Good Gas Mileage Hunting Vehicle

[FLATHEAD]

Been reading about the differences in AWD vs.4WD.
Seems theyre (AWD) mostly full time FWD with a clutch
that sends power to the rear wheels when the front
ones start to slip.
That clutch tends to wear out really quick in real off
road conditions.
AWD is primarily for slick roads, light muddy situations,
light snow, etc.... not for true off road where all 4 wheels
need to pull most of the time.
I did not know this.

 

[roosiebull]

I don’t have one personally, but I have seen this one in action on an Outback. Followed a 4 runner and could go anywhere the 4 runner could. There are also some videos of the same one on YouTube. We will be putting one in an Ascent when we buy one next spring.

TORQ Locker for Subaru R160 5-Bolt open differentials – Torq-Masters

www.torqmasters.com

very good, thanks.

 

[Forestryguy]

Been reading about the differences in AWD vs.4WD.
Seems theyre (AWD) mostly full time FWD with a clutch
that sends power to the rear wheels when the front
ones start to slip.
That clutch tends to wear out really quick in real off
road conditions.
AWD is primarily for slick roads, light muddy situations,
light snow, etc.... not for true off road where all 4 wheels
need to pull most of the time.
I did not know this.

4 wd drive really isn't 4 wd. You only get one wheel with power on the front and rear, unless you have a locker that will lock the second wheel in on the axel. AWDs just tend to not be built for heavy use.

 

[5MilesBack]

I hauled me, wife, camp gear, and an elk with a vw rabbit hatchback. You can hunt out if just about anything if the desire is there.

In college, my buddy and I used to take my 1981 Toyota Corolla up elk hunting. You do whatever you gotta do, with whatever you have.

 

[roosiebull]

Been reading about the differences in AWD vs.4WD.
Seems theyre (AWD) mostly full time FWD with a clutch
that sends power to the rear wheels when the front
ones start to slip.
That clutch tends to wear out really quick in real off
road conditions.
AWD is primarily for slick roads, light muddy situations,
light snow, etc.... not for true off road where all 4 wheels
need to pull most of the time.
I did not know this.

i also didn't know that.

i wouldn't worry too much about the clutch wearing out, i think if it was a real issue, we would be well aware by now.... it would be common knowledge after years and year of people driving AWD cars all over, and i had never heard of the AWD clutch going out on someone.... i would at least do more digging before accepting that as true (if you are on the fence)

we'll see how this subaru crosstrek plays out, but i did drive it home last night and it was a sucky drive in pouring rain on I5 with some periods of gridlocked traffic (man i despise the portland area!) all in all, first impressions were good, lots of standing water on the road, and the car did fine.... if i end up liking it long term, i will be putting a rear locker in it.... it will be handy regardless, because we have my colorado zr2 and a tundra, my wife drives the tundra, and we drive a lot, so having that car will be handy for our household.

when we are at our permanent house, i have an almost 600 mile drive (one way) to work, when my wife comes up the coast to our other house, it's only a 5.5hr drive home or to work, and a 5hr drive for her from our main house, so the crosstrek will relieve some of that fuel cost, and i hate not having an extra rig around.... my wife had to go into the ditch on Thursday morning to avoid a head on collision on hwy 101, so it's going to be in the shop for awhile (thank goodness it wasn't worse) but we were talking about getting something more economical anyways, so the timing seemed appropriate with the tundra getting banged up.... we had them put a 2" lift and some bfg ko2's on it (they specialize in modifying subarus)

it's a car, and i will miss my pickup anytime i drive the car, but it looks to get 25ish mpg with the lift and heavier/bigger tires, which is about twice the fuel economy as the tundra, and 7-8mpg better than my pickup, which adds up when considering our lovely Biden fuel prices..... it's not going to get much better until he's out of office.

will it actually pencil out and save money? probably not, but after a couple years, it will be pretty cheap to have a spare vehicle around.

i agree with those who approach this logically, that buying a more fuel efficient rig will never pencil out.... you can buy a lot of fuel for the price of that fuel efficient vehicle. my pickup will be paid off in 2 yrs, and we bought the subaru cash, so there is light at the end of the tunnel......

 

[rideold]

I have heard mixed stuff on CRVs. Some really like them, some really hate them. Anyone on here have experience with them?

Kind of debating between a RAV4 or a CRV when I can afford a newer vehicle.

My wife drives a 2019 CR-V. It's a nice car. Gets close to 30 mpg average and we drive mostly in town. I haven't crawled under it to see how much fragile stuff is hanging down but it definitely does not feel built for more than dirt roads. If I had to choose between a Subaru and a CR-V for hunting I'd pick the Subaru based solely on the availability of skid plates, lift parts etc. (and I'm saying that not having any experience with the newer Subarus). The gearing on the CR-V would bother me off the beaten track. The turbo lag is pretty noticable. The gearing also kinda sucks at 70+. We were surprised last summer when we drove out to Oregon for vacation that the MPG dropped noticeably cruising on the highway.

 

[wapitibob]

Glad she's Ok Roosie, 101 can be crazy.

I'm getting 21 in town with my 3.5 eco f150, a cpl more on the hwy; good enough that I'm not looking to change anything.

 

[darcytribe]

https://www.journeysoffroad.com/siennaawd.html

Thanks!

 

[JeffRaines]

Been reading about the differences in AWD vs.4WD.
Seems theyre (AWD) mostly full time FWD with a clutch
that sends power to the rear wheels when the front
ones start to slip.
That clutch tends to wear out really quick in real off
road conditions.
AWD is primarily for slick roads, light muddy situations,
light snow, etc.... not for true off road where all 4 wheels
need to pull most of the time.
I did not know this.

Thats the case with most AWD systems(think Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, etc). Subaru AWD is, AFAIK, actually full time AWD.

 

[TonyG]

Check out one of the baby duramax’s.

They make it in a Silverado and a Canyon. I’m ranging about 25-28mpg in my Silverado.

 

[Loggerdude]

Most of our hunting is still cheaper than a guided hunt. Maybe we will qualify for some covid remainder money, they still have stash’s somewhere I’m sure.

 

[Tmac]

With fuel prices skyrocketing is has anyone started looking at alternative hunting vehicles? I'm currently using a Tacoma with a cap, roof rack, bumpers, and lift, I average about 13mpg during hunting season and 17 on the hwy. I have a couple of out-of-state hunts scheduled this fall and typically hunt 8+ weeks from Aug. - Nov. normally fuel has been one of my largest expenses but now it will defiantly be by a land slide.

I'm really considering selling the Taco before these market crashes, currently, I could make a lot of money off of the truck even after beating on it for the last couple of years. I really don't know what to get though, I think a crappy little fwd car would get me to about 80% of the places I hunt, more if I beat the shit out of it. I just don't know if I'm quite ready to give up having a decent rig. I've considered buying a small hybrid SUV like a toyota Rav 4 which gets over 40mpg, put a hitch on the back and haul my t-dub or CT90 on the back for the really poor roads. It really is a tough decision though, especially going out of state like NE Nevada where there is pretty much nobody to help if you break down or get stuck.

I've always really liked having a capable vehicle but the current prices are crazy. Just the two trips I have planned I will be putting on 1300 miles just to and from, not to mention any driving while there. I normally keep about 1K set aside in an envelope for the fuel each fall so it doesn't hit the bank account as hard. This year we are already double with a couple of months to go. Maybe I just need to accept that it's going to be the cost of doing business going forward.

Curious what everyone else's thoughts are, I defiantly feel like the woods are going to be a much lonelier place this fall with prices the way they are.

Remove the lift and return to stock diameter tires. Odds are mileage will go up a bunch and you will still be able to get most places.

 

[roosiebull]

Remove the lift and return to stock diameter tires. Odds are mileage will go up a bunch and you will still be able to get most places.

E rated tires (i believe they were 265/75-17) on my 2018 taco trd offroad was around 18.5mpg average, i want to say it was 20-21mpg for stock tires, but i don't know about others, i need E rated tires or i'm getting flats on a regular basis.

i agree, fuel economy will improve, but still won't be that great, especially if you are off pavement much and need E rated tires for reliability

my stock tires didn't make it 5k until i got a rock hole that was too bad to repair, then more recently i put BFG KO2's on my colorado ZR2, ordered E rated, and got 2 flats on gravel the first month, looked, and noticed they were C rated.... made them put the right tires on once i figured it out, i can't get by with C rated, not sure if the OP can or not, but it matters.

curious to see how the BFG KO2's (C rated) hold up on the subaru crosstrek, it's certainly lighter, but it will take a good amount of gravel driving for me to trust them (and a full size spare, which i'm trying to find a good solution for mounting a full size spare without losing storage)

he would get some economy back going back to stock, but the actual tire will determine if it's a meaningful improvement, E rated tires seem to take about 2-2.5mpg with most midsized pickups

 

[dtrkyman]

I have a grand cherokee, never had an e rated tire, always just a/t tires, mostly Bridgestone, has 183k miles plus, drive off road constantly and daily when guiding.

Never had a flat, my current set of tires are goodyear kevlar, they all have a patch in them after spending a bunch of time on a ranch last year loaded with Mesquite, lots of pin holes! My last two sets of Bridgestone never had a patch.

I drove a horrible steep rocky ranch road dozens of times last year with zero issue, type of road that beats up your skid plates.

I carry a mini compressor and a plug kit.

Maybe heavier trucks need an E rated tire bit the nasty rocks here in New Mexico have not been an issue for me .

 

[WRM]

Been reading about the differences in AWD vs.4WD.
Seems theyre (AWD) mostly full time FWD with a clutch
that sends power to the rear wheels when the front
ones start to slip.
That clutch tends to wear out really quick in real off
road conditions.
AWD is primarily for slick roads, light muddy situations,
light snow, etc.... not for true off road where all 4 wheels
need to pull most of the time.
I did not know this.

I have a V-6 AWD, but it has a true transfer case with a creeper low range. The ABS system also is set up to give you some "limited slip", though it is by no means a replacement for a diff lock. Still, I've been in some pretty hairy stuff and only stuck the couple times I bottomed out.

I can get 18+mpg on the highway if all is going well.

 

[Tmac]

E rated tires (i believe they were 265/75-17) on my 2018 taco trd offroad was around 18.5mpg average, i want to say it was 20-21mpg for stock tires, but i don't know about others, i need E rated tires or i'm getting flats on a regular basis.

i agree, fuel economy will improve, but still won't be that great, especially if you are off pavement much and need E rated tires for reliability

my stock tires didn't make it 5k until i got a rock hole that was too bad to repair, then more recently i put BFG KO2's on my colorado ZR2, ordered E rated, and got 2 flats on gravel the first month, looked, and noticed they were C rated.... made them put the right tires on once i figured it out, i can't get by with C rated, not sure if the OP can or not, but it matters.

curious to see how the BFG KO2's (C rated) hold up on the subaru crosstrek, it's certainly lighter, but it will take a good amount of gravel driving for me to trust them (and a full size spare, which i'm trying to find a good solution for mounting a full size spare without losing storage)

he would get some economy back going back to stock, but the actual tire will determine if it's a meaningful improvement, E rated tires seem to take about 2-2.5mpg with most midsized pickups

I use E rated tires on all mine too, full size or smaller truck. There are plenty of places it’s needed, and plenty it’s not, really depends on where you hunt.

 

[TradArcher]

98 Forester with a 2.2 from a legacy in it for the motor - its been a great go anywhere I need to vehicle for me...and paid for.

Basically I try to find the local subaru mechanic that went independent and sells subbies on the side. They usually know what to watch out for in each model year and also which ones not to buy and tend to fix the issues so when you purchase the well-seasoned subbie from them you have a very reliable vehicle.

By the local subbie mechanic I don't mean the private subaru shops that also sell used subbies but rather the lone guy working out of his garage that you find by word of mouth - those guys tend to build solid vehicles and sell them for fair prices.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Just traded my '16 Ram 2500 Cummins 2WD with 47K miles for a 2021
Nissan Frontier 4WD with 6K miles on it. Even Swap.
At least I'm not buying 5$ diesel anymore, and the oil changes should be
a lot cheaper.
So far, I'm really liking it. The 310hp 6 cyl, seems to be plenty.

 

[fmyth]

I have a V-6 AWD, but it has a true transfer case with a creeper low range. The ABS system also is set up to give you some "limited slip", though it is by no means a replacement for a diff lock. Still, I've been in some pretty hairy stuff and only stuck the couple times I bottomed out.

I can get 18+mpg on the highway if all is going well.

What vehicle has AWD and a true transfer case?

 

[Mantistoboggan]

I saw a guy in a Corolla his morning. Not sure if he was hunting but I don’t know who else drives 4x4 mountain roads at 4am during elk season.