kind of now in terms of
29:00damage what happened on that route
29:02because it was a very very Rocky climb
29:06well there's definitely a couple
29:07scratches on the wheels and there
29:09apparently a twig or something reached
29:11out and grabbed right by the headlight
29:13but overall I'd say that it's pretty
29:15normal for the type of Adventure we just
29:18did and the fact that this vehicle got
29:21up that climb and as I was coming down
29:23all the people on their quads going what
29:25the heck you have this car out here what
29:28are you thinking it just tells me that
29:32this car is very capable and man that
29:35was a beautiful field that was
29:37definitely worth the side Adventure well
29:40now I'm pressing on to Idaho um not sure
29:43how long it'll take to get there NAB
29:45says it's going to be about 5 hours or
29:48so uh so yeah guess going to put it on
29:51adaptive cruise control with Lane
29:53centering turn that on Kick Back
29:58and
30:00drive so I've just been driving along
30:02here it's now been almost 78 miles since
30:04I filled up the tank and I just noticed
30:08I'm averaging 29 mil to the gallon
30:10according to the computer here now my
30:11driving has been much slower than the
30:13first leg when I was getting a lower MPG
30:16uh but it's interesting I've been doing
30:18a lot of stop and go which usually isn't
30:20very good for MPGs yet here I am getting
30:23the actual Highway estimated MPGs which
30:27is great um I'm averaging between 70 75
30:31mph which is definitely slower than 80
30:33and that difference seems to really make
30:36an improvement in the
30:38MPGs this gets such good range uh
30:41because it's now calculating that my
30:44total tank to empty is about 350 mil and
30:49I still have 178 miles to get my to my
30:52hotel tonight at which point it will be
30:54very dark so I'm not going to film at
30:56that point uh in fact the sun's going
30:58kind of going down now it'll be sunset
31:00in probably about an hour um but man
31:03been driving all day still
31:06comfortable looking forward to another
31:08adventure tomorrow and uh we're going to
31:10continue this
31:13drive uh but at this point I think we're
31:15going to probably Fade to Black and pick
31:17up with
31:26tomorrow
31:28[Music]
31:44good morning and you might notice this
31:47is no longer a highway that's right I'm
31:50taking a uh shortcut um up to the Valley
31:53of the Moon here in Southern Idaho and I
31:56decided to to go through some uh Bureau
31:59of Land Management land and this road is
32:03awesome of course last night I did find
32:05a hotel had a good night's sleep and
32:08then woke up this morning and filled up
32:10the tank of this car and I did calculate
32:12the mileage from that last Highway track
32:14and because we were doing you know the
32:16speed limit posted was 80 M an hour plus
32:19on top of that there was some sto and go
32:21uh so I was averaging 23 mil to the
32:24gallon so there is a penalty of of
32:27course with having uh extra ground
32:29clearance and also having um alterate
32:32tires telling me my pressure is low oh
32:35cuz it's so cold out my pressure
32:37temperature has my pressure tire
32:39pressures have dropped because uh yeah
32:42we're all the way down to 28 now on all
32:44Corners simply because it's rather cold
32:47out and that's actually pretty good
32:49because uh this is really rough and
32:52having a little softer Tire isn't so bad
32:55so that worked out
32:58the route here is going to take us uh
33:00basically over roads like this for the
33:03next hour roughly I do have to look for
33:06these mud pits to make sure that I
33:09don't bottom out uh between Tire grooves
33:13and I also have to look for errant rocks
33:15and trenches because of course this is
33:17not really that wellmaintained it is
33:20just for Access into uh the
33:24property and it's going to switch
33:25between a lot of rocks some washboard
33:28some gravel mud and really really hard
33:31mud I guess that would just be called
33:33dirt but you know what I
33:36mean I like these bypasses got to watch
33:38these bypass the bypasses really test
33:40clearance
33:41[Music]
33:45here so far car is doing fantastic so
33:50good on the highway really good on roads
33:52like this I
33:54mean you know if I'm going to find fault
33:57with this vehicle I think it's mostly a
34:00visual thing like some people aren't
34:02going to like the cladding just it is
34:05what it is um also you know at this
34:08price point a front camera they should
34:10have done it um other things I'd like to
34:12see added to it are like a crawl Control
34:14Function that would be neat um but the
34:17improvements in the hill descent control
34:19system uh improvements in the Safety
34:21Systems I mean they really have evolved
34:23the product uh making it even better I I
34:25see no missteps here um in terms of the
34:29product that is offered and of course
34:32yeah the tires could be more aggressive
34:33but this is a great balance for a lot of
34:36buyers not everybody needs a ko2
34:42right okay oh yeah this is great man
34:45this suspension is pretty good now you
34:47could argue that the vehicle needs
34:49adaptive suspension so it really loosen
34:51up on this hard stuff but I would argue
34:54that that just adds unnecessary
34:55complexity um I think that this default
34:59springing and damping is just right in
35:02there I mean it's perfect it's so smooth
35:04on even this rough stuff uh yet it's
35:07fairly compliant on the highway right
35:10you're just not going to get that
35:11corners on Rails feeling uh that you get
35:14with a WRX and that's okay this is
35:16actually way more comfortable and I was
35:19also thinking of altering the finish
35:20line for this video originally I just
35:22said Seattle but I'm not actually going
35:24to Seattle I don't even live in Seattle
35:25I live out on the peninsula uh but I'm
35:27thinking that a good finish line for
35:30this will actually be our off-road test
35:32course uh which is near Ellensburg
35:35Washington that will definitely uh be a
35:39good place to stop this and then
35:44start an off-road test course
35:47video get a two for
35:49one and for those of you asking hey does
35:52this guy ever shave uh actually I landed
35:55and I had forgotten my Razor on my last
35:59trip and I decided you know what no
36:02razor no problem I'm just going to be
36:04Shaggy until I get to the last day of
36:07this video so uh yeah still Shaggy a
36:11little salt and pepper going on there
36:13not going to keep it
36:17[Music]
36:25though
36:29[Music]
36:41[Music]
36:48even though it's not wet or rainy there
36:50is still some deep mud around here uh
36:53simply because these puddles can't all
36:55be bypassed although this one can so
36:58let's bypass it and the
37:01m and for those of you watching saying
37:04run through the puddle I I'm kind of
37:05with you on that but this kind of mud
37:09there's different types of dirt
37:10different types of mud uh this mud is
37:12very very sticky and slippery if I get
37:15stuck I have no way of recovering out
37:17here because I am by myself um and uh
37:21yeah don't want to have to deal with
37:23that that would really mess up my
37:25schedule but if you do have to go
37:28through some of those mud things and I
37:29have had to go through a couple of them
37:31um just want to keep a steady throttle
37:33as you go to uh no lifting uh keep it
37:37moving and if in doubt use x mode deep
37:41mud uh cuz that'll help keep the wheels
37:43spinning while still applying braking uh
37:46to keep you moving forward so it's
37:48that's a good thing that's a good
37:50perfectly acceptable time to use x mode
37:53so I am heading to a national monument
37:55called Craters of the Moon here in in
37:57southeast Idaho I've never been there
37:59but I have flown over it so this is
38:01officially fly over country um I have
38:03flown over it in airplanes and I'm like
38:05that looks really cool so I want to at
38:07least drive by it and kind of see what
38:08it looks like from the surface and this
38:12road actually goes right in between uh
38:15sections of the craters of the Moon so I
38:18expect the terrain will get rockier at
38:20some point I don't know we'll see we'll
38:22see what nature holds for us
38:25here got to watch with these arant rocks
38:28lots of birds out
38:41too ooh mdy let's just go through
38:45it okay now that we've actually hit some
38:48pretty smooth gravel roads here oh some
38:52surprising rocks in the middle um I can
38:54talk about driving fast on gravel roads
38:57so never overdrive what your
38:59capabilities are and constantly scan the
39:01road for uh things that might cause
39:03problems like rocks uh branches Wildlife
39:06that kind of stuff um you don't want to
39:09break while you're going into the corner
39:10you want to break before the corner and
39:12then you want to throttle through the
39:13corner what that does is basically when
39:15you're about to go into the corner if
39:16you put the brakes on it puts all the
39:18weight onto the front of the vehicle if
39:20you throttle it puts the weight on the
39:23back of the vehicle and that affects
39:24your grip so if I come into a corn and I
39:27slam my brake on and then twist it it's
39:29going to kick that back out a little bit
39:31because all the weight is on the front
39:33wheels there's nothing over the back uh
39:35that's one way to actually create a
39:37rotation if you want to do that uh but
39:40if you're trying to stay level and flat
39:43then you don't want to do that so just
39:45keep in mind that the balance is
39:46actually very important in the handling
39:47of a vehicle especially when on a loose
39:50surface like gravel and the same thing
39:52actually applies to
39:55snow so these tires are actually really
39:58good in these conditions I feel like I
40:00have adequate control I'm not going to
40:02say grip because it's gravel you just
40:04don't have a lot of grip everything's
40:05rly poly uh but I feel like I can
40:08actually drive pretty briskly here and
40:10then when I have a blind Crest I
40:11definitely slow down cuz I don't know
40:13what's on the other side and then I go
40:14into the corner add a little throttle
40:17and the Subaru shifts that power to the
40:18back and boom out of the hole we pop it
40:21is such a fun car to drive and really
40:23this vehicle it has the feel of a little
40:26rally car right out of the box you don't
40:28need to set up anything with it uh to go
40:31out and have some fun now again I want
40:33to emphasize never overdrive your
40:35capabilities never go beyond um you know
40:39what you're what you consider to be safe
40:41and I consider this speed to be pretty
40:43safe for me because I have hundreds of
40:44thousands of miles of driving roads just
40:46like this um but yeah this thing this
40:50thing is super fun it's quiet too and
40:53the suspension is great I mean really
40:55this car is blowing me away I thought it
40:58would be basically a cross Trek Sport
41:01with a little extra ground clearance and
41:03a lot of body clading I was wrong this
41:06car is very different from this standard
41:09cross Trek and I love it it is it takes
41:12everything that's good with the cross
41:13Trek and just basically makes it better
41:17and pretty significantly so if you're
41:19going to use it as a commuter car in
41:20this occasionally go to a trail head
41:23obviously just stick to the regular
41:24cross trk but if you crave it Venture
41:26and long roads and you want to take the
41:27shortcut and avoid the highway this
41:31cross Trek will get you to places you
41:33may not have been able to get to
41:43before got to watch rocks around the
41:45corners we're starting to get towards uh
41:47Craters of the Moon so the Rocks here
41:49are uh more plentiful on the route so
41:52it'll be smooth smooth smooth and then
41:54boom Granite right in the middle of the
41:55road I I don't know if it's granted but
41:57some big piece of rock so I got to watch
41:59for those if I clip one of those with
42:01these tires then uh I'm
42:05walking don't want to do that I mean I'm
42:07not walking I do have a spare tire in
42:09the back it's just that it's not a uh
42:10exact swap so I'd have to get out swap a
42:12tire that's no fun yeah those guys are
42:16sharp
42:17looking looks like we're almost up to
42:20the actual Monument here or at least
42:22close to the monument making good
42:25progress making good time
42:32onward I have to put in a word about the
42:34stability control on this vehicle I am
42:36just driving with normal stability
42:38control right now and I think it's
42:40actually really nice I can feel what the
42:42vehicle is doing before it becomes too
42:44intrusive I'm not like coming into a
42:46corner and then having traction control
42:48clamp me down and then cause me to like
42:50under steer off the side like right
42:52there I just had a little bit of balance
42:54in the back shift out I can feel what
42:57the car is doing but I never really get
42:58in over my head of course if you make
43:01aggressive enough of movements you can
43:04always uh counter any Safety Systems
43:07especially if you're flying upside down
43:09so again caveat be careful careful be
43:14careful these rocks are starting to get
43:16really big on the sides um slide into
43:19one of those and boom that cladding
43:21ain't going to help at
43:25all
43:27[Music]
44:09hello haven't quite gotten into Montana
44:11yet that should be coming up here real
44:13shortly endless Rolling Hills out here
44:16Eastern Idaho is uh pretty sparsely
44:20populated yeah not a lot going on over
44:25here
44:27so many bugs on my
44:32windshield I need to find a car wash at
44:34some point I want to spray the mud off
44:36so it doesn't damage the
44:38paint can't leave that on too
44:42long well that's a cool bridge what's
44:45that going on over
44:53there uh rail crossing bridge that's
44:59why now entering the Continental Divide
45:03elevation 6,870 ft
45:09Montana so let's see been driving uh to
45:1211 about 4 and a half maybe 5 hours and
45:16uh still comfortable doing
45:18good I do want to get lunch though and
45:21there's a spot that looks pretty good
45:23coming up it's called the old
45:24schoolhouse Cafe in Dell Montana I don't
45:29know I don't really know where I am
45:32let's give it a
45:39try Town Adell population 35 elevation
45:456,7
45:47ft and uh that is where I'm going to eat
45:50some
45:51lunch trains
45:54okay oh this will be
46:10perfect nice
46:17touch cash only yeah I can do
46:22that like a bowl of chili to go with you
46:25for lunch
46:28[Music]
46:37all the people in Dell seem very nice
46:40very chatty although getting lunch SL
46:44breakfast did eat a lot of my time up
46:48and the only reason I'm really in a
46:49hurry is I'm trying to meet dinner with
46:51my Grandma at 5:00 p.m. in
46:54cordelane
46:58oh and then of course I mentioned to one
46:59family member that I was actually going
47:01to be going through cordel Lane to go
47:04meet my grandmother and now the whole
47:06family wants to get together which is
47:08great happy to see them but I was like
47:10oh H
47:12scheduling I should have scheduled more
47:14time in celan
47:16clearly now we're finally getting some
47:19landscape that looks a little bit more
47:20like Montana craggy rocks rising up from
47:24the valley love it
47:26look at that one on the left there just
47:28actually all these rock formations just
47:30look
47:43amazing and finally jumping on to I90
47:47here which will take me all the way
47:50west but first I have a stop in Missoula
47:54to have coffee with my nephew
47:56still feeling pretty comfortable this
47:58thing is really just a road trip Warrior
48:02it
48:03is really nice yeah trying to find some
48:07flaws here not finding any really I mean
48:10not without like constructing something
48:12ridiculous like you know the whole
48:14adaptive suspension or whatever but
48:17other than the things I've already
48:18mentioned yeah this is uh this is good
48:24stuff
48:31and floor it come
48:38on apparently I'll be sitting in traffic
48:40for a while in
48:45Montana I think one thing that really
48:47surprises me about this vehicle is just
48:48how quiet and composed it is at high
48:51speeds I mean that long stretch back
48:53there was 80 M well it was posted as 80
48:56M an hour and it was a Brisk
48:59jaunt and uh the vehicle felt really
49:02planted on the ground it was very quiet
49:04there was very little road and or wind
49:06noise it's just it's such a kind of a
49:09premium Driving Experience for a vehicle
49:13that is this small and you know from
49:15Subaru not from like Lexus or Mercedes
49:18or anything like
49:21that I'm I'm just I mean I've driven a
49:23ton of Subarus but I am still very
49:25impressed by this little car it's
49:27flooring me it really
49:29is I was hoping to hit a car wash but it
49:32looks like I might not need to because
49:34it started to rain just as I'm outside
49:37Missoula
49:41nice although this isn't nearly hard
49:43enough I need a real downpour to get the
49:45mud off of this thing if the ring gets
49:47harder we'll see how these allterrain
49:49tires deal with wet
49:51cement on the highway that's nice
49:56boy we're discovering so much about this
49:58vehicle on this
50:00trip the Japanese have a term called I
50:02think it's I'm going to butcher this
50:04Juma atai something like that which mean
50:07Horse and Rider as one and Mazda uses it
50:11to describe the experience that you get
50:13when you drive a Miata and i' say
50:16they're right I mean very few cars have
50:18that kind of Horse and Rider as one
50:20feeling as a Miata of
50:23course a Miata is about the size of a
50:26horse so that helps but this car right
50:28here I think is the first time that I've
50:31driven a crossover and kind of got a
50:34Juma a tie Juma anyway get the whole
50:37Horse and Rider as one thing with a
50:40crossover and typically I think the
50:42issue is the way most crossovers handle
50:45uh and all the compromises that they
50:47make now granted this isn't a Horse and
50:49Rider is one as though going around you
50:52know Laguna sea racetrack no but this is
50:54in everyday circumstances I feel like
50:57the seat just really fits me well I feel
51:00like I understand where all the wheels
51:02are and my clearances I mean this is a
51:05boxer motor so you can only do so much
51:07with the approach angle um cuz the motor
51:09kind of hangs out there and it's mounted
51:11pretty low which of course helps with
51:14handling uh but it causes problems for
51:17approach but like on the first day of
51:20this road trip I hit that Rocky climb no
51:23issues I literally only two Bonks on the
51:26underside of this vehicle and those were
51:29some very big rocks it was a very steep
51:32climb but the reason I didn't have any
51:33issues is because when picking a line I
51:35felt like I really understood where this
51:38vehicle was and what it could
51:41do that is rare that is very rare
51:44especially in today's world where you're
51:47so reliant on sensors and cameras and
51:50just everything to get you through
51:52complicated situations this one it just
51:55just felt like like an extension of
51:58myself climbing up that hill and even
52:01today bombing through the valley there
52:03in South
52:05Idaho driving down the gravel briskly I
52:10really felt like I had a lot more
52:11control in this vehicle than I usually
52:14do in a crossover usually you're kind of
52:16fighting with the crossover because it
52:18wants to really under steering the
52:20corners and the tires just can't really
52:23deal with gravel that well but this one
52:26again it just does and I'm kind of
52:28shocked that it does both of those
52:30things so well I mean you definitely get
52:32that whole offro you know where
52:34everything is feeling with a Jeep
52:36Wrangler but put a Jeep Wrangler on the
52:38highway and it's not a great experience
52:41heck put it on a gravel road at speed
52:43not a great experience this one it just
52:46does all of these things so well this
52:50vehicle I still think you should
52:52consider it if the size works for you
52:53because it really is is
52:56just it's really great it really is and
53:00I'm going to ruminate on that a little
53:01bit more cuz we're not quite done yet we
53:03have to get out of Montana back into
53:05Idaho and over to our off-road test site
53:08uh in central Washington before we
53:10really wrap this up so I'm going to
53:12ruminate on that idea with this car as I
53:17continue with my journey but right now
53:20I'm exiting here in Missoula to go meet
53:22up with my nephew and get some coffee
53:25because it's definitely coffee
53:28[Music]
53:34o' okay so I just had pie and coffee
53:36with my nephew uh I was at break
53:40espresso uh and I had the mixed berry
53:42pie it was quite good although note to
53:45the proprietor would have been better
53:46with ice cream pie is always better with
53:48ice cream but the pie itself quite good
53:52actually the coffee was pretty good too
53:54okay now I'm going to get back into
53:57the carplay system here we're going to
54:00get maps up and now it's time to find
54:03our way to
54:06cordelane rain clouds have definitely
54:09moved in so let's go a and open this up
54:10get a little more light on the
54:12subject Right Moving On In The Rain now
54:16heading on I90 westbound towards
54:18cordelane uh let me kind of just wrap up
54:21I guess my thoughts for
54:23today the dirt road was
54:25was it was amazing honestly driving this
54:28car really gave me the feeling of you
54:32know I think the first time I drove a
54:33WRX on gravel and you're like wow this
54:36thing is amazing it can do so many
54:38things but the thing about this car is
54:41that it's because the suspension is
54:44softer it's also really smooth
54:46especially on that really rough stuff I
54:48was on early on in the day and with the
54:51extra ground clearance you just don't
54:53have to worry about uh rocks or even
54:56ruts quite so much as you do other
54:59Subarus U or other cars for that matter
55:02uh because nothing else in this class
55:04has 9.3 in of ground clearance nothing
55:06and if you don't have a ground clearance
55:07you just simply can't get through stuff
55:10ground clearance helps going through mud
55:12it helps dirt it helps rocks it helps
55:14even in the snow because if you get into
55:16compact ice and snow and the rut in the
55:18middle is too big you're not going
55:20anywhere so Subaru going up to 9.3 in
55:24with this cross trck I think that is a
55:25massive win and the adjustments they did
55:27to the suspension the combination with
55:30the tires and these wheels uh giving a
55:32nice sidewall to it I think that you
55:35know subar really has made something
55:37special here I think the only real
55:40things where I'm like ah subra could you
55:42do a little bit
55:44better and I'm I kind of don't want to
55:47say one of them uh the front camera
55:50that's one I'm just going to keep
55:51talking about that and talking and
55:53talking and talking
55:56but the other one it's the MPGs I have
55:59been averaging about 23 MPG on the
56:03freeway now I have to say though there
56:06is a huge asterisk next to that so don't
56:09just say oh the car gets 23 MP gallon
56:11what a piece of crap because it doesn't
56:14this is at like over 80 M an hour
56:17because Montana and Idaho their speed
56:19limits are fast and a vehicle like this
56:23when you have an engine that has not
56:25quite as much horsepower it has to
56:27struggle more to get up to speed
56:30especially when you're pushing through
56:31wind it was a little bit windy in
56:33Montana earlier I was getting buffeted
56:34around a bit and you're fighting your
56:38way through that it's physics um and
56:41with as much horsepower as this has it
56:45has to struggle a bit more at higher
56:47speeds it just does so I you know for
56:51the capability I will trade the 23 MPGs
56:56when driving on 80 mph freeways I think
56:59that's actually okay uh earlier
57:01yesterday when I was driving lower
57:03speeds I got as high as 29 MPG on the
57:05freeway which is amazing uh that was a
57:09lot slower and it was a little Stomp and
57:11go uh and then of course off-road well
57:14you just throw it all out the window
57:15because nothing gets good MPGs off-road
57:17because you're constantly on and off
57:19throttle and typically you're climbing
57:20or descending I mean if you compare it
57:23to heck I'm just going to compare it to
57:26my Ranger Tremor which
57:28has literally twice the horsepower of
57:31this
57:32thing uh that gets about 17 mil to the
57:35gallon so this is a huge step up in
57:39regards to that and in fact if you
57:40compare this against other more purpose
57:43focused off-roaders it actually is
57:46really amazing on MPGs but then again if
57:48MPGs are your thing don't get the
57:51Wilderness trim just get a regular Cross
57:54trck or better yet just get an empreza
57:56uh and those actually have really good
57:58MPGs considering their full-time
58:01all-wheel drive so you don't have to go
58:03with this car but if you do go with this
58:06car you can't really stab it with that
58:10MPG thing because there's got to be a
58:12little give and take I do think it would
58:14Faire better in MPGs at high speeds if
58:16it had a little bit more power but then
58:18it would suffer with MPGs at lower
58:20speeds because it would be more of a gas
58:22guzzler so again everything is a
58:26compromise especially in the compact
58:29crossover class and I think that this
58:31car even those caveats included is
58:36probably one of the least
58:38compromised off-road
58:40ready compact
58:44crossovers that's where I'm right now
58:46it's also super comfortable for road
58:48trips it handles great on both gravel
58:50and on pavement I'm cruising in the rain
58:52now at 80 mph because that's that's the
58:54speed limit here and I feel 100%
58:58confident with these tires with the
59:00suspension with the car the way it
59:01drives the way it tracks the safety
59:03features I love it I really
59:07do so if you're going to poke holes in
59:09this and say oh I should have adaptive
59:10suspension or it should have all these
59:12other things that are way more expensive
59:14would add to the cost maybe make it
59:16competitive with one or two other things
59:18but for the most part those are way more
59:20expensive anyway I mean what are you
59:22going to compare this against the
59:23turbocharge Jeep Compass I mean that has
59:27some things going for it but I'd take
59:28this over that any day even with the new
59:302.7 turbo in the compass and then how
59:33about comparing this against like the
59:35Bronco sport from Ford sizewise it's a
59:38very close competitor boxy shapewise it
59:41kind of more competes with the Forester
59:43but I think when you're regarding wheel
59:45base and overall size it's pretty
59:47squarely in here now granted you can pay
59:49$10,000 more for a bronos sport if you
59:53want a turbocharged engine and a front
59:55view camera there's always a cost
59:58attached to it and so I'll put the
01:00:00question out to you would you pay
01:00:0645,000 for a turbocharged cross Trek
01:00:09Wilderness with a front
01:00:11camera because I'm guessing that's
01:00:15probably what it would
01:00:17cost I might be wrong maybe they could
01:00:19find some economy of scale there that
01:00:21brings the price down but you know what
01:00:23it ain't going to be cheap and for the
01:00:25money that they charge for this thing I
01:00:26think you're getting a fantastic deal
01:00:29very capable compact
01:00:31crossover but I'm not quite done yet I'm
01:00:35going to go ahead and wrap up today
01:00:37because all I'm doing now is driving in
01:00:38the rain uh to cordelane oh that rhymed
01:00:43that's nice uh tomorrow we'll pick this
01:00:45back up again as I Blaze
01:00:48across uh Eastern Washington and head to
01:00:51our off-road test course where we'll
01:00:53start another episode and end this
01:00:57one so here we are on our final day of
01:01:00this journey I just got the car washed
01:01:03again the weather today should be pretty
01:01:05clear I think got a almost full moon in
01:01:08the sky still that's pretty neat hello
01:01:13moon I always like getting a clean car
01:01:15again you know I love getting cars muddy
01:01:17but just something about having a car
01:01:19that's clean just feels better it's
01:01:22almost like when you're walking around
01:01:23all filthy but you're also walking
01:01:25around people same thing car is filthy
01:01:28when I'm by myself that's cool when I'm
01:01:30in the woods Wilderness whatever
01:01:32fantastic but I'm on the freeway I'm
01:01:34like yeah you it's a little dirty I
01:01:37should probably clean it luckily there
01:01:39was a decent Car Wash over there in C
01:01:43Lane visited Grandma she's doing great
01:01:46uh she originally had a lifetime goal of
01:01:49out living the Queen of England because
01:01:51they were the same age well she
01:01:53successfully did that so now she's
01:01:54aiming for
01:01:58100 time to uh turn on the adaptive
01:02:01cruise get that lane centering
01:02:05enabled and we're just going to roll
01:02:07this is all very very um not that
01:02:11exciting of a section going to go
01:02:13through Spokane we're going to go
01:02:14through a lot of farming Valley and then
01:02:17we're going to get to Ellenburg and
01:02:19that's where the fun will begin and this
01:02:22video
01:02:23ends and I'm finally in my home state of
01:02:29Washington it's nice to be back one
01:02:31thing that's going to be significantly
01:02:33different on this leg of the trip is
01:02:34that I'm going to be much closer to sea
01:02:36level uh whereas the first parts of this
01:02:39trip I was at what does I do 6,000 4,000
01:02:43and 8,000 ft uh this leg is all at about
01:02:472,000 ft which does not significantly
01:02:50affect engine performance 8,000 ft yeah
01:02:53that is sign significant so here we
01:02:55should be getting better performance
01:02:56from this 2.5
01:03:01l so right now this is the medical Lake
01:03:04area just outside of Spokane and there
01:03:05was a huge forest fire it's pretty
01:03:07incredible I mean the way the fire was
01:03:10selective and there's certain areas that
01:03:11are absolutely raised but then other
01:03:13sections where the trees look completely
01:03:15fine a lot of people lost their homes we
01:03:18definitely lost a lot of forest it was
01:03:20pretty
01:03:21brutal something that I just love about
01:03:24about Washington state which yes is my
01:03:26home state I'm a little partial is the
01:03:29diversification of the environments I
01:03:31mean you have everything from the Lush
01:03:33Puget Sound and then you go over the
01:03:35mountains and it's all like High Desert
01:03:39I mean this is all at about 2,000 ft and
01:03:41as you go more North it becomes way more
01:03:44remote way more rugged um a lot more
01:03:47exposed rock but large sections of this
01:03:50are rolling grasslands and farmlands
01:03:53it's just really kind of a beautiful
01:03:55thing about this state is just how it it
01:03:58all kind of works together but it's all
01:04:00very different right now I'm just
01:04:03cruising along I90 here uh this is of
01:04:06course the major way to get back to
01:04:08Seattle uh from
01:04:11Idaho the drive today is relatively
01:04:13short we only have about 3 and 1/2 hours
01:04:16of Total driving uh before getting to
01:04:18the test Hill uh so it's actually a
01:04:20pretty chill day as far as the you know
01:04:22compared to the other days on the
01:04:26Adventure now that we're at 2,000 ft I'm
01:04:28going to go ahead and pull off here and
01:04:30get a refill on my gas tank just so that
01:04:32I'm at a level and we'll do a calculated
01:04:34refill later to kind of see what the
01:04:36MPGs are real world here uh in a non
01:04:40high altitude
01:04:42situation think I might get some coffee
01:04:44while I'm here
01:04:47too filled it
01:04:49up let's gohe and reset the
01:04:53trip so trip B
01:04:56reset okay now let's see what kind of
01:04:58MPGs we get at 2,000 ft of elevation on
01:05:01a relatively smooth level Highway and
01:05:04we're also going to be traveling at
01:05:05about 70 M an hour unlike earlier we in
01:05:08Idaho doing 80 uh which you know
01:05:11aerodynamics can be a bit of a
01:05:14challenge so I'm not going to Baby the
01:05:16throttle but I am going to try to
01:05:18maintain a pretty steady Pace I'm just
01:05:20going to engage cruise control once I
01:05:21get on the highway here and we're going
01:05:23to see what you know Cruise along at 70
01:05:25mph gets me for MPGs and uh I'll report
01:05:28the MPGs that we have up on the gauge um
01:05:33and then also I'll calculate uh once we
01:05:35get to Ellensburg with another
01:05:38refill
01:05:40okay obviously MPGs are going to go down
01:05:42because I'm throttling in to say though
01:05:44this engine definitely feels peier at
01:05:472,000 ft compared to 8,000 ft altitude
01:05:51is not its
01:05:53friend
01:05:56okay already I'm going too fast let's
01:05:57ease it back in just going to hit 70 mil
01:06:01an hour the speed
01:06:03limit set adaptive
01:06:06cruise to 70 Auto steer and we're golden
01:06:11let's do
01:06:13this I've now been driving for just
01:06:15under an hour I've done 60 miles and so
01:06:18far I've averaged according to the
01:06:20onboard computer 27 MPGs which I don't
01:06:24think is really that bad now we are at
01:06:26about 1,000 ft elevation that's where
01:06:29most of this part of the state is uh and
01:06:32it's not exactly level it's a lot of
01:06:34Rolling Hills so there's a little uphill
01:06:36a little downhill uh but I think overall
01:06:38the results pretty good now it is a
01:06:39little bit off from the optimal 29 miles
01:06:42to the gallon um I'm thinking that if
01:06:44you did the Seattle to Portland run
01:06:47which is pretty much level the whole way
01:06:49and also uh is 65 instead of 70 I think
01:06:53you might be be able to get 29 now one
01:06:56thing that also makes this run more
01:06:59efficient than my earlier runs is I
01:07:01actually have proper air pressure in the
01:07:03tires now um I was able to finally find
01:07:06an air compressor that works properly so
01:07:09some of those earlier tests I did in the
01:07:11same video um my air pressure was down
01:07:13to around 28 29 which is on the low side
01:07:18and that can hurt MPGs combine that with
01:07:21the 80 M hour speed limits and just not
01:07:24going to be terribly efficient so now
01:07:26we're about to dip into the Columbia
01:07:28Gorge which is always very exciting for
01:07:30me uh because means we're about halfway
01:07:33across the state and very close to our
01:07:36off-road test
01:07:40site and we're heading down into the
01:07:42Columbia River Gorge now this is such a
01:07:45cool area we use it uh for hydroelectric
01:07:47there's a big Dam up there and several
01:07:49more dams over
01:07:52there I think we should play a game
01:07:55let's see if I can hold my breath across
01:07:57the length of the Columbia
01:07:59River let's see there's the bridge
01:08:03deck pre
01:08:06myself okay I think I'm ready
01:08:11here
01:08:13and
01:08:15three
01:08:17two
01:08:18[Music]
01:08:22one
01:08:32[Music]
01:09:11okay
01:09:14success uh so this is uh the town of
01:09:16Vantage and the neat thing about this is
01:09:18there's actually some like dinosaur
01:09:20stuff right over there so if you're into
01:09:21dinosaurs this is the place to go
01:09:25clearly we also have huge wind farms
01:09:28just around the corner up
01:09:30here and in the distance there I can
01:09:32finally see Mount rineer Mount rineer is
01:09:35of course on the west side of the state
01:09:37I mean it's part of the Cascades but
01:09:39it's basically on the other side so
01:09:41that's a just it's just nice to see it
01:09:43you know it means I'm home
01:09:45again of course I got to get to the
01:09:47other side of it to get home but we're
01:09:49not doing that right now right now we're
01:09:50heading to the driving Sports test
01:09:53Mountain test Hill still working on that
01:09:55name anyway our Mountain test course uh
01:09:57which is just outside Ellensburg and
01:09:59we're almost there that climb out of the
01:10:01gorge though was a real killer on our
01:10:03MPGs uh the computer is now reporting
01:10:0625.6 miles to the gallon and part of the
01:10:08reason is because on the other side of
01:10:10the gorge we are at about 1,000 ft of
01:10:12elevation right here we're over 2,000 ft
01:10:16so it was a it was a heck of a climb
01:10:20out almost time to turn off the freeway
01:10:23finally we'll be done with the freeway
01:10:25leg of this journey that was uh that was
01:10:27a lot of freeway
01:10:29driving but overall I've found this car
01:10:31to be very comfortable I I would have no
01:10:34problem jumping in this car again
01:10:35tomorrow and driving to the east coast
01:10:37it's that good of a road Tripper um and
01:10:39which is kind of surprising typically
01:10:41smaller cars are less comfortable they
01:10:42make more noise the seats aren't as good
01:10:45um the functionality of the stuff in the
01:10:48cabin usually not as good but in this
01:10:50case I feel like I have everything and
01:10:52this head unit
01:10:54no errors no bugs no reboots nothing
01:10:57weird which is shocking if you know the
01:11:00history of Subaru and their infotainment
01:11:03systems they've been a bit glitchy over
01:11:05the years this one absolutely
01:11:09perfect I'm astonished I really am and I
01:11:13like the vertical with the Big Apple
01:11:15carplay it's just a nice tablet um when
01:11:17I first used it and for the first few
01:11:19years wasn't terribly excited by it I
01:11:20don't think I'm still excited by it but
01:11:23I have no problem with it and I think
01:11:25it's a very functional good system I
01:11:27still would prefer buttons for airon and
01:11:29whatnot but I'll get over
01:11:32it okay let's get off here and check the
01:11:35fuel and see what our
01:11:38MPGs are looking like um on the gauge I
01:11:42actually got back to 27 MPGs after that
01:11:44steep climb out of the gorge um but I
01:11:47wonder what the calculated range will be
01:11:49so we have 117 miles here let's find a
01:11:53gas
01:11:54station um let's go to that
01:12:04one okay let's see what this
01:12:10did on the
01:12:15click okay clicked so we're at
01:12:194.3 Gall okay so just filled up 4.3 gall
01:12:24and do the math times or divided by
01:12:29117.0 oh 2727 miles to the gallon so the
01:12:33computer was actually very accurate
01:12:36that's
01:12:37nice
01:12:39well we've learned something uh make
01:12:42sure to keep your tire pressures in the
01:12:44right spot drive slower than 80
01:12:48mph and if you want the best economy
01:12:50don't get the Wilderness just get a
01:12:51regular cross trck uh if you want
01:12:54capability yeah
01:12:57Wilderness with that let's go to our
01:12:59Mountain test course and wrap this road
01:13:02trip
01:13:03[Music]
01:13:14up so that's the end of our 1200 M
01:13:18Journey let me sum up my thoughts about
01:13:22this cross Trek Wilder
01:13:24for
01:13:242024 first off on the highway very nice
01:13:27car very pleasant to drive it's
01:13:29comfortable it's quiet even though it
01:13:31does have mild allterrain tires they
01:13:33don't really generate a lot of noise and
01:13:35they provide ample traction even in wet
01:13:37weather on that mountain climb in Utah
01:13:40this little thing acted like a goat it
01:13:43just climbed and climbed and climbed X
01:13:45mode worked fantastic even over very
01:13:48difficult terrain now the boulders I was
01:13:51going over were quite large but still
01:13:53because of very effective approach and
01:13:55departure on this thing I didn't have
01:13:57any problems getting up uh sure it had
01:13:59to scramble a little bit but ultimately
01:14:01I knew it would make it coming back down
01:14:04the improved Hill descent control system
01:14:06worked like a charm uh it actually made
01:14:09Hill descent a little bit easier cuz all
01:14:10I had to worry about was when I wanted
01:14:12to come to a complete stop it really
01:14:14helped ease me down even over that very
01:14:17Rocky rumbly terrain and I didn't hit
01:14:19anything on the underside which is
01:14:21remarkable uh given how that terrain was
01:14:25fuel economy uh peaked out at about 27
01:14:28MPG on this last stretch here which was
01:14:30probably the only pseudo scientific test
01:14:32that we did um I think given the
01:14:35capability of this vehicle I think
01:14:37that's acceptable if you want more miles
01:14:40to the gallon then just get a regular
01:14:42cross trk if that's your priority if
01:14:44having Adventures is your priority then
01:14:46this obviously is a better choice there
01:14:49are a few things that I would like to
01:14:50see improve still uh the lane detect
01:14:52noise little beep beep beep sounds
01:14:54exactly like a GoPro turning on kind of
01:14:56annoying when you're filming with a
01:14:58GoPro the Chimes for no seat Bel super
01:15:01annoying even if I'm in park it still
01:15:04Chimes the alarm which I think is
01:15:06absolutely absurd I'm not moving why is
01:15:09it warning me to put my seat Bel on that
01:15:11makes no sense the adaptive cruise
01:15:13control and Lane centering systems
01:15:14worked great which made my entire trip
01:15:17just way more relaxing I expected that I
01:15:20would like this vehicle pretty good but
01:15:22it actually blew me away with just how
01:15:24nice it was to drive on the
01:15:27highway plus it is even more capable
01:15:30than I thought it would be so overall I
01:15:32was very impressed with this new 2024
01:15:34Subaru cross Trek Wilderness if you're
01:15:37considering a cross Trek and you want a
01:15:39little bit more capability this is
01:15:41obviously a good choice likewise if
01:15:43you're considering something like the
01:15:45Bronco sport or even a
01:15:48Wrangler but you don't want to do rock
01:15:50crawling then this might also be a good
01:15:52option
01:15:53and if you're also considering of course
01:15:56the Jeep Compass Trail Hawk with the
01:15:58turbo
01:16:00engine I would suggest taking a look at
01:16:02this even though you will be way down in
01:16:04Horsepower I still think it is fast
01:16:06enough to still be fun and it is very
01:16:08capable if you enjoyed this video and
01:16:10you're interested in this cross truck
01:16:12Wilderness I have some good news Subaru
01:16:14is loaning this to us till next spring
01:16:16so we have a lot of videos coming up and
01:16:19in fact I'm going to start filming one
01:16:20as soon as we wrap this video that's
01:16:22right right we're at our Mountain test
01:16:24course in central Washington where I'm
01:16:26going to put it through all of the
01:16:28courses that's coming up so you
01:16:30definitely want to subscribe for driving
01:16:32sports TV I'm Ry do thanks for watching
01:16:34we'll see you again right
01:16:36here
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