Subaru 05' Outback and newer, DANGEROUS ON ICE!

Bryan,

Good luck with your efforts to have the manufacturer or dealer address the problem. I would continue with the effort as it seems there are quite a few folks with the same issue. A subaru should not have the symptoms you describe. We owned an older one and it was amazing in the snow (equipped with good all season tires it outperformed my 4WD Suburban). I can verify that it is not the tires, I have the Assurance Tripletred on our current ski vehicle, a 2WD Focus. I also have a lot of snow driving experience with all different types of vehicles (my wife who is a less avid skiier than myself is a ski patroller). These tires are very good except on smooth ice and then their only drawback is lack of traction on acceleration (2WD is partly to blame), but I can still get up the hill as fast as the 4WD'ers. There is never a wiggle off throttle and the cornering and braking are solid. The Subaru is sold as a safe snow car and it should perform as such. Perhaps the cost of hiring a lawyer to write a letter would be a good investment. You chances will be the best if you are the original owner and make a big stink with the selling dealer. Contacting the State Attorney General might also help.

Peter

Start this thread on tele tips and you'll open a huge can of worms, there have been multiple "what's wrong with my late-model Suby" threads there. I do remember someone having an alignment issue with the car loaded, someone trashed a set of tires on a trip to Alaska or something like that. It could be related.

Have the alignment checked. This can cause the described problem

Hello all, I feel your pain bscott. I think i have been driving your car. I have had subarus in my house since 84, and swear by them. Not the o5 OB that i have now. The car is a driving casket! I am having the same problems and don't know where to turn. It is not the tires, not the loads, not the driver, it is the car. I am just wondering if the problem can be fixed? Thanks...KT

It sounds like there are indeed as lot of people out there experiencing this problem -- a swaying of the back end while driving on slippery surfaces, more like a wind sway than the feeling of the back end kicking loose. My money is on the LSD and rear suspension configuration. Unfortunately, it is a very hard problem to diagnose, since it will be a rare day that you can get a service tech to test drive your car on ice in the Puget Sound lowlands.

One thing that would be telling, does this happen when coasting in neutral?

LSD does have a way of making things sway!