[mooble]

I took a long road trip in the OB for the first time this weekend and I have never driven a vehicle that was so susceptible to crosswinds. For what it is, the OB is reasonably light and it rides much higher than a traditional wagon. That being said, I still didn't expect to be fighting the steering wheel every second of a three hour trip. This wasn't a hurricane mind you, just a slightly strong 20-25 mph wind with an occasional gust. Does anyone else find this to be the case?

Sadly my first impression of the OB steering hasn't improved either. It's vague on-center and wanders too much. I thought varying the tire pressure might improve the steering, but it hasn't so far. I love almost everything about the OB, but the steering still vexes me. I guess nothing is perfect...

 

[JCBERB]

Yes the steering does drive me nuts along with the cross wind issue. Perhaps we can take it to a shop and have the alignment tweaked a bit. I cant stand how it just wanders off on its own. I too checked my tire pressure, was over a by a couple of PSI on each wheel, but it didnt change the handling really.

 

[upflying]

There are long threads about wandering and inability to hold her straight.
I'm like you, love the OB, hate the directional control.
An out of spec alignment seems to be the solution.
I discovered the wandering with less than 10 miles on mine.

 

[wutbürger]

That's the price you pay for a larger, AWD jacked up station wagon that barely weighs more than my last VW Golf unfortunately. The weight to surface area ratio sucks, not to mention the alignment specs from the factory do not help. My best advice? Fill that sucker up with another 800lbs or so of people and gear - it rides MUCH better when I do that :29:

In all seriousness, the only thing that helped a bit was the upgraded 19mm RSB; it seemed to tighten up the car and make the wind gusts MUCH easier to deal with. I've kind of gotten used to it, but it's deffinently not ideal.

 

[pgh]

Allthough my early 10 does not have the shakes it still exhibits some unsettled behavior in winding conditions. Alignment, bigger RSB , perhaps tires can help but like some of the folks have pointed out it seems to be a characteristic of this gen OB.

 

[subiesailor]

You need more bricks in your shorts. LOL - When we pack heavy for road trips the OB handles far far better than it does when its empty its also less affected by winds. Either way tall car light weight + winds equals fun times keeping it between the lines.

The legacy is night and day different hardly ever seems to be impacted by high winds on the highway and is the sedan version of the OB minus the raised suspension.

 

[mikelipke]

Mooble:
What model year is your OB?

 

[ckhbuy]

Yes, the sway in big cross winds was my chief complaint as well for 1.5 years. I upgraded to a 19 mm rear sway bar last week and I just can't keep from smiling now on the turnpike. Doesn't eliminate it 100%, but boy, what an improvement! Wish I'd done it 1.5 years ago. Give it a shot!
christopher

 

[iainb]

We just did a round trip from NJ this past weekend and the OB was great on the highway, as it always is.

It's nowhere near as susceptible to cross-winds as the 4Runner's I've had on long trips.

 

[fun2drive]

I didn't notice my OB being any more susceptible to cross winds than other vehicles I have owned that were 4WD or that had a lot of exposed vertical area.
What is bad is the alignment specs the OB uses for the 10-13 which don't contribute to self centering which increases workload a lot.
I have been unable to get my alignment done until I get back north here in a couple weeks but when I do the toe will be set to neutral or slightly negative 0.01 degrees.
Will report back if this helps or not...

 

[MNOutback]

Swap up to a thicker rear sway bar. It really cuts down on the crosswind drift. Very easy job.

 

[DieselOx]

I had my toe in set to 0.00, and it totally fixed the problem. It still gets rocked by the wind, but I can feel it in the wheel first, like every other car. This lets me respond without thinking before I get that "it's off on its own again feeling". The dead center feel is almost totally gone. It still won't return to center all the way but its better.

 

[SubiTank]

I'm confused. Is OP talking about his pre '13 OB or in general?
I can attest that '10 - '12 OB models were quite susceptible to cross winds.
However, '13 model I drive, handles like a completely different vehicle. It is no less stable in cross winds than an average sedan. Subaru did some improvements to the suspension and the vehicle height is a tad lower than pre '13 OB models.

 

[Nickshu]

Yes, the sway in big cross winds was my chief complaint as well for 1.5 years. I upgraded to a 19 mm rear sway bar last week and I just can't keep from smiling now on the turnpike. Doesn't eliminate it 100%, but boy, what an improvement! Wish I'd done it 1.5 years ago. Give it a shot!
christopher

Add the 26mm front sway bar from the 2013 and you will smile even bigger. The 19mm RSB helped the crosswind issue alot, but the 26mm front has eliminated it. Much more planted on the highway.

 

[mooble]

I'm confused. Is OP talking about his pre '13 OB or in general?
I can attest that '10 - '12 OB models were quite susceptible to cross winds.
However, '13 model I drive, handles like a completely different vehicle. It is no less stable in cross winds than an average sedan. Subaru did some improvements to the suspension and the vehicle height is a tad lower than pre '13 OB models.

Nope, it's a '13 Limited 3.6r. If the '12 was worse, I can't imagine driving it on a windy road. The handling and grip are amazing for a wagon/SUV, but this thing weaves like a snake in crosswinds. I guess I've driven about 20 different cars in my life and none have blown around this much. The larger SUVs and trucks I have driven have enough weight to keep them planted. The cars sat low enough that the winds don't blow them as much, though my lightweight '88 Civic hatch could blow around a bit. Still, I wasn't fighting the steering in the Civic like I do in the OB. The OB has the unfortunate combination of height, fairly low weight, and steering that doesn't track straight. This made it a literal handful on the highway.

 

[benamin]

Sounds more like an issue with those Stock Continental tires. I have had them OEM on a few vehicles and they sucked then, it doesn't appear they have improved much.

 

[rico567]

Nice that the larger sway bar reduces the problem, but given he ærodynamics of the vehicle it all comes down to not being able to fool physics, I don't care what tires are on there. Weight obviously matters, given several posts- all one has to do is observe large tractor-trailers in a crosswind, and it's easy to tell which ones are under load and which ones are deadheading.

 

[subiesailor]

Some might read this forum and get some crazy ideas

LOL

 

[subiesailor]

Some might read this forum and get some crazy ideas

LOL

 

[Cobalt]

My outback is probably right at the top of the list for being the worse vehicle I have driven in the wind.

Today we had probably 15-20 mph winds with gusts maybe to 30 and I was blown all over my lane, the worst part about it was I was passed by a smart car and I jumped over behind it and that little short wheel based car was planted firmly in the center of the lane.

I have driven all kinds of lifted vehicles that were never effected by the wind like my outback is so I'm not buying that it is due to having a taller then standard car profile.