Lo-Range in Australia?

[Mike G]

Subies of yesteryear in the U.S. used to have the lo-range 4wd and it was
great. They did away with it after the dawn of the Legacy but I've heard
other countries still have the option, is this true? If so why?

Mike

 

[Michael Szoenyi]

I can't exactly tell why Subaru does offer low-range in some countries and
not in others, but I don't have to recite all the advantages (torque,
matching revs when changing gears, mountain climbing etc..) and
disadvantages (technique, weight, complications, price), but basically it's
the need of the respective countries. We still have it in the current (^05
MY) legacys and imprezas and it's still great here in Switzerland...

cheers, Mike 2

 

[Mark H]

Subies of yesteryear in the U.S. used to have the lo-range 4wd and it was

great. They did away with it after the dawn of the Legacy but I've heard
other countries still have the option, is this true? If so why?

They probably figure that Americans don't use Subies for any kind of
offroad.
In Australia though, my 02 Forester XS loves going up and down the blue
mountains, and some of the sealed 'roads' require it if you want to get
anywhere on time. If you take the fun way, not the highway... Massive
climbing angles and hairpins everywhere, low range does just fine - I've
never got past second in high, and the car just doesn't have the torque for
it. Low range, bucketloads of torque to get up, and sufficient engine
braking on the way down.

-mark

 

[Orienteer]

The 2.0 litre manual, non-turbo Subaru models have it in the UK. I think the
2.5 and/or turbo models probably develop too much torque for the low range
to cope with.

 

[p38arover]

Low range is only provided on manual transmission models.

Ron Beckett
Emu Plains, Australia
1995 P38A Range Rover HSE 4.6 Litre V8
1985 110 County 3.5 Litre V8
2005 Subaru Forester X 2.5 litre auto