http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?se...article_id=7067

Saw this today and hadn't heard a word about it before.

Averages nearly 31 mpg (converting from imperial to US gallons) so should be mid- to high-30s on the highway and mid- to high-20s in the city. Pretty impressive for a boxy small SUV. Lots of torque (258 ft-lbs), too, without having to pay for V6 premium fuel or poor city mileage. 6MT is the standard transmission so that might make it a little more enjoyable to drive.

They're still not sure if they'll bring it over to the USA or not. This would probably sell really well, since diesel (right now) is cheaper than premium (at least where I am).

 

By me, diesel is anywhere between $.10 and $.20 more per gallon than premium. It's really ridiculous.

 

I thought they had decided to bring them here. The diesel Outback was supposed to be next year I had read.....???

 

Wow, that is a ton of torque for the diesel turbo flat 4!! 145 hp, and 258 ft/lbs.

I've always liked Forester's and really like the new styling.

Can someone enlighten me on the reason why deisel motors have low hp numbers, and high torque numbers? I 4 wheeled a deisel Land Rover Defender in Aruba, and that thing climbed over everything we encountered!

 

Still, even a CR-V or RAV4 4-cyl only get an average of about 23 mpg (20/26 city/hwy). This thing is nearly 35% more fuel efficient and has a much better AWD system to boot. It'd be a win-win situation as best I can tell. Even paying an extra 15% more for fuel wouldn't offset the difference very much.

 

A number of reasons, the primary being that power is directly related to torque by the following equation:

Power = Torque x rpm / 5252

So, power rises as rpm increase.

Diesels are limited in rpm so they tend to have a lower power output despite their high torque. They may also have poor top-end performance as the turbo's max out just before red line, which reduces torque and therefore horsepower.

That's why people often short-shift a diesel-engined vehicle, since wringing it out is rarely needed to travel quickly.

 

Aww, makes sense.

I don't know if the Defender was a turbo diesel or not, I think it was just a regular deisel. Yep, no top end at all and lots of shifting occured on the excursion!

 

i never understood why Foresters were such gas guzzlers. my '01 avg's ~18-20..

 

"i never understood why Foresters were such gas guzzlers. my '01 avg's ~18-20.."


Show me another ACTIVE AWD system that gets better mpg

 

Your right foot? Or Subaru's HORRIBLE stock fuel maps. Although something could have been wrong with no code.

With a Cobb acessport, my turbo car (outback) is putting out more power over the crappy stock map, but pulls between 26-27 in mixed driving every tank. It gets a hair under 30 on a long trip. Not to bad for a 3600 pound car putting out close to 270 hp.

I would bet that somebody like Cobb would make an accessport map for the diesel that will get better milage and power than stock. Stock cars run so rich for safety.