Fans of Subarus tend to really love them. Their styling has more often than not been charitably described as quirky. But it's what's under the skin of a Subaru that makes it special. For decades, Subaru has touted the all-weather capability of their full-time all-wheel-drive system. In the past decade, Subaru has also earned something of a performance reputation with their turbocharged boxer engines that have been developed while competing in the World Rally Championship. The one thing these turbocharged traction machines haven't been able to brag about is their fuel efficiency.

No longer is that true. At the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, Subaru unveiled the first diesel-fueled boxer engine for cars. Earlier this year, diesel-powered Subies started to appear in Europe and SmartPlanet has one of the first reviews of the new diesel powered Outback wagon. In their testing, the site recorded 40.6mpg (U.S.) in all around driving for the 4x4 Outback, a pretty impressive performance. They found the engine to be smooth running quiet, and refined. In fact, their only quibble was the car itself which is nearing the end of its lifecycle and is due for replacement in the next couple of years. We'll be getting the Subaru diesel in the U.S. market in 2010, perhaps just in time for a new Legacy/Outback.

[Source: SmartPlanet, thanks to Adam for the tip!]

The website for Subaru of Indiana Automotive's (SIA) manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana almost looks like an EPA page, full of talk of wetlands and wildlife. Considering how the plant operates, though, this isn't outrageous. This is Subaru's only plant in the U.S. and is where the Subaru Outback, Baja, Legacy and B9 Tribeca line of vehicles are made. The plant is green because nothing from the manufacturing process ever enters a landfill. Everything is recycled. Well, almost everything. Subaru says that 97 percent of all excess or leftover materials like steel, plastic, wood, paper and glass go to recycling outlets. The other 3 percent is sent to incinerators in Indianapolis and helps generate steam. Green processes include:

• "SIA's wheel supplier uses brass lug nuts to hold wheels in place during shipping. Previously, these were thrown away – 33,000 pounds of brass per year. They are now reused until they're no longer serviceable, then they're recycled. This is an example of recycling helping to reduce costs rather than raising them.
• Paint sludge formerly thrown away is dried to a powder, then shipped to a plastics manufacturer that mixes the dried sludge with other plastic compounds. The manufacturer's end products are useful devices such as parking-lot bumpers and guardrail safety blocks that absorb impact when struck by a vehicle.
• Solvents used in the painting process are cleaned and recovered through SIA's on-site recovery system. The paint shop then reuses the solvent."

[Source: Subaru, Hat Tip to Mike]