I was reading through this Official Curb Weight thread over on NASIOC and found something weird:

 

 

93 L FWD wgn M 2895

94 L FWD wgn M 2825

95 L FWD wgn M 2685

95 L FWD sdn M 2655

 

 

On the 1995 year FWD manual wagon, the curb weight drops from 2800 to 2600... nearly 200 lbs. Which would make it only 30 lbs heavier than the sedan. If we assume that number is correct, what would account for such a weight decrease?

Edited October 24, 20169 yr by janas19

95 was a total change for Subarus from the 94. They probably dropped a lot of body weight in the new design. I think the tranny and suspension were changed a bit also. So 200lbs from a 2800lb car isn't really a lot

People buy carbon fiber hoods and alloy wheels to save 20-40 lbs. 200 lbs is huge on a car when you are dealing with only 135-140 HP. 

 

The actual weight reduction is 140 lbs from 1994 to 1995 (210 lbs if you are looking at the 1993 to 1995 reduction). I am really surprised actually that the weight decreased that dramatically. 

Edited October 24, 20169 yr by janas19

Seats in the 95-up weigh much less than the 90-94 seats. Same with the door panels.

 

There is less sound deadening material in the 95-up cars.

They also changed from glass to plastic headlights, though that may have been a year or so earlier.

The 1st gens also have a decently heavy automatic seat belt system and large steel crash bars, whereas the 2nd gen has manual belts and composite crash bars with skinny steel reinforcement.

Well that explains the weight reduction quite well. Thank you!