Forester Off-Road???

Okay, so my b/f is ALL KINDS of into offroading... he has a Jeep Rubicon with THOUSANDS in toys attached to it. I hate offroading, but I think I would be willing to try something TAME in my Suby...

But just how "capable" is my Suby? I know the catalog has a "rear differential cover- for rocks and logs" (not kidding, rocks and logs is the explanation for it) that is available, but would I need to do a LOT of work to make this do anything off road???

Also, what about gearing??? There is NO torque in my Suby... NONE. My glorified Nissan could start in 3rd if I wanted it to, but I can't start in 2nd most times in the Suby without lugging the engine or riding the clutch. Is there anything I can do about that?

Thanks in advance!
Tangie

I've seen older Foresters modded for off road, mods included raising the suspension though.

I think for the basic stuff you'd be fine in the stock vehicle though.

For that lack of torque - something ain't right there.

See, I KNEW it should have more than that... for a vehicle of that size it only makes sense that it should have some "ass" behind it. If I try to start in 2nd doing anything less than 25mph it lugs the engine BAD... almost to the point of stalling.

As for suspension, yeah, I kinda figured. When I bought it, I saw a BEAUTIFUL Forester with 4" body lift and some serious super swampers... but something tells me that would void my warranty. That, and I don't want this to be an all-out off-roader... just a lil bit of fun since my b/f won't let me go off roading with him.

BTW: Thanks for all the help, Ray!