08 legacy turbodiesel - first test drive!

[efficiencyJunkie]

Subaru Legacy Diesel

Powering the trio is a 2.0-liter DOHC horizontally opposed flat-four common-rail diesel putting out 148 horses and 258 pound-feet of torque. (VW's 2.0-liter turbodiesel, coming later this year, provides 140 horsepower and 235 pound-feet.) Its acceleration won't break any records, but its excellent torque, available at a measly 1800 rpm, ensures that this car effortlessly goes up grades in fifth gear and has no trouble merging at freeway speeds. The boxer layout provides the same advantages as in Subaru's gas-powered offerings: lower center of gravity, reduced vibration, lighter weight.

Nothing wrong with that! 50 mpg+ ! I hope that americans adpot new clean diesels, its really what we need.

[GasSavers_Dust]

Hopefully it will increase the demand for diesel and diesel production will increase, decreasing its price compared to gasoline.

[Lug_Nut]

Don't count on that.
Diesel and gasoline compete for most of the same portion of a barrel of oil now that refiners fine tuned the cracking process to allow breaking the longer chains (diesel and other similar) into shorter chain gasoline. There is currently enough demand for gasoline that all the oil that can be converted into gasoline already is. There simply won't be more petroleum diesel without more petroleum.
And the higher pressures of the common rail systems don't take kindly to the slight viscosity increase of bio-diesel fuel so that won't be much of an option.

[dm1333]

Chevy and Ford can hype the diesels they are putting into half ton trucks all they want but I would rather have something like this or a Canyon/Colorado with a small diesel. My prediction is that 5 or 10 years after Volkswagon, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and maybe even Hyundai have started selling large amounts of small diesels here the Big Three will finally realize there is a market for small efficient vehicles in the US

[kamesama980]

I'd rock a subaru boxer turbodiesel. 258 ftlb isn't something you toss out either. torque is what makes you accelerate anyway, it's just a matter of how it's geared I bet it'll keep up with just about anyhting else mid-range.

[GasSavers_SD26]

Originally Posted by dm1333

Chevy and Ford can hype the diesels they are putting into half ton trucks all they want but I would rather have something like this or a Canyon/Colorado with a small diesel. My prediction is that 5 or 10 years after Volkswagon, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and maybe even Hyundai have started selling large amounts of small diesels here the Big Three will finally realize there is a market for small efficient vehicles in the US

Ford and GM have diesels in other markets outside the US. It's the EPA putting up road blocks to diesels in the US that are way above the standards of Europe, etc.

I'd be all over a diesel Ford Focus Wagon, if it were available in the US.

At least with a light truck there is some wiggle room, even then, the EPA continues to try and hit that market too.

Still, consumers would have to buy them.

[dm1333]

It's the EPA putting up road blocks to diesels in the US that are way above the standards of Europe, etc.

I don't think the EPA is as much of a roadblock as is the mindset that Americans want everything bigger and faster. Toyota and Honda are doing quite well in the US with a fuel efficient line up, look at how the Big Three are doing. I also get tired of hearing that Americans don't want diesels because in the 70s and 80s they were slow and loud. Most of us are smart enough to realize that the auto industry has advanced way beyond the GM 350 diesel.

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by dm1333

I don't think the EPA is as much of a roadblock as is the mindset that Americans want everything bigger and faster. Toyota and Honda are doing quite well in the US with a fuel efficient line up, look at how the Big Three are doing. I also get tired of hearing that Americans don't want diesels because in the 70s and 80s they were slow and loud. Most of us are smart enough to realize that the auto industry has advanced way beyond the GM 350 diesel.

Maybe, but it's the ignorant useless people that make the most noise about things especially in politics. the ignorant useless people are the ones that still think diesels are dirty and loud.

[GasSavers_SD26]

Originally Posted by dm1333

I don't think the EPA is as much of a roadblock as is the mindset that Americans want everything bigger and faster. Toyota and Honda are doing quite well in the US with a fuel efficient line up, look at how the Big Three are doing.

How many diesels are their in the US car market in 2008? A lot of them are gone because of new regulations. Yes, there were few.

Toyota and Honda and Nissan...well, they still sell a lot of bigger faster vehicles don't they.

They don't have a union based retirement to back. Unfortunately, their loyalty to the contracts they made with those previous and current workers make things a struggle for them.

Regardless, neither Honda, Toyota, or Nissan, or BMW, Mercedes, etc., make a vehicle that will efficiently pull my trailer like the one made by one of the "Big Three".

When are they gonna commit to build for other segments of the market that disturbe their CAFE ratings? Probably never.

[dm1333]

How many diesels are their in the US car market in 2008? A lot of them are gone because of new regulations. Yes, there were few.

Toyota and Honda and Nissan...well, they still sell a lot of bigger faster vehicles don't they.

Valid points just like your comment about towing. I'd bet that VW and Subaru and a few others overcome the EPA hurdle and there will be a long waiting list for the diesels they sell. I may be wrong on this but I don't see any effort from a domestic maker to put a diesel in a smaller truck or car.

GMC had the right idea with the Canyon/Colorado (design it as a light truck with a lower tow limit than the S-10 had, most people towing upwards of 4000 pounds will probably opt for a half ton truck) but they need a more efficient engine before I will buy one. Ford sells a diesel Focus in Europe that is very popular but I don't think they are even attempting to bring that vehicle to the US.

My next vehicle is probably going to be a 4 door Sidekick with the Acme Adapters conversion to a VW diesel simply because nobody makes a small, very fuel efficient vehicle. I may end up buying the diesel Subaru even though a pick up is a much better solution to my vehicle needs (yes, I actually use the bed of my truck to haul things around). I have no desire to spend 30 or 40 thousand bucks on a half ton Duramax truck that only gets 25 mpg on the highway.