Offroad Chops

The offroad portion of Subaru's press drive consisted of a lengthy course on California's Catalina Island, and I had a chance to tackle some fairly demolished dirt roads. I imagine a tiny fraction of Forester owners will take their SUVs to these lengths, but it performed well nonetheless, clawing up steep slopes and rutted pathways with well-controlled body motions. The wheels stayed well-connected to the dirt, allowing the nose or tail to swing wide only under the most sudden turns. (All deliberate, of course.)

    See also:

    “up” and “down” switch
    With radio mode selected Press the switch to the “” or “” side briefly to skip to a preset channel. Press the switch to the “” or “” side for more than 0.5 second to seek the next receivable ...

    Models with Hands-free system
    Press this button for more than 1.5 seconds if you wish to immediately cut the volume to zero. The audio display will show “MUTE”. If you press the button for more than 1.5 seconds again, the origin ...

    Vehicle Dynamics Control OFF mode
    This mode allows only the ABS control. This mode should be used in an emergency situation such as getting out of snow or mud. When the switch is pressed for more than approximately 3 seconds during ...