Recent Comments:
Subaru launches 2.0L diesel Outback/Legacy wagon in the UK with 41mpg {Autoblog Green}
Jan 23rd 2008 10:21PM psarhjinian - yes, this is a Subaru-engineered and Subaru-built engine. In fact, it is the world's first "boxer" diesel.
You can find out more details about the Legacy/Outback diesel models in this UK press release:
http://www.newspress.co.uk/DAILY_LINKS/arc_jan_2008/54510sub.htm
Detroit 2008: Subaru changes their mind, diesel coming to the US after all! {Autoblog Green}
Jan 17th 2008 2:51AM There is no diesel in Impreza yet. It's coming first to Legacy and Outback in Europe (being released right now). Numbers from Subaru Finland for a 2.0L turbodiesel Legacy sedan:
City: 7 l/100 km = 33.6 MPG
Highway: 4.8 l/100 km = 49 MPG
Combined: 5.6 l/100 km = 42 MPG
http://www.subaru.fi/datasheet/hinnasto2008.pdf
Old Subaru video: hybrids are not worth the investment, buy a Subaru Legacy instead {Autoblog Green}
Jan 9th 2008 7:19AM re #11: No, Subaru's "entire fleet" isn't listed as light trucks. Tribeca, Forester and Outback wagon are light trucks. Impreza sedan, Impreza hatch and Legacy sedan are passenger cars. Unfortunately for Subaru, many folks who've read your post the last 2 weeks are now misinformed.
If anyone has an overabundance of trucks/SUVs, it's Toyota (RAV, Highlander, 4Runner, Sienna, LandCruiser, Tundra, Tacoma).
Old Subaru video: hybrids are not worth the investment, buy a Subaru Legacy instead {Autoblog Green}
Jan 9th 2008 7:08AM Late to the game posting here, but somebody needed to speak up for Subaru. Yes, they have the hybrid technology... in fact, several years ago, Subaru developed hybrid technology superior to Toyota's (Turbo Parallel Hybrid), but they're so small of a company in comparison that they can't PRODUCE the technology at a cost-effective price.
Toyota bought an 8% share in FHI, Subaru's parent company. (This is a portion of the interest that GM sold.) At that time, Subaru scrapped its hybrid program to instead focus on diesels, and as a result, the world's first horizontally-opposed turbo diesel goes on sale in Europe this March. Subaru is expected to incorporate Toyota's hybrid technology while also offering Toyota the superior battery technology Subaru developed. As the earlier poster mentioned, G4e and R1e are good examples of the brand's technology. In the next 2-3 years they'll be using direct injection gasoline engines, the new diesel engine(s), CVTs extensively, and selling electric vehicles. Pretty good for a company that has the resources to focus on only one major technology change at a time.
And as far as current technology goes, Subaru offers some of the most fuel efficient non-hybrid AWD/4WD vehicles available. Forester, for example, gets better or equal mileage than nearly all of its competition, including many 2WD vehicles. Natural gas versions of some Subarus are available. And I should mention that some Subarus even have lower emissions than Prius. The Subaru plant in Indiana was the first in the country to achieve zero-landfill status, and it's also a designated wildlife habitat.
Enough flag waving, though. I'm not trying to look through rose-colored glasses... Subaru's better than many of the posters here have bothered to find out, but of course they have room to improve, and they are improving.
Subaru sells 100,000 PZEVs and sends nothing to the dump for three years {Autoblog Green}
Jul 4th 2007 12:48AM You guys are way off-base on your low MPG comments. You need to look at the segments Subaru competes in to compare mileage.
Subaru Forester, for example, is more fuel-efficient than nearly all similar vehicles, and it's the oldest Subaru model. Let's compare MPG with some similar NON-AWD models: Chrysler PT Cruiser 19/26; Chev HHR 23/30; 2WD Honda CRV 23/30; new Scion xB 22/28; Kia Rondo 21/29; Subaru Forester 23/28. The Subaru's right there with everyone else (actually tied for best city MPG), plus it has the most HP, the most torque, and all-wheel drive.
Our '06 Legacy regularly gets over its EPA rating of 30MPG highway... we've gotten as high as 33MPG on a long trip. We're averaging about 27MPG in mixed driving. For a 2.5L 175-hp AWD vehicle, this is outstanding - it's much better than the fuel economy of the 4WD SUVs many Subarus are designed to replace. Subaru has a very efficient AWD lineup, and some technology on the horizon that will only keep pushing the numbers up.
2008 Subaru Tribeca gets 5 stars from NHTSA {Autoblog}
Jun 5th 2007 12:42AM Dr. Woo, you think Toyota's controlling Subaru with an 8% share? Ha! Good one. GM owned more shares than Toyota, and they certainly couldn't "control" independent-minded Subaru either.
Rendered Speculation: Subaru Impreza WRX STI {Autoblog}
Jun 5th 2007 12:35AM ERROR: U.S. will not get a sedan STI, but a 5-dr hatch STI like the rest of the world. Impreza & WRX (S-GT in some markets) will be offered as a sedan (and hatch) in the US and a few other countries (I've heard Australia, for one).
Is Toyota preparing to purchase Fuji Heavy outright? {Autoblog}
Apr 13th 2007 2:14AM Apparently "Winding Road" wasn't paying attention on March 5, when Bloomberg news service reported that Toyota CEO Katsuake Watanabe "dismissed the idea of buying more of Fuji Heavy, which makes Subaru-brand vehicles. Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota bought an 8.7 percent stake in Fuji Heavy in 2005 from General Motors Corp."
Here's the link, if anyone cares to read, or if any Autoblog editors care to post it as a freestanding story in response to the Winding Road story that's the source of this thread.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=abe7FojiTjLE
Toyota bought shares of Subaru for the extra factory capacity at Subaru's Indiana plant (now ready to build Camrys for Toyota) and probably for access to Subaru's Lithium-Ion battery technology (superior to Toyota's, but to expensive for FHI to produce just for Subaru). Toyota also has used Subaru engineers to design an unnamed small, sporty Toyota. Toyota has already gained from the partnership, and Subaru is about to when they start selling re-badged Daihatsus (Toyota-owned) in Europe as an entry into the small-car market there. Subaru will also benefit from cheaper purchasing costs. Why would Subaru want to sell more shares to Toyota, and why would Toyota want to buy more? This is already a productive partnership.
...and in response to a previous post, Subaru didn't invest a lot in creation of the B9 - it was built on a stretched Outback chassis & used an existing engine. Very little development costs there.
New York Preview: 2008 Subaru Tribeca {Autoblog}
Apr 3rd 2007 11:28PM "...the salesman at the Hillside, NJ, dealership explained that the nose and B9 moniker were taken from Subaru's pre-WWII days as an airplane maker...
...Its one thing for Saab to use such a sales pitch because Saab planes weren't used to bomb our grandparents, but it is unacceptable for a Japanese or German company to use the same gimmick."
Sounds like you had a dumb salesperson. The B9 name was just a continuation of the model codes Subaru uses in names globally... they didn't exactly make a B9 bomber. The grille was a tribute to Fuji Heavy Industries' aeronautical history, not WWII specifically. I mean, the company that built those planes was disbanded prior to the founding of FHI and, later, introduction of Subaru cars.
If I can play the counterpoint on this... I'm sure there are plenty of Americans that had Japanese, German or Italian parents and grandparents that were attacked by aircraft made in the US, Britain or Sweden. I wonder how many people around the world were killed in the war by soldiers who were transported in Jeeps? Jeep styling is certainly a celebration of its war-era heritage. How about Hummer? Or Mitsubishi's 3-diamond logo that looks like a propeller?
The salesperson was in bad form there, but there was no fault by Subaru. By no means are they making a tribute to Japan's pre-war colonizing "glory" days.
New York Preview: 2008 Subaru Tribeca {Autoblog}
Apr 3rd 2007 1:49PM For those griping about the power, the HP-to-weight ratio is class-leading and the fuel economy is class-leading. That's an outstanding combination. It's got much more torque (& available at lower RPMs), more HP, is lighter, gets better mileage, and no longer recommends premium fuel. WHAT MORE DO YOU PEOPLE WANT?! #19 is right. People just like to gripe, and without even bothering to find out the facts first.
On another note, rumor mill says ECU retune & premium fuel gains another 20+/- HP.
