I just completed a 43,000 kilometre trip across Russia and back in midwinter in a specially equipped 4Runner. It's the simpler, lighter 2.7 4 Cyl which is an awesome engine, and a manual transmission.

The only thing I would check on the 4Runner are the front ball joints in the suspension.

Changing a water pump is not a big deal - you probably want to do the timing belt while you're at it. The alternator may need nothing more than a new brush pack, but if the copper slip rings are badly worn, it'll need a new rotor (change the front bearing while you're at it).

I fully overhauled mine before leaving as it was basically ready to be scrapped when I bought it (a petrol with a manual transmission is extremely rare in Europe).

Here's a pic on the Lena River Ice Road this February:



Now I've never driven a Subaru Forester but it looks like it's basically a 4WD road car, so not as strong as something like a 4Runner. But then you don't necessarily need the 4Runner's extra clearance in Russia / Central Asia. It just expands the limits of what you can do.

I've driven my friend's Impreza STi and it feels nothing like Toyota quality; notchy gearbox, flimsy rear suspension and horrible fuel economy. But that's a sports car, maybe the Forester is different.

I'm looking for a LHD 4Runner shell (mine's a RHD Japanese import) so if it did blow up over here, I'd buy it off you as I want to keep my engine, transmission, suspension and drive-line

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

@EO, well, there are 4runners for sale in Europe too. Not a lot, but half the time they come with the diesels, which means 4 cilinders, which means gearbox and stuff to match your 3RZ engine. The v6 versions usually have a much different gearbox, and final gear ratios that are completely different.

If you ever have a spare difflock lying around, let me know

Update of what I ended up doing:

Ended up buying a great condition 2010 Nissan Xterra locally with factory diff locker and skid plates (very glad to have these based on some of the Kyrgyzstan back-roads I decided to take).

Unfortunately at the time I wasn't aware this vehicle does not exist on this side of the planet. I cracked rear leaf springs in Kazakhstan and needed my family to ship the replacement parts to Almaty. This was an unfortunate inconvenience of poor research in the availability of nissan parts on this side.

If i was to do it again i'd definitely look for a 4 runner or car with parts on this end. Maybe one day I'll bring way less stuff and try and buy a Lada Niva hahaha.

4 weeks to go and hopefully nothing else breaks that needs to be shipped from Canada.

OK, well you live and learn

Not sure about the Niva... I was travelling with some Finnish friends who were driving a Niva across Russia and Mongolia a few years ago. The Niva kept eating wheel bearings, eventually they had to ditch it in Mongolia. Nice design but very poor component quality.

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Just saw your thread and I had some (late) input about the Forester (especially the 2.0 turbo as it's my daily driver). The ground clearance may not have been confortable for Mongolia, but I saw some locals crossing rivers in toyota prius with more ease than me with my bike so...And as said previously, the 2.0 is not torquey as a Xterra might be, especially if you don't get the turbo. Regardless, it's pretty easy to fix and fiddle with, the boxer design is easy to understand and you've got clearance around the engine to work on it.
Anyway, I think for travel, you might be better off with the extra space available in an Xterra : I can only squeeze a 90cm wide matress in the back when I fold the backseats...
Have fun in the 'Stans !