2006 Subaru Outback

I WAS DRIVING ON HWY 287 FROM CASPER BACK TO LARAMIE, WY AT AROUND 40 MPH, WHICH IS LOWER THAN THE SPEED LIMIT OF 65 MPH, THE CAR STARTED FISHTAILING BY ITSELF SUDDENLY AND SPAN 360 TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, THERE'S BLACK ICE ON THE ROAD BUT OVERALL CONDITION WAS GOOD. THE REASON WHY I DROVE MUCH SLOWER THAN OTHER CARS (FWD CARS) WAS THAT I DON'T HAVE ANY CONFIDENCE WITH THE SUBARU, IT FEELS LIKE THE CAR IS 'FLOATING' ON THE ROAD, THE REAR END TENDS TO SLIDE TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT ALL BY ITSELF, WITHOUT ANY HARD BRAKING, FAST STEERING, OR SUDDEN PUSHING ON THE THROTTLE. I BOUGHT THIS CAR USED LAST YEAR WITH ABOUT 84K MILES ON IT, IT CAME WITH A SET OF SNOW TIRES, I HAD THIS PROBLEM ONCE WHILE THE CAR SKIDDED AND SPAN 360 ON THE INTERSTATE AT 45 MPH ( I WAS MUCH SLOWER THAN MOST OF THE CARS ON THE HIGHWAY), I CHANGED THE TIRED AND HAD IT RE-ALIGNED AFTER THE WINTER, AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN THIS WINTER, ALL PARTS ON THE SUSPENSION ARE FROM STOCK, NO AFTERMARKET PARTS WERE EVER ADDED TO THE CAR EXCEPT FOR THE TIRES, SO I THINK THERE MAY BE SOME ISSUES WITH THE SUSPENSION DESIGN OF MY CAR THAT'S BEEN THERE FROM THE FACTORY. I DID SOME RESEARCH ONLINE AND FOUND THE TERM 'GHOSTWALKING', IT APPEARS TO BE PRETTY COMMON ON OUTBACK FROM 05 TO 09, I WONDER IF SUBARU HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THIS ISSUE AND HOW CAN I GET THIS FIXED. *TR

STRAIGHT LINE DRIVING ON FLAT CONCRETE HIGHWAY, REAR END OF VEHICLE MAY START TO WANDER WHEN ROAD IS SLIPPERY. THIS OCCURS GENERALLY OVER 25MPH, WHEN ALL OTHER VEHICLES ARE ABLE TO TRAVEL AT A HIGHER RATE OF SPEED THAN THE 2006 SUBARU OUTBACK 3.0R IS ABLE TO. CARS WILL PASS WHILE I AM WHITE KNUCKLED, CONCERNED THE REAR END IS GOING TO BREAK LOOSE AND CAUSE COMPLETE CONTROL FAILURE. I HAVE FOUND OTHER INSTANCES OF THIS ISSUE FROM OTHER SUBARU DRIVERS, AND THIS IS BEING REFERRED TO AS "GHOST WALKING" - THIS IS A VERY GOOD DESCRIPTION AS THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE. ESSENTIALLY, THE ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM FEELS LIKE IT IS SENDING TOO MUCH POWER TO THE REAR END, UNDER EVEN/CONSTANT SPEED, AND CAUSING THE REAR TO BREAK LOOSE. OR, THERE IS A ALIGNMENT GEOMETRY PROBLEM. VERY UNSETTLING AND VERY UNEXPECTED FOR A HIGHLY REGARDED ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEMS AND NONE HAVE DONE THIS IN THE SAME CONDITIONS. VERY HARD TO RECREATE FOR DEALERSHIP OR MANUFACTURE, AS IT REQUIRES PRECISE ROAD CONDITIONS. JUST SO HAPPENS IT IS PRECISELY THE ROAD CONDITIONS THAT MOST PEOPLE MIGHT BUY A SUBARU (IN MN OR CO). VERY DANGEROUS. *TR

I OWN A 2006 SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5 WITH A MANUAL TRANSMISSION. THIS VEHICLE IS AN EARLY WARNING INDICATOR FOR BLACK ICE ON THE ROAD SURFACE. THE OUTBACK VEHICLE HAS A STABILITY CONTROL PROBLEM IN CERTAIN CONDITIONS. WHILE DRIVING AT CONSTANT SPEED (CONSTANT AND LOW THROTTLE POSITION) ON A FLAT ROAD, THE BACK END OF THE VEHICLE TENDS TO OSCILLATE FROM SIDE TO SIDE IN ICY CONDITIONS. THE VEHICLE FEELS LIKE IT IS GOING TO SPIN OUT, ALTHOUGH THAT HASN'T HAPPENED TO ME YET. OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD AT THE SAME TIME SEEM TO HAVE ADEQUATE TRACTION (2WD, AWD, 4WD). THE PROBLEM IS NOT TRACTION WHILE: 1) CORNERING UNDER SLIPPERY CONDITIONS, 2) HARD ACCELERATION ON ICE, OR 3) BRAKING ON ICE. ROAD CONDITIONS THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE OSCILLATION ON ARE VERY THIN ICE (BLACK ICE). I SUSPECT THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE REAR SUSPENSION DESIGN ON MY OUTBACK. THE PROBLEM IS MORE PREVALENT AND PRONOUNCED WHEN THE VEHICLE HAS OCCUPANTS IN THE REAR SEATS. THE STABILITY OF THIS VEHICLE SEEMS TO BE MARGINAL AND IT ONLY TAKES CERTAIN CONDITIONS (ROAD AND VEHICLE PARAMETERS) TO BE ON THE EDGE OF DISASTER. SUBARU RELEASED TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN 05-36-07 WHICH ELIMINATED THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE ORIGINAL TOE TOLERANCE FOR REAR TIRE ALIGNMENT. I THINK THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCES LARGE REAR TIRE TOE IN WHEN WEIGHT IS ADDED. I SUSPECT THIS LARGE REAR TIRE TOE IN WHEN WEIGHT IS ADDED CONTRIBUTES TO THE STABILITY PROBLEM IN ICY CONDITIONS I HAVE BRAND NEW (JAN 2010) HANKOOK IPIKE W409 STUDLESS WINTER TIRES. ITS NOT THE TIRES. THOSE WHO HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THIS SITUATION NATURALLY RESPOND BY SAYING IT IS ICE, WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTING, JUST SLOW DOWN. I HAVE LIVED IN COLORADO SINCE 1981 AND CONSIDER MYSELF A COMPETENT DRIVER IN ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS. PLEASE RESPOND AS I WOULD LIKE TO GET THIS PROBLEM FIXED IF POSSIBLE...THE CAR JUST TURNED 50,000 MILES.

WHEN DRIVING ON POOR TRACTION ROADS (ICE OR COMPACTED SNOW), THE REAR OF THE CAR IS VERY UNSTABLE AND SHIFTS LEFT TO RIGHT BY AS MUCH AS 2-3 FEET - WHILE GOING IN A STRAIGHT LINE, STRAIGHT ROAD - MAINTAINING A CONSTANT SPEED (NO ACCELERATION OR BRAKING). THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES, OVER A 3400 MILE ROAD TRIP THIS WINTER - SOMETIMES LASTING FOR HOURS, MAKING FOR VERY DIFFICULT AND UNSAFE DRIVING, ALMOST GOING OUT OF CONTROL ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS - EVEN AT VERY SLOW SPEEDS (20-30 MPH)! THERE WERE TWO PEOPLE IN THE CAR, BUT A LOT OF LUGGAGE - PROBABLY EXCEEDING 400 LBS OF WEIGHT IN THE REAR, BUT NOTHING EXCESSIVE, AND WELL WITHIN THE SPECIFIED LIMITS FOR THIS CAR. I HAD MY ALIGNMENT ADJUSTED 3 MONTHS AGO TO FACTORY SPECS. IT HOWEVER APPEARS THAT WHEN THE CAR HAS ANY WEIGHT IN THE REAR, THE TOE-IN ADJUSTMENT CHANGES SIGNIFICANTLY TO CAUSE "REAR STEERING" WHICH LEADS TO THE UNSTABLE BEHAVIOR ON SLIPPERY ROADS, AND UNEVEN WEAR OF TIRES (THAT I HAVE ALSO NOTICED). THERE APPEARS TO BE NO WAY TO KEEP THE ALIGNMENT STABLE - DIFFERENT LOADS SHOULD NOT AFFECT THE GEOMETRY IN THIS WAY. I REALLY HOPE SUBARU CAN HELP US SOLVE THIS PROBLEM, IT IS VERY UNSAFE AND THIS CAR IS ADVERTISED AS AN AWD SNOW VEHICLE! I WOULD BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION.

2006 SUBARU IS UNSAFE ON SLIPPERY ROADS. THE CAR HAS A TENDENCY TO "STEER" FROM THE REAR. IT MAY BE SOMETHING WITH THE CENTER DIFFERENTIAL THAT CAUSES MORE POWER TO THE REAR AND THUS MAKES THE REAR WANT TO FISHTAIL OUT WHILE DRIVING SLOW IN A STRAIGHT LINE. IT IS BY FAR THE WORST CAR I HAVE EVER DRIVEN ON ICE. EVEN WITH SNOW TIRES. AND I HAD A RWD COUGAR WITH BAD TIRES WHEN I WAS YOUNG. *TR

2006 SUBARU OUTBACK AUTO TRANS. ON MANY OCCASIONS THE VEHICLE'S REAR-END SIDE-STEPS, FISHTAILS OR OSCILLATES ON ICY ROAD CONDITIONS. THIS HAS ALSO BEEN DESCRIBED AS "GHOST-WALKING" WHERE IT FEELS LIKE THE AWD SYSTEM IN THE REAR IS OVER COMPENSATING, LEADING TO THE VEHICLE BEING UNCONTROLLABLE. THE BEHAVIOR SEEMS TO HAPPEN IN THE 40-60MPH RANGE. YOU MUST SLOW DOWN TO UNSAFE SPEEDS, EVEN FOR THE WEATHER, TO MAINTAIN CONTROL. OTHER NON-AWD VEHICLES DRIVING ON THE SAME ROADS ARE NOT HAVING THIS PROBLEM AND ARE ABLE TO MAINTAIN SAFE CONTROL AT HIGHER SPEEDS. IT IS FRIGHTENING WHEN OTHER 2WD CARS AND TRUCKS ARE PASSING YOU GOING 20MPH FASTER AND IT'S DIFFICULT TO KEEP YOUR CAR ON THE ROAD OR IN A STRAIGHT LINE. THIS HAPPENS WHEN DRIVING ON STRAIGHT FLAT ROADS WITHOUT BRAKING, ACCELERATING OR TURNING WITH FAIRLY NEW ALL SEASON TIRES - NO MORE THAN 15,000 MILES ON THEM (REGULARLY ROTATED).

I HAVE A 2006 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH ABOUT 55,000 MILES ON IT, I HAVE HAD THE REAR STRUTS REPLACED AND KNOW I AM HAVING THE FRONT STRUTS REPLACED. IT IS EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE STRUTS. THE MECHANIC THAT IS REPLACING THEM SAYS THEY SHOULDNT HAVE TO BE REPLACED YET. IF I DONT REPLACE THEM IT AFFECTS THE STEERING ON THE CAR. WHAT MAKES THE STRUTS GO BAD PREMATURELY? THE CAR WAS NEW WHEN I BOUGHT IT, I DONT DRIVE IT CARELESSLY OR RECKLESSLY. HAS THERE BEEN ANY OTHER COMPLAINTS?