I have an 88 Loyale, high/low range 5spd. She's my trusty daily driver, and also travels dirt roads, trails, and some moderately rugged offroading in the Sierra Nevada. I love the light weight, nimble feel and small turn radius of it, but am thinking that more HP in a newer car (I'm at 230k now) may be nice. It didn't help matters that I rented a Forester on vacation this year either. So, my question is, which of the newer ones would be the best replacement? Ground clearance is a major plus, as would be turn radius. Also, how do these perform on twisty, rocky trails? I am very used to having low range available and currently spend much time crawling along in low/1st. I have been reading about lifting the Imprezas with the forester parts, and am wondering how that compares with an Outback stock? So anyway, what's your pick for overall on/off road use?

 

Eric

I have an 88 Loyale, high/low range 5spd. She's my trusty daily driver, and also travels dirt roads, trails, and some moderately rugged offroading in the Sierra Nevada. I love the light weight, nimble feel and small turn radius of it, but am thinking that more HP in a newer car (I'm at 230k now) may be nice. It didn't help matters that I rented a Forester on vacation this year either. So, my question is, which of the newer ones would be the best replacement? Ground clearance is a major plus, as would be turn radius. Also, how do these perform on twisty, rocky trails? I am very used to having low range available and currently spend much time crawling along in low/1st. I have been reading about lifting the Imprezas with the forester parts, and am wondering how that compares with an Outback stock? So anyway, what's your pick for overall on/off road use?

 

Eric

 

Put an ej22 in the 88, and keep you d/r tranny.