Hi,

My wife and I are looking for our third Subaru, and noticed an interesting difference between the '06 and '07 Outback XTs. On the Subaru website, the '06 XT is listed as having 250 hp, and gets 19/25 city/highway for mileage with the manual transmission (an absolute must for us). In the '07 brochure we picked up this weekend at the dealership, the XT now shows as having 243 hp and 21/27, again with the manual. Does anyone know anything about Subaru retuning the engine for improved economy?

 

Dan

Don't know about fuel economy, but for 07 the government requires a slightly different measurement of HP. So many vehicles have reduced HP this coming model year.

A goes to you for demanding a manual transmission! Thanks for keeping our dying breed alive!

 

As ferret said, SAE has changed some HP rating rules, so many cars have lower HP ratings than they used to...

Yeah the HP is just rated differently. The car is every bit as powerful as it was last year so fear not. It's a great car and you guys will love it. Thank you for wanting a manual tranny! Both of my Subarus are manuals...I hate the way automatics drive, especially with awd.

 

If you get this car and are interested in more power, let me know because I am avid in the wrx/turbo community and can point you in right direction for performance parts.

 

-Dan

Not to make this an auto vs. manual thread, but I actually prefer the auto AWD over the manual AWD. The auto AWD system is more sophisticated and ultimately offers more grip than the manual AWD.

 

I still prefer driving a manual though.

I dyno'd my 2006 H6, rated at 250hp. A stock 2.5 turbo has about 15% more wheel hp - despite the same 250hp rating. They are rated very conservatively. But they do not get great mileage - perhaps because drivers keep on the loud pedal.....

I dyno'd my 2006 H6, rated at 250hp. A stock 2.5 turbo has about 15% more wheel hp - despite the same 250hp rating. They are rated very conservatively. But they do not get great mileage - perhaps because drivers keep on the loud pedal.....

 

What did your H6 dyno to the wheel?

 

~edit~ I read that wrong the first time through. 250 to the wheel on an NA H6 just seems kind of high.

Thanks for the info on the hp rating. The mileage imporvement remains something of a mystery.

 

We had been looking for the 2.5i Limited with a manual transmission, but Subaru has deleted that option for 2007 and there aren't any 2006s around. For '07, you can get the manual transmission with the Outback "base wagon", 2.5i, XT and XT Limited, but not the 2.5i Limited. We're pretty ticked off about that, as are some Subaru dealers we've been talking to.

 

We had looked at the XT a year ago and it was a blast. Lately though, we really decided we'd rather have something a bit more economical, and the 2.5i's better mileage and lack of a premium gas requirement, unlike the XT, made it a better looking option until we found out that bombshell above. So, it's either a de-contented 2.5i or suck up the extra cost of the XT. Decisions, decisions...

I have two explainations for the change in mileage:

 

1) They added a smog pump to the 97 Legacy Turbos (outback included). This might not increase mileage, but it is a major change.

 

2) The SI-Drive. The SI drive in fuel-efficient mode gives you more MPG because it isnt putting out as much HP... Hense the difference.

I'm fairly sure only the Spec.B is coming with the SI-Drive. I'll have to double-check.

I have two explainations for the change in mileage:

 

1) They added a smog pump to the 97 Legacy Turbos (outback included). This might not increase mileage, but it is a major change.

 

2) The SI-Drive. The SI drive in fuel-efficient mode gives you more MPG because it isnt putting out as much HP... Hense the difference.

Did you really mean to type '97' or should it be '07'? I would think that the 06 had a smog pump too.

Holy sh.... A subaru outback has 250 horsepower now? I'm still used to cars with horsepower measured with two digits I guess. My RV made from a 18 passenger shortbus only has about 200 horsepower from a 350 cubic inch V8. The amazing thing is that they are still able to get even close to the same mileage as the old 72 horsepower EA81's (usually high 20's to low 30's on the highway in my experience). With the curb weight probably twice as much too. Can we still call it a urabus with that much horsepower to weight ratio?

 

Makes you wonder what kind of mileage they could get if they went back to a 100 horsepower engine in a light body, with modern engine controls.