Good stuff Matty! This video really showcases your driving skill. The line on the "bypass" 😂 was great! I remember those 1 foot steps, and intentionally driving on top of them worked out great. Also, excellent and scary line on the following obstacle, you knew exactly what you were doing. edit: and I need to add that I'm very impressed you are doing all this without a spotter.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Thanks Jon! 😄 You're too kind!
@matthewjohnson12115 ай бұрын
I agree…the man’s got skill behind the wheel! Also doesn’t hurt to have one of the most capable Subaru’s out there…
@JonDZ_Adventuring5 ай бұрын
@@matthewjohnson1211 more gearing is always a good thing, but I think Matt would make it up in his 19 SK Forester. His build with the emphasis on Flex is something special.
@tpseeker33675 ай бұрын
So good to see someone is still Honestly taking their Subie off the pavement. Thanks for taking us along with you & looking forward to seeing where you'll take us next.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
You bet! 😄
@gagags11155 ай бұрын
Amazing to see the transformation of your Wilderness. It goes well with your excellent off-road driving skills. Thank you for sharing 😊
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Thank you very much! 😄
@mr.mctiktok5 ай бұрын
This is awesome!! I still have everything stock on my FW but I take it out to the Southern California desert trails (mainly stick to 3 rated trails though) once I get a lift and some bigger tires I’ll push it a little further :) keep crushing it!! 🤘🏻
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Heck yeah! Lift, tires, and skids and you'll take it to the next level!
@bmc_rc62125 ай бұрын
Awesome footage! You drove that like a boss! I was in Moab a few weeks back with my OB and we did hurrah pass and some of onion creek, always a great time out in the desert! Can't wait to go back after I get new struts and some skid plates installed soon. So cool to see you wheeling your Subaru on somer gnarly trails.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Good stuff! It's an epic area! Many thanks! 😄
@SubaruAmbassadorRobert5 ай бұрын
Loving your videos!!! If you're out there in the end of August, I hope you join us on some of our adventures!!! Also, *AMAZING* job on your bumper!!! Wish you'd build me one for my Ascent!!!
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Thanks Robert! Send me the August Moab info on IG! sk_foz I plan to start selling hidden winch mounts and front bumpers like mine in a couple months, but that’s just for the forester. I could make one for you Ascent, but it would be about $2k and you’d have to spend a weekend in Albuquerque. Hit me up on IG and we can talk about all this.
@silverbulletxv44975 ай бұрын
Love this, makes me itch to go back to Moab so bad!!! Also your undercarriage clearance had me nervous but you were walking right over the ish, so good!!!
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Thanks Milton! I know I should have made time to put the sliders on, but the pinch weld hits were pretty mild. I can't wait to visit y'all in the PNW!
@willba45 ай бұрын
mate, i wish we could get the wilderness here down under. its just not ecenomical to change the gears in the front and rear diffs otherwise (at least not yet) always amazed at what these cars can do.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
It's actually more work than that, or maybe less. They changed the CVT ratio range too, not just the diff gears. The combined changes give the FW a 26% better crawl ratio compared to the non-wildy 2019+ Foresters. You'd need to swap the transmission, which includes the front diff, and the rear diff.
@Doc18555 ай бұрын
I hope you had your Forester in Xmode, snow and dirt while nose diving down the hills. This would allow your Xmode to take the decent at 1-3mph. The private road that we live on is Steep, so when we are leaving our house we put both our Outback and Forester into Xmode and let it brake for us. Whenever we’re coming home in the snowy winter months we ALWAYS put our Subie’s into Xmode just to get up our road and into our garage.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
I leave X-Mode off most of the time, but I turn it on for tricky trail sections. Hill decent control is indeed a nice feature on the really steep stuff like you mentioned.
@rmstudios25554 ай бұрын
wow great rock climbing! Didnt think a subaru could do that
@MatthewHeiskell4 ай бұрын
Thanks! The Wilderness models have significantly lower gearing which helps tremendously.
@aarontrotter51883 ай бұрын
Looking forward to the bumper sale. Will you have one for outback?
@MatthewHeiskell3 ай бұрын
Yes, I have two people lined up right now. Both are outbacks. The first one will start next month.
@Gandalf_The_Jacked5 ай бұрын
Hey Matt! 2 questions for ya: 1. You still running no front swaybars full-time? I'm currently running no end-links on the rear of my OBW and noticed very little change in handling. Considering the front delete now too, but was curious how you found the handling on-road. I believe you've said that it's noticeable, but nothing bad. Taking them on and off for trails is just enough annoyance that I'd prefer to just run without if it doesn't ruin the handling. 2. How do you feel about the longer term durability of the Ironman's? I've seen a few negative reports, particularly with people with 20k+ miles, and it's been giving me pause. Pushing me towards Raceworks GZ coilovers, but that's obviously a significantly more expensive and different option. Thanks for your content here and on IG! Have learned a bunch and really appreciate the knowledge and anecdotes you share.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
I been running without both swaybars full time for 4+ years on my 2019 Forester. Deleting both swaybars was the first mod that I did to the new 2024 Forester Wilderness. I made a good video that demonstrates how much articulation you gain when you disconnect or delete them, about double! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hq51la55ldy2h3k.html The low/flat boxer engine, unibody construction, and fully independent suspension keep the car really stable even without swaybars. Glad to hear that you've disconnected the rear swaybar. You sacrifice nothing on road, but you gain about 40% of the off-road bonus. More articulation, traction, and comfort. I suggest that you try disconnecting the front. Remove the endlinks and try it out for a few days. Around town, on a trail, on the highway, even try a quick lane change. It's a little weird at first, but completely manageable once you know what to expect. I like both of mine completely gone, but another good option is to replace you front swaybar endlinks with RalliTek ones that have quick disconnect hardware. Here are the ones for your OBW. rallitek.com/products/lifted-hd-adjustable-front-endlinks-fits-20-24-subaru-outback-wilderness?variant=45200492069106 They are about $250, but they let you keep the on-road handling as sharp as possible, but disconnect for the other 60% off road bonus. They made a video about them so you can understand how they work. You jsut need a flat and level surface. Steering completely to one side should expose the linkage and keep you off the ground. Steer the other way and do the other. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l9x0gq2By6rYl4U.html Now let's talk suspension. I think that Ironman suspension is still the way to go. It's only $1,100 when you buy it when they are having a sale, which is almost all the time. I was an early adopter, back when medium was the only spring rate option. It seems that their coil spring supplier made/used some poor spring steel. Some settling is to be expected, but not half of the quoted 2" of lift. I was still okay with this because the improved off-road capability comes from the increased suspension travel and articulation, not ground clearance. Anyway, now they offer the stiffer Spec-C spring rate. For my 24FW I got Spec-C front for the winch bumper weight and medium in the back for comfort and better articulation. Interestingly, the rear medium struts are a bit different, different part number on the springs, so I suspect that Ironman has addressed the excessive spring settling issue. I was pursuing Raceworks GZ coilovers, but there are a few issues, the price is very significant. You could go through 3 sets of Ironman before you break even. Second, they have to be serviced or rebuilt about once a year. That takes time, money, and puts your vehicle out of commission. Finally, the Raceworks tune-ability and adjustability is great, it certainly has the potential to be better than Ironman, but you'd be swapping springs, too stiff, too soft, adjusting preload, too much, too little, adjusting dampening, too much too little, adjusting rebound, too much, too little, then you swap to different spring, now it needs different preload and different dampening and different rebound. I think it would go on on forever. I'd rather throw Ironman in there and get out on the trails and have an adventure. Please read this a few times. It took me a while to write it.
@Gandalf_The_Jacked5 ай бұрын
@wHeiskell Wow, thank you for the detailed reply. Really appreciate it dude. I'll try disconnecting the front and see how i get along. The rallitek looks like a great option if I prefer running the front links for road trips or something. Agree with your thoughts on the Raceworks coilovers and ironman suspension as well. My main hesitation re:Ironman was that I'd be running the standard springs since I don't carry a ton of weight, and those seem to only give about 1-1.25" of lift on the wildy models after settling. Of course, I could always add a small strut spacer from ADF on top to get ~2" of total lift.. In either case, your points on coilovers being higher maintenance and more challenging to dial in definitely make sense.
@animeuva5 ай бұрын
Woah interesting! Just noticed your build at the end of the video. So you installed the Ironman suspension without the spacers? Is that possible because the Forester Wilderness is already lifted? I'd love to know your thoughts on that.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Yeah, the Ironman kit replaces all four struts. The 1/2” of extra wildy ground clearance is from the wildy struts. If you get spec-c in the rear, I DO recommend the rear subframe spacers.
@fgarrido17415 ай бұрын
What CVT temps do you max out at?
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
The highest that I saw was in the 180s F, but the Forester Wilderness comes with a transmission cooler. If you don't have one, and you off road a CVT, then you should at least add a scan gauge to monitor your temps.
@billricheter56783 ай бұрын
What mods have you done? . Nice video
@MatthewHeiskell3 ай бұрын
Thanks. Just the basics. Ironman suspension, larger and wider 245/65R17 Nitto tires, skidplates, swaybars deleted, and just recently added some body armor 4x4 sliders.
@punkish714 күн бұрын
@@MatthewHeiskellwow, so no need to do any mods on transmission or drive line? Suspension and tires getting that much is impressive!
@Doc18555 ай бұрын
I’d like to test drive the 25 Forester Wilderness for a week or so.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
2025 starts a new model year for the Forester. Also, I don't think that they will be offering it in a Wilderness trim right away.
@lifebylosh5 ай бұрын
You're right - Thr front camera IS useless.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
haha, I'm trying to "learn" it, but it's difficult for my brain to understand the image. I guess that it could see a big rock, but reading the terrain is very difficult.
@dennisjanwolterding3845 ай бұрын
Who says,you can't go rock climbing with a Subaru--as long as it's the Forester Wilderness. Gutsy Guy and Gal. I'd have never tried this with my 2023 Forester Wilderness.
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Thanks! Nice to know that’s it’s capable of doing it though! 😄
@Ferretts895 ай бұрын
Next mod... rock sliders?
@MatthewHeiskell5 ай бұрын
Yeah, haha, the sliders were delivered before the car actually! I've just been distracted with other stuff. I plan to install them this weekend.