Video: 2010 Subaru Outback Climbs a Big Dirt Hill

I'm definitely a fan of this new Outback. It now has enough room and a little bit more manlier look to it.

"Another proud moment for Mr. Holland and Suby T. :-)."

:)

I believe the Outback in this test was the 3.6 H6, which has a superior AWD (45/55 default front/rear power split and with VDT). I'd be curious as to how a 4-cylinder CVT would do, as it's AWD system is not quite that sophisticated.

Viral marketing by Subaru, maybe?

excellent BS video...
first of all, we don't know if that Venza is AWD, and i don't think the Venza was designed for such task. AWD in Sienna and Venza, I believe, was designed to be a bad weather safe device.
Was that Explorer a V8? because I know the Explorer is a lot heavier than the Outback. and we did not get to see how the Explorer launched from the bottom of the hill. All we could see was how the driver really gunned the Outback from stand still (as you could see how the dirt was kicked up).
I don't know how steep this hill was, but personally, I have run up a hill on my 02 Explorer V8 4x4 without problem.
I am not saying the Outback is a bad AWD vehicle, and all I'm saying is this is one BS video.

climbing a hill like that has nothing to do with traction. This is a gearing issue.

Either the Subaru has a lower 1st gear than the Explorer and Venza or it has a low range gearbox, the latter I highly doubt.

In any case, drivetrain info on all the competitors is important to know for this to be a legitimate test of offroad hill climbing ability.

"climbing a hill like that has nothing to do with traction. This is a gearing issue."

everytime a car moves has something to do with traction. it's called physics.

Why didn't the video show the Explorer even attempting the hill climb?

We were told by someone from SOA on NASIOC that the Outback 2.5i w/ CVT also made it up the hill. :o)

The Venza was AWD and the Explorer had AWD, which means none of the vehicles had a low-range transfer box. The link below is from NASIOC, in which SOA Blog (a rep from SOA who was there at the event) commented on the video.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=27583543&postcount=515

I drove the new 2.5i outback and it was horrible. Lots of wind noise and it moved more like a boat than a car. Raising the height an additional 4 inches was a huge mistake (and what were they thinking about the dashboard. The blue aura coming from the center dials looks more at home on a kids toy than a 25 grand car).

I've driven the new Outback too, two in fact, as well as several Legacys. No wind noise problems with the ones I drove.

It's not perfect, but there are significant improvements in many areas in which customers have complained in the past.

Unless the vehicles have indie drivers in each car this means nothing. Do we know if the tyres were the same, or even had the same psi or were they overinflated (bad) or underinflated (good for the conditions).
What about driver technique? This kind of climbing is all about momentum. Not giving it full throttle and/or backing off the gas even momentarily while making the climb will cause a loss of momentum and 'stall' out. Not sawing the steering wheel will also make it harder to maintain traction.
Not sure if the video addressed these items (I don't have sound at work), but it is really easy to make a vehicle intentionally fail...

ya this is obviously fake.
Can't beat a Venza for off roading. I once saw a Venza climb straight up the side of a building!

I believe using journalists from multiple publications qualifies as using independent drivers, Huss. :o)

The problem with this ad is that the people that would be impressed by this can see right through it and I'm a fan of subaru's no latent observer will really appreciate that ability and the ones that do appreciate that ability need more details . . .

It's not an ad. The people driving the vehicles are the same folks who wrote the Outback First Drive articles that are currently appearing all over the 'Net and soon from Inside Line.

I wouldn't be making excuses for the Ford and the Toyota. Their AWD systems are just simply no match for Subaru's. I've watched other videos where Volvo and Honda were also outclassed when put in a similar situation. Subaru's has put a lot of effort in building an effective AWD system. The AWD systems built by the other cars makers, except for maybe Audi, are all after thoughts. They are only there to provide assistance and usually fail in extreme situations.

Turn the Venza's traction control(wheel slip and power backs way down) to OFF.The Venza will then make that hill look flat!