An AWD temptress appears! Advice please...

"merkyg" (merkyg) 08/04/2014 at 19:19 • Filed to: Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin, sitsubishi shogun pini, subaru forester, awd, help

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I've been getting ready to purchase myself a playmate for our Saab 9-5, something that will bumble about taking me to work and back for most of the year, be cheaper to insure than the 9-5 and become our main ride in the winter months and cope with the combination of all the mud/snow/fields that come with owning a horse and the English weather, ie something 4WD/AWD I'd kind of made up my mind to pick up one of these: Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin LWB (Pajero Io)

...but recently I've had a look what else is around the same price, spotted some Subaru Foresters and noticed how cheap to insure they are. Overall, I don't like the look of most of them (all of them in profile look like Marge Simpsons car) but the 2nd gen Foresters aren't too bad. For about £20 more insurance than a Pinin I'm tempted by the idea of a 177bhp estate that can drive through swamps (don't have too many of them here so I can make this claim).

Anyone have experience with these? (specifically I'd be looking for a 2003-2005 XT) or should I stick with the Pinin? I can cope with the fuel economy of the turbo provided it doesn't routinely drop under 20mpg as it wouldn't get used for long trips. I want something with genuine off-road skills although it'd probably only spend 10% of the time in the rough stuff . I don't want a soft-roader -or I'd look at a RAV-4 - so are these up to the job? And anyone whos driven both, I'd appreciate your input. Cheers :)

HammerheadFistpunch > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 19:22

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I had an 05 XT 5 speed. Damn fast and fun but not easy on the fuel. As for off road chops? no, the Forester will do only something a softroader like a rav4 will do, no matter how much subaru flaunts the beauty of all wheel drive.

Arben72 > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 19:23

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I love my subarus, and 05 and newer fixed most of the head gasket issues. Otherwise expect them to go out at around 150k kms. My forester (a 2001 2.5) gets about 27 mpg u.s. My saabaru has the engine in the 2.0 turbo, and my advice is find a stock unmodified one if you go that route.

merkyg > Arben72 08/04/2014 at 19:27

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I heard the turbos were less prone to those issues, but not sure by how much less...

Arben72 > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 19:36

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They are, it still happens but to a lesser extent, but the turbos come with their own problems. Like I said though, head gasket failure is rare on 05+.. Still not unreliable, I've just been unlucky with mine.

merkyg > HammerheadFistpunch 08/04/2014 at 19:37

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Well, I'd originally considered a Defender but decided it'd be overkill and not worth the tradeoff in reliability headaches, sitting in puddles of rain etc, so it wouldn't need to be in that league (although I'd have a Defender in a heartbeat if I could afford it as a plaything and not a DD!). I've seen vids of Foresters belting through thick mud and probably worse conditions than I'd need it for. One claimed to show how great it was by showing the Mitsi struggling to get up a muddy slope then the Forester clears it with only the slight advantage of about 500ft of actual road run-up to the slope. I know they have some fanatical fans so figured there might be a bit of BS and shenanigans to the claims.

merkyg > Arben72 08/04/2014 at 19:41

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What are scoobies like for part prices etc? I'd be going with the local mechanic/ ebay parts route rather than official Scooby servicing.

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 19:51

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I would have to go with the XT, but I also don't care for logic. The idea of a factory Forester sleeper that can handle year-round weather and be taken off of pavement (read: drive through fields while camping/horsing/whatever) is a wonderful one in my book.

Gas milage? Bah. It can't be that bad.
True off-roading? My daily is a Jeep, which I purchased with off-roading in mind, and I've only done it twice. Unless you're one who regularly takes your vehicle truly off of the beaten path, I wouldn't buy a car specifically for offroadability.

To be fair, I've taken my BMW 2002 to horse shows before, and my girlfriend's brother has taken his Lexus IS-F to every horse show he's attended in the last year and he shows at least once a month. I feel like anything that can handle a rough dirt road works for shows, as long as you don't mind getting it a little muddy...
Though I admit that shows tend to be maintained better than your average pasture, so I'm going to stop pretending that I know what I'm talking about at tell you that I just think an XT sounds like significantly more fun. But it's got AWD so you should be good no matter what! Right?

Arben72 > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 20:31

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Well I'm probably going have to rebuild my motor and that's going to cost around $1000 (that included upgrading everything to handle 400 whp). Diy of course, genuine parts are pretty cheap, aftermarket ranges from practically free to crazy expensive for insane builds.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 22:06

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I have to 2005 FXT. Love it. Cobb exhaust and Accessport tuner. It also has the STi rear bar which dramatically changes the behavior of the chassis. It went from hopeless understeer to mild understeer and it drives so much better it's ridiculous.

My turbo died at 120,000 miles. This engine it starting to sound cranky (some valve clatter) at 140,000 miles. An example more gently used than mine will be quieter and more civilized, but I like mine a little raw.

It never occurred to me to off-road it.

JACU - I've got bonifides. > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 22:13

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I've had my black '04 XT since new. Has about 110k miles with few issues. Cimate control started going nuts at 75k, but I replaced it with an '05 module and problem solved. Left rear axle seal leaks a bit but not enough to drip. No gasket or turbo problems. Love it.

gawdzillla > merkyg 08/04/2014 at 23:14

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Saab 9-2x

merkyg > Arben72 08/08/2014 at 19:45

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400? nice ;)

merkyg > gawdzillla 08/08/2014 at 19:55

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I'm kinda torn on those (not that you can get them over here). I love both companies but it didn't come out of Trollhattan and our 9-5 would reject it ;)

Would have loved to have seen what they could have come up with in a true collaboration rather than a rebadge. That would have been something unstoppable.