Rig recommendation

[mpcEPTX]

Hi y’all.
I’ve been doing some light overlanding with my very modest Kia Seltos. So far, I’ve had no issues but I’ve also been very careful not to push the boundaries of my little crossover.
The more I travel, the further I want to go and there’s a very clear limit to what my car is capable of. I decided it’s time to upgrade. This rig was supposed to be temporary since I’m still waiting for my bronco to be built but at this rate, I probably won’t see it for another year or so.

I’ve been looking into getting a Crosstrek since I do not require very serious off-road capabilities but I wanted to consult the hive mind in these forums to get a better idea of what would be best for my needs.

So, with that, what would you recommend for a family of two (no babies yet) and two large dogs that love going out camping and hiking every weekend. For reference, I’m from Texas and I hardly ever see snow. We are driving to colorado in a few weeks but I got the tires covered already.

Thanks!

 

[diabetiktaco]

Hi y’all.
I’ve been doing some light overlanding with my very modest Kia Seltos. So far, I’ve had no issues but I’ve also been very careful not to push the boundaries of my little crossover.
The more I travel, the further I want to go and there’s a very clear limit to what my car is capable of. I decided it’s time to upgrade. This rig was supposed to be temporary since I’m still waiting for my bronco to be built but at this rate, I probably won’t see it for another year or so.

I’ve been looking into getting a Crosstrek since I do not require very serious off-road capabilities but I wanted to consult the hive mind in these forums to get a better idea of what would be best for my needs.

So, with that, what would you recommend for a family of two (no babies yet) and two large dogs that love going out camping and hiking every weekend. For reference, I’m from Texas and I hardly ever see snow. We are driving to colorado in a few weeks but I got the tires covered already.

Thanks!

I don't even know what a seltos is LOL. Think about the future and make sure whatever you get is going to suit your needs for a long time. But you need to think about a bunch of other stuff too. What gear do you bring? How long do you go away for? How far do you go? Is used vehicle ok? What's your budget? Etc, etc, etc.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I like the Crosstrek. But they are smaller than the Forester Wilderness we ended up buying. I'm not a small guy. I'll make no comment about the size of my wife. None.

We're getting old (just me, not the wife...) so don't do anything crazy, and the Forester is plenty capable for our needs now.

I think you'll like a Crosstrek.

 

[MidOH]

Stick with the Kia until your Bronco is built.

 

[4x4tripping]

I love those minimalistic Setups out of those smaller station wagon like the subaru.

Compressor Fridge, small matress inside - a perfect setup for low profile, low fuel consumption.

I did even blog about that way of overlanding, 10 years ago: Overlanding mit knappem Budget

Sleeping inside is for solo overlanding, for your wife you will need a tent or roof top tent.

This would be my prefered setup, if I had to camp very stealth and have to save bucks for fuel!

trippin

 

[cody92595]

A Crosstrek would be to small for a family of 3 (eventually) and 2 large dogs. Have you looked at the outback wilderness? There pretty dang capable for why they are. If you don’t want a turbo a standard outback is .5” shorter but I have yet to get stuck in mine, and there is plenty of room for your family.

 

[Alanymarce]

Sleeping inside is for solo overlanding, for your wife you will need a tent or roof top tent.

Hmm - we're all different, however we' ve slept inside our LC80 (10 months in Africa), our Montero (10 months in Australia plus lots of travel in Colombia), and our Wrangler (5 months so far in Canada). It has worked well.

 

[4x4tripping]

Hmm - we're all different, however we' ve slept inside our LC80 (10 months in Africa), our Montero (10 months in Australia plus lots of travel in Colombia), and our Wrangler (5 months so far in Canada). It has worked well.

We did sleep for over 120`000km of trips inside of the Land Cruiser 200. Works well for two people with 1.94m and 1.78m height. In that size we wouldnt fit well in a smaller rig :-(

At international journeys with several climatic conditions we have to carry more clothes, guess with the subaru it wouldnt have worked for us.

trippin