[dankathym]

There was a great youtube video of a 2.5i Outback plowing through some fairly deep snow in Arkansas, I will try to find it. It is what actually pushed me over the edge into the 2.5 from the 3.6 that we were considering.

Hopefully that helps

 

[japmaxse]

^ Haaa no way the Pilot can do that.

 

[carfansince73]

Sweet video! I have a Pilot, and its VTM-4 system is pretty nice. Having 4WD or AWD are important to me even in FL, more of safety than getting unstuck.

 

[tim3320070]

Pilot is about 1000 heavier than the Outback

 

[there4igraham]

Weight and all terrain tires perhaps?

 

[Novablue]

I just came across this youtube video of a 2011 Honda Pilot and was pretty impressed.

Blizzard 2011 - YouTube

I wonder how the different AWD versions in the OB would do in that situation. I know the OB would be much better than a CR-V, but the Pilot is 4WD with a locking rear differential in 1st and 2nd gears up to 18mph.

I got to say that isn't too impressive to me. That was not very challenging snow. Looks like it's fresh snow on level ground. I've pushed show with my front bumper many times in a rwd 77 chevy nova with plain m/s tires. The benefit the Honda had in that video over a civic (for example) is ground clearance (well, and power and weight of course). A legacy would have definitely struggled more imo. Still thanks for sharing. If you do a search you will find several videos where outback's beat the competition in my view. The search function on this site is terrible though. I'll try to post them when I get home.

I think the driver would have had much less stops in an outback (all things being equal).

 

[there4igraham]

I saw a Hyundai Sonata do that a couple years ago down my street. It's all about momentum.

 

[bsteenjr]

Here is something that I found. It is a long video but it's worth watching the whole thing. Gives a good perspective of all Subaru AWD over competitors systems.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

I have always felt that the hill climb vids, snow vids and other 'real world' comparisons are close to worthless unless each car is wearing the same model of tires.

 

[combatmedic870]

It all depends on the snow....

 

[Outback-Commuter]

I just came across this youtube video of a 2011 Honda Pilot and was pretty impressed.

Blizzard 2011 - YouTube

I wonder how the different AWD versions in the OB would do in that situation. I know the OB would be much better than a CR-V, but the Pilot is 4WD with a locking rear differential in 1st and 2nd gears up to 18mph.

Look at all the wheel spin! This is a poor showing of the technology, IMHO.

 

[aggreX]

IMO the excess wheel spin is the result of the driving technique that puts the parked vehicles in that lot in danger of some hit and run.

 

[Harvey]

I wonder, when they test the Outback in the snow, if they disable the VDC.
How much of a difference would that make?

 

[jp1203]

I have always felt that the hill climb vids, snow vids and other 'real world' comparisons are close to worthless unless each car is wearing the same model of tires.

...but the ones with the ramp and rollers are quite good, because it effectively makes the quality of the tires irrelevant.

 

[Thai]

...but the ones with the ramp and rollers are quite good, because it effectively makes the quality of the tires irrelevant.

x2...and puts everyone on equal footing...thus, the ONLY thing that is tested is the AWD system.

 

[BossMaverick]

Look at all the wheel spin! This is a poor showing of the technology, IMHO.

There is going to be some wheel spin to get through deep snow. That is why traction control systems can be a bad thing in deep snow (its stops the spin and kills your forward momentum).

The driver was also purposely excessively spinning in most of the clips.

 

[carfansince73]

There is going to be some wheel spin to get through deep snow. That is why traction control systems can be a bad thing in deep snow (its stops the spin and kills your forward momentum).

The driver was also purposely excessively spinning in most of the clips.

Word. I can't say for sure, but the driver most likely turned off the VSA stability control which turns off traction control. There is no separate knob for each.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

...but the ones with the ramp and rollers are quite good, because it effectively makes the quality of the tires irrelevant.

agreed

 

[blSwagger]

x2...and puts everyone on equal footing...thus, the ONLY thing that is tested is the AWD system.

Exactly. I probably should have made the subject "Subaru's AWD vs. 4WD systems with locking differentials". The consensus is that the OB is better in the snow than the Pilot assuming similar tires notwithstanding the Pilot's locking rear differential?