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:

    Hill start assist system (MT models)
    The Hill start assist system is a device only for helping the driver to START the vehicle on an uphill grade. To prevent accidents when the vehicle is parked on a slope, be sure to firml ...

    Ignition switch light
    For easy access to the ignition switch in the dark, the ignition switch light illuminates when the driver’s door is opened or when the driver’s door is unlocked using the remote keyless entry transmit ...

    Forward direction
    Turn the “TUNE/TRACK/CH” dial clockwise to skip to the beginning of the next track/file (track). Each time the dial is turned, the indicated track/file (track) number will increase. NOTE In an ...