Jeep vs. Subaru

I got a Forester last year and am overwhelmed with how good it is in the snow! It seems like they do a lot of techno magic in addition to a fine all wheel drive. A guy I work with brags a lot about his Jeep, which got me to wondering if Jeep has any techno-magic or is more plain.

More to the point- Newish Subaru vs. jeep on a steep icy driveway- which one would get up it and which would fail?
Anybody tried both?

Assuming both vehicles had the same tires and that ground clearance wasn't a factor, I'd vote for the Subie. AWD VS 4WD. The Subaru claws its way up the hill, the computer brain figuring out which wheel is getting the best traction. You can feel it. Jeep research reveals that they have several different systems, so the answer also depends on "which Jeep?"

Looking at the Jeep website, their "Active Drive" (only available on certain Cherokee models) sounds like it has pretty similar performance characteristics to the Subie system (which I believe is the same throughout the line).

I'm now on my third Subaru, which I bought in January after the '03 Subaru just didn't want to go any more (232 k miles).  This is the first winter in 25+ years I went WITHOUT snow tires and I was impressed with the grip.  Base of our street, which is 12% grade, 3 inches of powder?  No problem.  Drove home from a race in Queensbury in freezing rain, no problem.  Will buy snow tires for this coming winter.

No experience with Jeeps.

Either one will do the job.  I have had 3 of each with my favorite being a 2004 Standard Jeep Liberty, that would go up just about anything and I never had snows on it.  We just blew the tranny on a 2011 Grand Cherokee and traded it in for a Ram. Subaru is reliable and durable. And from their lower end to upper end you still get good performance. The lower end Jeeps lack umph but we are looking at a four banger cherokee for our youngest.  We'll be looking at Subaru too but she says she a Jeep girl and liked the Cherokee ride over the Wrangler status.

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and two Outbacks in my driveway.  I needed the towing capacity of the Jeep for our boat, so went that route and am on my 3rd Grand Cherokee.  I really like the Jeep, but if it was just for driving in the snow, I'd vote for the Suby.

sudsnbumps wrote

Either one will do the job.

Seriously. It's a matter of personal opinion. You'll find fans of each somewhere on the Internet.

The last question of the OP is particularly weird. It's like asking "if you were at the top of Skyward, and you had a choice between Volkl and Head, which one would work and which would fail?"

Obviously, they'd both do fine. Neither would "fail". The choice comes down to whichever one you like more (or, to some people, which color they prefer).

Holy Crap MC agrees with me?  
Go drive them and see what you like.  I agree with K in that if you don't have to tow or need the added capacity, the Subaru is great in the snow...and FUN.  We took our old legacy over a very sketchy Rt 17 pass to MRG and watched a lot of carnage that we were able to avoid.

Unless your 4X4 has locking diff's or limited slip diff's Subies AWD will trump 4WD everytime

Cool vid.

Camp what is the advantage of regular 4WD? Must be one right or it wouldn't exist?

Harv, there are soooooo many different 4x4 and AWD systems now, it's truly mind boggling. The knock on 4x4's (most of them) only will have one drive wheel due to the front transfer case NOT being limited slip. Most rear transfer cases are limited slip allowing both rear wheels to turn at different speeds due to traction loss. If your front wheel starts to spin on a 4x4, that's exactly what it will do, just spin because it doesn;t have anywhere else to put the power. If it were limited slip it would send the power over to the wheel with traction like it does in the rear end of the vehicle. NEVER buy a 4x4 without limited slip in the rear end, it will suck.

I was told my CRV was like 3 wheel drive, with limited slip up front and limited slip in the middle but nothing the in rear.

Not sure what they did on the 2012 vs my old 2006 but it's way better getting up our driveway.  One thing the dealer told me (can I trust him? ) was that the new CRV is full locked (and can bindup) under 5mph.  I have actually heard noise out of it when pushing hard on the gas from a stop with the steering cranked, so maybe it's true.

What do they call the ones where the only wheel spinning is the one that doesn't have any traction?

Harvey wrote

I was told my CRV was like 3 wheel drive, with limited slip up front and limited slip in the middle but nothing the in rear.

Not sure what they did on the 2012 vs my old 2006 but it's way better getting up our driveway.  One thing the dealer told me (can I trust him? ) was that the new CRV is full locked (and can bindup) under 5mph.  I have actually heard noise out of it when pushing hard on the gas from a stop with the steering cranked, so maybe it's true.

Never trust a car dealer, EVER

You're CRV being 3WD is exactly why it wouldn't make it up that hill in the vid I posted. Subie's system is a true AWD system, meaning all 4 wheels can and do turn. What makes it better than most is the how it's balanced in the car due to their engines being horizontally opposed, the "boxer engine". By having the motor sideways all the shafts that drive a Subie are equal in length, (Symmetrical AWD) therefore the differentials can immediately (and smoothly) put the power to the wheel with the most traction.

Do you get a "crab walk" feeling in your CRV with the wheel cranked all they way in one direction while making a tight circle?? My guess is that's what the dealer was meaning by bindup.  

skimore wrote

What do they call the ones where the only wheel spinning is the one that doesn't have any traction?

A rollover