Subaru Forester off-road fail... what was he thinking

A 19-year-old took his Subaru Forester off-road at Sandhurst Reservoir on Australia Day, and let’s just say it didn’t end well. The track was so rough that even the recovery crew’s 80 Series LandCruiser (‘Smurf’) struggled. Dude had to ditch his car and run to the highway to call for help. They ended up winching the Forester back to flat ground before leading it 14km to safety. Why do people keep pushing soft-roaders into hardcore 4x4 tracks?

Bro, some people just think AWD = invincible. Foresters are great, but they’re not built for hardcore tracks.

Dev said:
Bro, some people just think AWD = invincible. Foresters are great, but they’re not built for hardcore tracks.

Exactly. Even ‘Smurf’ struggled, and that’s an 80 Series LandCruiser. What chance did a stock Forester have?

@Masitsa
Wait, what’s ‘Smurf’?

Indra said:
@Masitsa
Wait, what’s ‘Smurf’?

It’s the recovery crew’s blue 80 Series LandCruiser. If even that had trouble, you KNOW the track was rough.

Did he at least have off-road tires, or was he running stock highway tires? Because that would explain a lot.

Hal said:
Did he at least have off-road tires, or was he running stock highway tires? Because that would explain a lot.

I’d bet money it was stock tires. No way someone prepped their rig properly and still thought this was a good idea lol.

Taking a Forester on private land with hardcore tracks… what could go wrong?

Cedar said:
Taking a Forester on private land with hardcore tracks… what could go wrong?

Right? People don’t realize that private property usually means zero help if you get stuck. He got lucky they came to rescue him.

14km back to the entry point sounds brutal. Wonder if the Forester took any damage?

Mary1 said:
14km back to the entry point sounds brutal. Wonder if the Forester took any damage?

Probably scraped up underneath at the very least. Winching on rough terrain isn’t exactly gentle on a car like that.

Not hating on Foresters, but they’re just not built for this kind of stuff. AWD ≠ 4WD.

Clarkson said:
Not hating on Foresters, but they’re just not built for this kind of stuff. AWD ≠ 4WD.

For sure. They’re great for dirt roads, but hardcore tracks? Not unless you really mod them.