Subaru Torq Locker vs Open Diff on the Trail

[Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Kahlan and I are headed from Eugene up towards the Cascades we're on our way to meet up with a crew of fellow mountain room members before continuing on up into the mountains [Music] the first snows have arrived in the upper elevations or headed up towards an unmaintained forest road that winds through alpine forests to a high elevation lake and then back down the other side of the mountains into Central Oregon hopefully this primitive route will provide us with a challenge or two [Music] first we're gonna air down or install snow tires as the case may be [Music] [Applause] [Music] out of the seven Subarus on this excursion four have been equipped with the ar160 torque Locker from torque masters I'm curious to see these in action on the trail [Music] oh yeah so now there's a couple of jeeps in the lineup as well we randomly encounter these guys when we stopped to gas up and they decided to roll with us this has now become quite the convoy at nine vehicles but it might be interesting to see how the jeeps and the torque Locker Subarus compare [Music] it is just beautiful out here there's a nice layer of fresh snow making everything pretty but despite the signs that winter is coming it's still early October and the snow has yet to completely obscure the underlying mud [Music] always different famous [Music] like a trip is away [Music] I can't tell you [Music] with [Music] the drive is almost disappointingly easy so far I've aired down to 80 psi and the ko 2s are simply clinging to everything I encounter [Music] no I got this crazy so many shade I'm always like drifted away [Music] [Applause] but [Music] Oh [Music] [Applause] before you'd spin tired [Music] I got this greatness [Music] I know nothing at all fly Destin [Music] [Applause] [Music] there are some mud holes to traverse but the base seems to be pretty solid and they're not really posing any kind of difficulty for us [Music] you [Music] a Forest Service cabin in the middle of nowhere provides a good spot to take a quick break it's weirdly unlocked and not creepy in the slightest [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we've reached the lake I've been here before in the summer and it's nice but with the trees heavily flocked with fresh snow the scene is simply spectacular we're taking the opportunity to stop and have some lunch where it's a little tight fitting this many rigs into this dispersed campsite but we've managed to squeeze in [Music] [Applause] [Music] this morning's sunny skies have given way to clouds bringing yet more snow no one's complaining this is positively enchanting [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we're back on the trail over all the route hasn't proven as challenging as some of us remember it being but my experience has been that these unmaintained roads do seem to be different every time you drive them all right finally we've run into a tricky spot the video doesn't do it justice of course but this is a pretty steep climb that is well rutted with fairly deep holes this is precisely the kind of terrain that can be problematic for open diff Subarus you get one wheel deep into a rut and another perched on a high point and suddenly you've got a couple of wheels in the air spinning helplessly I'm the first guinea pig to take a shot at it I have no torque Locker in my 2012 Forester I'm trying to take a line that minimizes wheel lift but a certain amount is unavoidable on ruts like this I do lose some forward moments and as my Forester hesitates but eventually the traction control applies some braking to the lifted wheels and the grounded wheels then receive enough power to get me up the hill let's see how this Jeep fares all right he's struggling a bit more than I did but he's also chosen a more difficult life with a quick adjustment to his approach he makes it up I don't know exactly how these two jeeps were equipped in terms of lockers but the black Jeep walks up this like it's nothing at all you can see how that solid axle suspension flexes to keep all his wheels on the ground providing the attraction unlike the independent suspension of the Subarus which can't get up an obstacle like this without lifting wheels this Outback has the torque Locker installed and he makes the climb look easy there's no traction control in this older Subaru but with that locker there's zero hesitation even with wheels getting lifted the Baja has a torque Locker as well from a complete standstill with wheels in the air this is normally impossible to do in a Subaru yet he's able to resume his climb that is impressive the green Outback does not have a locker a bit of momentum and a very well picked line he makes it up the hill this Crosstrek is the newest Subaru out here and is equipped with the torque Locker in spite of lifting wheels left and right he walks right up without any fuss this first gen Forester is completely stock no Locker and demonstrates perfectly how difficult an obstacle like this can be for a Subaru as soon as that diagonal wheel lift occurs his progress is halted eventually with a little more momentum and a better line he manages to make the climb here is the same model first-gen Forester only this one does have the torque Locker installed an effortless climb without hesitation the difference between these two foresters is dramatic have to admit I wasn't sure if the torque Locker was something I needed to consider but after what I've witnessed here today I'm starting to think this may be a worthwhile addition to my Forester after all [Music] [Music] [Music] we've crested the past and are winding down the east side of the mountains the snow diminishes as we descend [Music] [Applause] [Music] we've had a great run today it was very interesting to see the Tor cloth is in action alongside hope and if subaru's now it's time to find our way to the highway air up and head home [Music] [Music] you

Channel: softroadingthewest

Views: 112,104

Keywords: subaru, offroad, off road, torq locker, torq, locker, torq-masters, torqmasters, forester, crosstrek, outback, traction control, VDC, locking, differential, open diff, trail, obstacle, oregon, adventure, cascades, primitive, road, dirt, snow, mud, wilderness, crew, squad, softroading, west, softroadingthewest, mudrat design fabriation, baja, testing, vs

Id: iMt3uYnutt8

Length: 18min 14sec (1094 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 12 2019