HI,

I recently bought a '96 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon, with the 2.2l engine and 5 speed transmission. I checked the timing belt, changed the oil, and changed the ripped CV boot (thanks to the great advice on this website). Now it's going great.

 

In 5th gear, the RPMs @ 80mph (normal interstate speed here in NM outside of the few cities we have) = about 3700. That seems abnormally high, so I kept the speed limit at 75 or lower because I felt sustained 3700 RPMs cannot be healthy for a motor...especially one with 116K on it.

 

Am I being overly cautious? Our distances here quite great and I'd rather go 80...unless I knew it was damaging the motor by doing that.

 

Thanks

That is right. My 96 OBW 5M is the same. My 95 Legacy 5M with the same engine, the RPMs are lower at the same speeds. Perhaps the gears are setup differntly. Just keep oil in it and it will be fine. I try to keep it under 3500RPMs when on the highway...but here in PA if you're doing 80 in a 65, you're going to be pulled over...so keeping it under 3500 RPMs isn't hard for me.

You can twist it up all day long and not hurt anything. They like to rev.

HI,

I recently bought a '96 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon, with the 2.2l engine and 5 speed transmission. I checked the timing belt, changed the oil, and changed the ripped CV boot (thanks to the great advice on this website). Now it's going great.

 

In 5th gear, the RPMs @ 80mph (normal interstate speed here in NM outside of the few cities we have) = about 3700. That seems abnormally high, so I kept the speed limit at 75 or lower because I felt sustained 3700 RPMs cannot be healthy for a motor...especially one with 116K on it.

 

Am I being overly cautious? Our distances here quite great and I'd rather go 80...unless I knew it was damaging the motor by doing that.

 

Thanks

That is correct, I get the same on mine. The Outbacks are geared a bit lower than the non-outbacks. The low gearing comes in handy when off-road.

Just let it roll, I try to keep mine under 4k most time.

I have 2.5 DOHC manual transmission. RPMs are high just like you - 4k at 80mph. RPMs seem to be always 1/2 of speed in fifth gear (so 3K at 60mph etc)...

People using those same engines as airplane engines say they rev them at 4,500 rpm all day with no ill effects. Granted the stress put on an airplane engine is not exactly comparable to what happens on ground (acceleration, load, etc.) it nevertheless gives credibility to the opinion that these engines can be reved.

Yep...about 3800 RPM at 85mph here, too. I seriously thought something was really wrong when I was riding in a friend's Pathfinder and noticed she was going about 80 and the tachometer said ~2500. Same with another friend's Navajo and another's Suburban. I thought, "This can't be normal." I guess it is ... :-\