Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Thursday March 28, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC General > News & Rumors

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-18-2003, 09:18 AM   #1
Idjiit
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 5310
Join Date: Mar 2001
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: Raleigh, NC
Vehicle:
2013 Sonic Turbo

Default Long-term engine plan?

I'm going to post this in News and Rumors, since nothing here can be much more than speculation...

I'm a little concerned at the present moment for Subaru's general direction towards more powerful Turbo-based cars. While I think Turbos are great for performance enthusiasts (I'm sure BMW, Ferrari and Porsche would disagree - but that's a different thread) in the current world climate, it seems like a dangerous basket to put all your eggs in. Turbo's require higher octane, and when driven hard are pretty fuel inefficient. This makes the Total Cost of Ownership higher than it would be otherwise. I'm feeling the pinch currently, and I'm only paying around $1.80 per gallon - I don't even wanna think of what I would be paying if I was still in California.

Now, the argument I'm making here isn't necessarily that they should be offering better flat-6's, but that they aren't balancing this out at all on the other end of the spectrum. I know that at one point there was a Subaru Hybrid concept, but I haven't heard anything about it. Practically every Subaru in the line is using a 2.5L engine of some sort and if I recall correctly, none of the cars are getting better than 30 mpg. Without a doubt the AWD format poses problems to any Hybrid solution, so I accept for the moment that it isn't quite as easy as creating a Civic Hybrid (although surely it is only a matter of time before you see a Hybrid 4WD CRV).

Does anyone have any rumours (or better yet, news) on Subaru's direction in terms of pursuing a Hybrid car for those of us who don't need a fleet of 300hp monsters?

If you don't have any news, what would you like to see?

I always said that I would never buy a non-Subaru car, but the reality of my situation is that my fiancee will be traveling over 60 miles a day once she's back in school, which makes the fuel economy of a Hybrid car very attractive. I also would ideally like to leave a smaller footprint on the planet before I go, and I believe that the biggest impact a single person can make in life is through their buying decisions - right now the Civic Hybrid seems like the way to go for our second car.
Idjiit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 10:02 AM   #2
rsholland
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 5769
Join Date: Apr 2001
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Vehicle:
'09 WRX Prem 5-dr
Dark Gray

Default Diesels!

If Subaru has any intention of making a real dent in the European (or world) market, it will need to have a good turbo-diesel. There have been some recent rumors that Isuzu and Subaru may be teaming up on just such an engine. BTW, the word "diesel" and "performance" can be used in the same sentence; just look at the new crop of diesel cars from Europe, especially those from BMW.

Bob
rsholland is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 10:37 AM   #3
SUBE555
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 24043
Join Date: Sep 2002
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Oshkosh, WI
Vehicle:
2014 BMW 335i Sedan
Silver

Default

Well I think many of us are thinking similarly even though we would really like to see performance, fuel efficiency is a big issue as well. We all know resources are limited and there has to be a new direction we are moving. I personally think hydrogen-based fuel in the answer. Now many of you might be thinking fuel cell, that's not really my idea of efficient. It takes just as much energy to produce the hydrogen fuel as if we keep burning regular gas. What I would really love to see is something similar to the concept in the movie Chain Reaction, turning hydrogen fuel from a glass of water into hydrogen that can be burned in an internal combustion engine so we can have efficiency with performance. It is possible, but I am sure the oil/gas companies are not very keen to that idea. Greed is the root of all evil and that will hinder technologies like that from coming forth within the next several years even if they are already possible.

Something on a note closer to reality, I would like to see the next generation of the EJ25 (Phase III) push about 175hp but with something like 24/32 for fuel mileage. It could even use a CVT transmission (yes, I said CVT,shoWRoX) or a 5MT or 6MT. The Impreza line will likely lose a nice deal of weight for the next itteration as Subaru has stated they are looking to reduce weight across the board. With a target weight of around 3100Lbs for the base Legacy, the next Impreza will probably target under 2800Lbs and be closer in size again to the GC8 Impreza body but much stronger.

So I guess that is a little info and a little wish, but I don't think it is impossible within the next 15 years. I don't hold much hope for fuel cell technology as it is big, bulky, and potentially dangerous if in an accident. Just my feelings on that matter though.
SUBE555 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 12:07 PM   #4
Mike Wevrick
RIP 1/19/64 - 7/23/11
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 24654
Join Date: Sep 2002
Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: saraseager.com
Vehicle:
1957 Taggart Comet
atlasshruggedpart1.com

Default

I'd love to see a nice turbo-diesel or hybrid Subie. Our next 2nd car will probably be a Honda hybrid.
Mike Wevrick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 01:01 PM   #5
Doug DeRosa
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 22209
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Madison, WI
Vehicle:
1998 Legacy GT Wagon
Rio Red

Default

Well, we know that Subie is working on both hybrid and fuel cell technology. My recollection is, upon showing the HM01 in Geneva and Tokyo in 01, Subie announced that they were committed to developing AWD hybrids throughout the model range.

http://www.edmunds.com/news/autoshow...2/page019.html

Last edited by Doug DeRosa; 02-18-2003 at 01:22 PM.
Doug DeRosa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 06:26 PM   #6
NYCshopper
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 5126
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: www.nugateway.com
Default

i just want a hybrid like the Acura DN-X (Honda Dual Note)



400HP w/ AWD...and still gets 40mpg!!!
NYCshopper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2003, 10:56 AM   #7
bluesubie
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 767
Join Date: Jan 2000
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: N.J.
Vehicle:
04 FXT
20 OB Onyx XT

Talking

Maybe there's an agreement that GM will pay the CAFE fines.

I'm surprised that they dropped the 2.2L engine here. Before will get a hybrid, perhaps we'll get an NA 2.0 or 1.8.

-Dennis
bluesubie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2003, 01:24 PM   #8
Albert
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 3288
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: San Diego, CA. USA
Vehicle:
1998 Impreza 2.5RS
Rally Blue Pearl

Default

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesubie
I'm surprised that they dropped the 2.2L engine here. Before will get a hybrid, perhaps we'll get an NA 2.0 or 1.8.
-Dennis
I'm thinking that unless Subaru introduces a vehicle that weights less than the Impreza TS a smaller engine will not sell well. Our AWD cars are heavy which I'm certain attributed to less of a demand and the eventual demise of the 2.2L in North Amenrica a few years ago.

On the other hand if the stated smaller displacement NA engines are reintroduced they will need to be a smaller package, more efficient, and more powerful. If this cannot be achieved they should stick with the 2.5L, just keep refining it primarily for better effiiciency while continuing work on the rumored hybrids and diesels.
Albert is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Long term engine storage question Imprezzive Driver Normally Aspirated Powertrain 2 04-27-2007 06:26 AM
Help On Long Term Project Plan....Long Post X-Factor Factory 2.0L Turbo Powertrain (EJ Series Factory 2.0L Turbo) 27 05-13-2006 12:36 AM
Long term plans opinions? ncskier96 Subaru Conversions 3 03-01-2006 11:54 AM
Trying to make some long-term plans for my car... snvin Tri-State Area Forum 24 12-06-2005 02:37 PM
Long-term planning... Need advice re: STi swap snvin General Community 2 07-22-2004 10:01 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:40 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.