and are great off-road, but they get 15 MPG and handle highways like old mules. Now a , there’s a comfy adventure rig. Too bad it can’t keep up with real trucks off-road. But what if you made a few modifications?

That’s what Grant Wilson, a guy I met on the internet, was thinking when he bought this brand-new Subaru Outback. It’s also why he had no qualms hacking it up to create his perverse dream of an “all-around adventuremobile.” This might not be , but it’s definitely on its way to becoming the most extreme.

Grant’s had and modified a quite a collection of vehicles; from a JK Wrangler to a slammed Corolla to a bunch of other weird stuff... to this:

The Outback’s lifted, on meaty tires, armored with skid plates, has a winch (pretty elegantly) tucked into the front end, a custom roof rack, fridge and drawer system, a camp awning, new rooftop tent (installed since we finished filming), and is getting more goodies almost every weekend.

I know this because Grant texts me pictures of it all the time, you can hit up his if you want to be on that list too. The car’s ongoing build, cost tally, and features are detailed completely on his thread over at .

When I first heard about this car I figured it would just be a “worst of both worlds” kinda thing. I mean, how was some driveway mechanic going to build something better than what the brainiacs at Subaru could come up with?

Well I drove it, and it actually doesn’t suck. At all. It’s way more stable than at highway speeds, and it really had no trouble keeping up with Tacomas and FJ Cruisers on the trail. For the most part.

Grant admits this is no rock crawler; the car’s geometry just doesn’t allow for it. But for an everyday vehicle that can get a little deeper without dipping below 20 MPG, I don’t know if it gets much better than this!

Andrew P. Collins is Jalopnik’s off-road and adventure guy. Shoot him an email at or hit him up on Twitter to talk trucks.