New Hunting Rig

[WyoDoug]

Well, my wife wants to go back to camping and fishing with tents instead of RV trailers. She says it is too much like putting your home on wheels and taking it with you, so buying a new 8x8 hot tent and a privy tent with a chemical potty for her. But big change, getting rid of truck and getting something more practical that I will use with my main gig job I do while retired (deliverying groceries), but yet something I can take into the sticks and hunt with. Getting a 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness. My wife has a 2025 Subaru Crosstrek that I drove around and loved it. The Outback Wilderness is more of an offroad model and comes with good all-terrain tires and test drives has me hooked big time. Going to buy a good cargo trailer to go with it to pull hunting gear behind me. Would love to hear from others who have the Outback Wilderness model with ideas and advice on what to do and get with the new car which I will receive in March timeframe (custom build). Image is not the actual car I am getting and for illustration only but it is same color and look on what I have ordered. It will pull 3500 pounds which is all I need most of the time. Mine will have some orange trim with it.

 

[WapitiBob]

We’ve owned 4 Subarus, fantastic vehicle.

 

[Dsnow9]

I would think you could fit a ton of hunting gear in the back of it and not need a trailer. Do the rear seats still fold down in the newer models?

 

[jimss]

I'm in the same boat trying to figure out vehicle strategies for retirement. I plan on doing a bunch of long road trips and would likely something that gets better gas mileage than my Tundra and that I have enough room to sleep in the back. I tend to bring a lot of equipment so the more room in a vehicle that still gets great gas mileage works the best for me.

I'm not sure how many Outback vs Rav4 Youtube videos I've watched in the last couple months but there are some pretty good comparisons. I'm aware that both Subaru and Toyota owners are extremely proud of their vehicles. I thought I would offer a few comments that may or may not sway your vote.

It sounds like you've already made up your mind about Subaru's, but you may want to also take a look at a Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. They get around 38 MPG and have slightly more room for all your gear. The Rav4 actually has approximately 4 cu ft more space than an Outback...if that matters?

My biggest gripes with Subaru is a little less room, decent but not great gas mileage, and slightly less HP. Those factors have swayed my vote towards a Rav4 Hybrid. Most Outbacks generally get around 10 mpg less than a Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. That may not be equate to much stretched over a year if you aren't driving many miles. I will be retiring on a budget so is an important consideration for me.

If you are hauling a trailer, you may be going pretty slow over mountain passes with a loaded trailer plus loaded Outback. Your gas mileage will also likely drop even more? The hybrid motor on the Rav4 offers a small chunk more power than an Outback. A Rav4 Prime would be even better gas mileage and power but is more $!

Those are just a few things I have picked up while watching Youtube videos of these 2 somewhat similar vehicles. Subarus do great on ice and snow, especially with the more aggressive tires sold on the Wilderness. There are a lot of tried-and-true Subaru fanatics that will likely blast my post! The important thing is to do some exploring and find just the right vehicle that meets your needs.

 

[jimh406]

Congrats. I had a Subaru once. It was the only AWD/4WD that I found was pretty dangerous in the snow going downhill. However, it might have had a lot to do with the stock Outback tires that were fairly worthless in snow.

 

[Birdbander]

I just traded up from an '18 Crosstrek base model with 2.0L to a new '24 Crosstrek Wilderness with 2.5L. The fuel mileage hit is real, about 10mpg difference on the interstate but I needed the upgrade towing capacity.
I have a custom dog crate that takes up all of the cargo area behind the upright rear seats so all of my camping gear goes in tge back seat.
I'm likely going to add a Stowaway 2 Max swing away cargo carrier. I don't want to add a trailer, with my luck I'd burn a wheel bearing at the worst place. My preference was for the smaller vehicle over the Outback.
I put 245,000 miles on the '18 and repairs included replacing the intake manifold and 3 maybe 4 wheel bearings.
The added room in the Outback would be handy for couples traveling and camping especially with a trailer.

 

[WyoDoug]

I would think you could fit a ton of hunting gear in the back of it and not need a trailer. Do the rear seats still fold down in the newer models?

It already has plenty of cargo area which is why I picked it out to keep doing Sparks (Walmart grocery deliveries) that I do to keep busy in retirement. Purpose of trailer is so I can unhitch and go if I want to camping, fishing, or hunting. I will also be getting the cargo area protectors which is way better than the carpeted covers they used to have in earlier models. I did a lot of pier fishing (fish, crabs and lobster) in Oceanside, California when I was in the Marine Corps and I once made the mistake of putting a bucket of fish in the back of my brand new Plymouth Horizon I had at the time. That car had carpeted pads and when the bucket of fish tipped, I ended up with a very smelly car that took months of repeated cleaning to get the smell out. The rubber cargo protectors in the Subaru Outback Wilderness model you can take out and scrub and hose off if that happens. They are pretty thick too, not just cheap, thin stuff.

 

[jimss]

Cargo area protectors are awesome!

 

[Arcola]

My wife has a 2022. She loves it. The only thing we’ve done to it is slightly larger tires this fall. I took a bit of caster out of it too. Prior to that it followed road crown like it was on rails. Fuel economy is terrible for a car that size.

 

[buckbull]

Have you given any thought to a ford maverick? Still have the utility of a truck bed but better fuel mileage than a body on frame truck.