Revisiting Overlanding In 2025

There was a time 6-8 years ago when ‘Overlanding’ piqued inquiring minds of Subaru enthusiasts who simply wanted to get away from the riveted widebody, tilted wheels with stretched 205-wide tires, and Joann Fabrics comic book headliners. For a good while there, the stanced and slammed scene dominated car culture circa 2012-2018ish. There was a time where many enthusiasts purchased brand new early WRX and STI models because of their rally-inspired history. These cars were competitive alongside the Mitsubishi Evolution, but as prices dipped, these cars got in the hands of those who got a little crazy with Plasti-Dip, shoddy wrap jobs, and just about every cheap imaginable fast-food mod sitting on rep wheels and mismatched tires.

The enthusiasts mentioned who bought these cars earlier in life grew up, graduated college, got their first real job and got married with a home, kids, more than likely grew out of the scene and sold their WRX or STI models because they didn’t want to get associated with vape clouds. When Subaru debuted the Crosstrek in 2013, this was an interesting vehicle because of how utilitarian it was in Subaru’s version of their “crossover”. It naturally inherited Subaru’s all wheel drive system, it was available in a 5-speed manual option, or Subaru’s latest continuously variable transmission, and it had all the modern amenities to make for a nice vehicle designed to handle all four seasons of the year. It was the perfect daily driver Subaru that could haul your kids to school while stuffing the back full of Costco groceries.

What was also appealing about the Crosstrek was the appearance. Subaru executed the crossover design where the aesthetic of the Crosstrek said, “let’s go for a hike”.

 

Very quickly, the Crosstrek was an adventure mobile that was affordable. For many who were once die-hard Subaru enthusiasts that might have been jaded by the said vape scene at the time, modifying Subarus is a past time that Crosstrek owners still enjoyed. But it wasn’t about power.

 

 

Aside from Subaru enthusiasts, the concept of an “overlander” also caught the attention of outdoor enthusiasts that like to travel afar to go camping, but didn’t really like the gas mileage of a larger conventional SUV. These SUVs such as a new 4-runnerat the time that had a base MSRP of $32,000 in 2014 for a 2-wheel drive model and a base price of nearly $35,000 for a 4-wheel drive model. And yet a year after Subaru released the Crosstrek, Subaru released the newly designed Forester model for 2014 that became more of a crossover, but it leaned more on the SUV side with a larger profile. Yet the Forester had a base MSRP of $22,000 for the 2.5i model with the option of a manual transmission or a CVT transmission, or you could get the fully decked-out Touring model for just under $33,000.

 

 

This unit was large enough to strap your tents, mountain bikes, all the granola you could bring, while you and your friends rode comfortably on the way to the weekend destination. Meanwhile for some Subaru enthusiasts, the Forester was too big and went against the grain of what Subaru should be doing which was building AWD rally cars with turbochargers. But Subaru knows that most of their consumers on a worldwide basis isn’t buying an STI and slamming them on Volks. Besides, the VA WRX and STI’s final form up to this article, would be released the following year in 2015. When the VA WRX and STI arrived, the Subaru performance aftermarket went nuts as this particular model had aftermarket support for virtually every square inch on the car, and boy, it was sure expensive.

But think about it if you’re a car enthusiast, and you get yourself a WRX or STI it’s not a bad purchase obviously. However, if you’re working to support your mortgage, daycare, and groceries, something along the lines of $5,000 will disappear rather quickly because like all enthusiasts on a minimal level, you’re going to get wheels, you’re going to get a cat-back, and you’re going to get an Accessport. And truth be told, modding cars never ends. Plus, you have the heavy maintenance that comes with owning a modded WRX or STI. This scenario does not apply to everyone of course, but if you’re out of college with a townhome and a baby but still want to have wholesome activities on the weekends, many opted to go with a Crosstrek or a Forester. Are they as fun as a WRX or STI? Of course not, but do you want to have a new STI dragging on the ground with tilted wheels or do you want a happy wife?

 

LET’S GO TO THE MOUNTAINS

 

In 2017ish, Overlanding became a thing. What is Overlanding? In an ignorant nutshell to the author’s own lack of investing time to actually research, it’s where you take a regular car, lift it, then take it to the mountains. But there is so much more to it. Overlanding applies to SUVs as well, and basically once you outfit a vehicle with the proper suspension, tires, lights, TRD pwo wit’ da widdle wadda, roof racks, bright LED lights, then you can take your vehicle deeper into the woods with all your camping equipment. The overlanding aftermarket became a new menu in the whole catalog of modifying cars, and Overlanding builds had their own sections at SEMA, featuring unconventional vehicles such as Dodge Rams fitted with glamping campers, and the ultra-rich could buy these “Earthroamers” for a million dollars designed to drive around the terrain of the earth in case you survived a giant asteroid wiping out the masses:

 

Now as ridiculous as you can build an ‘overlander’, with a Subaru you can keep it very simple and affordable in the grand scheme of modifying things. Yes, it’s still expensive, but in terms of comparing to modifying a WRX, building an overlander is a one and done thing. Although we specialize in the performance side of things, we do carry overlanding components that will allow you to drive over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house you go.

 

 

LIFT KITS

Now these are mainly going to be spacers that install on your strut mounts. Not only does this execute the lifted look, but they serve a more important purpose, and that is to provide the chassis with more ground clearance while driving through dirt trails, or other harmful natural elements in the mountains such as rocks or tree stumps.

ReadyLift 2-inch SST Lift Kit 2014-2018 Forester

 

COBB Tuning Lift Kit 2022-2025 WRX/Outback

 

ISC Suspension Triple S Lift Spring Kit 2014-2018 Forester

 

 

OFF ROAD WHEELS

These are not like your conventional wide 18-inch wheels on a Subaru. These will be smaller in diameter, a lot smaller actually. The examples that we will carry will be in the 15-inch size so that you can fit a larger, meatier tire on there. Thicker tires allow for deeper treads, and thicker tires absorb the terrain on the trail for better grip on mud, dirt, and snow.

 

Method MR502 VT-Spec 15x7 +15mm 5x100 Matte Black

 

Method MR501 VT-Spec 2 15x7 +48mm 5x100 Bronze

 

 

SKID PLATE

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These are mandatory if you are building an overlander and you actually take your Subaru through trails with mud, but especially tree stumps and larger rocks. A skid plate will protect the underside of your engine especially the most crucial exposed component which is the oil pan. If you bottom out and smack your oil pan enough to cause a puncture or a hard enough of a shift that causes a leak. The day is over, you will need to find a way to get your car back to civilization. And if you don’t shut your engine down as soon as you see an oil light or if you don’t see a leak, then you will lose your motor. And if you are building an overlander just for the look, these do look cool as well.

 

 

ROOF RACK KIT

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If you’re going to the mountains, more than likely you will be camping. You’re going to have your tent, food, fishing rods, mountain bikes, etc. All of these items can be strapped down to a roof rack so that you can have more room in the cabin of your Subaru so that your passengers can travel comfortably. Roof Racks for overlanders is a place where you can also strap down your spare off-road tire so you’re not doing the three-wheel-motion if you happen to puncture a tire.

 

 

FOG LIGHTS

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One of the most important accessories you need to have on an overlander is an abundance of lighting. This is why you will see light bars, and extra fog lights mounted on bumper bars because when you’re in desolate areas, there is limited lighting, and lighting conditions will be much darker when compared to civilization or city life. When this happens, you need to have the latest in LED technology because you will need that extra surface coverage so that you are not driving into something that you cannot get out of. Our fog light options supplement your lighting power that will be needed when driving a few hours outside of town.

 

 

BUMPER BARS

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One of the last yet most important items when building an overlander to execute that look, is a proper bumper bar. Bumper bars offer extra protection while driving through areas with thick grass, bush, tree branches, and will protect your plastic/fiberglass OEM front bumper. And like the option picture above, some will include rally-style fog lights for better lighting and protection.

 

Now that the warmer months are approaching and the snow is melting, many of you will be looking forward to getting back to the mountains for a nice weekend of camping. When compared to building a race car which requires a c-suite position at a fortune 500 company, it is more attainable to build an overlander. More importantly, overlanding shows that there is another way to have fun in a Subaru other than going fast and making blow-off valve noises.