Traded the Outback in on the 30th for a 2023 Subaru Ascent Onyx Edition. Has 42k miles on it, more than we really wanted but it had everything else we wanted and was in great condition. Better than the similarly aged and milage Explorer XLT Sports we were also looking at. We don't particularly care for the 20" wheels so they'll probably go when it needs tires in the next year or so.
I think about all the things we could have done, all the miracles we could have achieved, if we were all just a little bit better than it turns out we are.
--Naomi Nagata
Yeah they definitely appear thicc, but surprisingly they're among the smallest in their class. They're like 3-4in narrower and 5 in shorter than an explorer of similar year. Which is what we were mainly cross shopping it with
scat1zzi
12:12 am: if the phone charger is a penis, and the chargy bit inside the phone is the vagina, i made my phones vagina prolapse on itself and cause catastrophic failure
[quote=""Seraflame""]Fear has nothing to do with it. It's a simple equation.
Is the shen I'm about to pull and the laughs that ensue = to or > the payback my wife is likely to impose? If yes. Shens. If no. Shens.[/quote]
Chris GTO TT wrote: ↑Mon Jan 05, 2026 4:36 pm
Yeah I don't understand why Subaru chose to put 20s on a vehicle trim that's basically Wilderness 'light'
Because they know the majority of people who buy an Ascent aren't ever going to take it off road.
Picked up some wheels and boring tires. It is like 15+lbs per corner lighter. Should pickup some mpgs. It also rides and drives better too. Had then installed today...
I think about all the things we could have done, all the miracles we could have achieved, if we were all just a little bit better than it turns out we are.
--Naomi Nagata
Thanks. I would have preferred a soft-roader tire for looks but for what we do and our weather these Continental tires will be perfect. Function over form especially for our most driven vehicle.
[quote=""Melis""]The cop asked Coop "Are you really a firefighter?" Coop was like "yeah" then the cop said "ok your in charge" then the cop left
[/quote]
Overall we like it. We were used to the Subaru CVT so it's not a big issue for us (I'd still prefer a standard automatic but I don't hate the CVT). Our biggest complaint is the MPG is significantly worse than we we expecting. We were seeing as low as 13 mpg with a lot of in town driving, and on the highway we 'only' saw 23ish mpg. We were expecting 18 and 26-27 based on our experience renting one from Turo a couple years ago. We ended up buying this over an Explorer XLT Sport because its touch points just felt better too us. We also appreciate Subaru's safety records and generally you get more features at a lower cost than similar competitors.
I’m surprised it made that big of difference as well.
Coop
[quote=""Melis""]The cop asked Coop "Are you really a firefighter?" Coop was like "yeah" then the cop said "ok your in charge" then the cop left
[/quote]
vr4 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2026 4:28 pm
must be enjoying those turbo feels.
That was my initial thought but even I get those kinds of mpg out of it. The new wheels and tires seem to have helped a decent amount, we're getting an alignment done on Friday, and after that I'll be taking it to Subaru if it's still that terrible.
ChargerX3 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2026 4:33 pm
Wow, thats a big dig in MPG.
Yeah it's to the point where we've contemplated getting rid of it already. We both feel like if we were willing to accept 13-15mpg there's a whole lot of more capable vehicles we would have looked at more closely.
PXL_20251231_003547434 by christobal65, on Flickr
PXL_20260101_001623000 by christobal65, on Flickr
PXL_20260101_001612676 by christobal65, on Flickr
