Gas mileage in my '03 OBW

Sounds about right. You live somewhere cold? FWIW, the low fuel light comes on and I tend to be able to get another oh, 50mi out of the car.

It doesn't have a nice viscously coupled all wheel drive tranny it's carrying around though.

Winter city/suburbs does get as bad sub-20mpg. Factors from lurking here for years include the winter gasoline mix here in Chicago, and the losses of all that transmission fluid being so damned cold and viscous. In summer, with the summer mix gasoline, and long trips on the highway at legal speeds, the best I've done is 28.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA

Well, you stummbled on a sad subaru reality. Their engines are not the most fuel efficient on the road.

Even though the proper way to measure mpg is only after you refuel your car and get the gallons used figure you probably already know the things that can improve your mileage a bit:

- Proper tune-up (air filters, spark plugs, wires, coolant temp sensor, etc.)

- Tire inflation

- Wheel alignment

- Dead weight you carry around

- Driving style

- Road conditions

I get somewhere between 20 - 22 mpg in town and up to 25 highway.

Good luck

M. Baker wrote:

Yes, I live in Michigan, so we get cold (VERY cold last week) and snow. Yeah, the AWD has gotten a little workout the past couple weeks, so I'm sure that had something to do with it also.

I'm going to fill up tonight and figure my true mpg, so I'll know for sure then. But just on my preliminary calculations I'm expecting around 19. Hopefully it'll improve when we take it up north for its first "road trip" since I bought it. That'll show me what kind of hiway mileage it'll get. And yeah, maybe it'll improve a bit this summer too. Like I said, I'm not a lead-foot and try not to stomp on the brakes or gas pedal (unless necessary), and all I'm carrying is the spare tire, bungee cords, little tool/first aid kit, etc. so nothing heavy and no cross bars or anything on the roof. Would a rear spoiler for the top of the hatchback make any difference?

I knew AWD wouldn't get as gooda mileage as my Mazda front-wheel drive, but I guess I expected a little bit better than I've seen so far. But this is the first time I've had an AWD car.

Increase drag and decrease mileage probably. :-)

Yeah, I went from a Mazda 626 to an Outback, and if you look back in

2001 you'll probably find a post from me very similar to your own. I wish they were more efficient machines.

-- Todd H.

2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA

You've got to measure it over a number of tankfulls to get a representative reading. Another factor is the number of cold starts you do. Doing a lot of cold short runs the engine uses a lot of fuel just getting up to working temperature....and then you shut it off.

What's considered a "short run"? My commute to work is 11 miles each way.

That could be a significant part of your problem. For the first 5 or so miles your probably only getting 12 to 15, 18 MPG as everything warms up to operating temperature.

2002 OBW, H4, MT, 100K miles on it, only oil and filter being changed, heavy footed driver (me): -winter condition, most highway some suburbs: 20MPG -car warmed up, 40F ambient temp. , drove at 60-65MPH yields 26MPH -highway at 80MPH, a lot of hard accelerations - 22-23MPG

My friend's OWB H4 2006 with AT could reach 33MPH driven like 55MPH. He normally get 26-8MPG when very gently driven.

A-

Well, I got 19.9 mpg on that tank of gas. We'll see as the summer goes on, with changes in temperature, road conditions and gas mixture, if it improves. :)

I have a 5spd Manual OBW 01 LTD Wagon and the BEST I've ever gotten was in the summer and it was 29.8. Just ever so shy of the 30 mark.

On my 2nd tank of gas, which included ~70 miles on the highway using cruise control, I got 20.5 mpg.

Looks like I'll have to be satisfied getting around 20mpg, at least until summer. :( I'd like to know why the sticker said 22/28 when it's not even close so far. I know mfr gas mileage aren't 100% accurate, but they're usually in the ballpark.

At least on my '03 Mazda, I'm getting what the sticker said. Average about 24.5mpg in "city" (suburban) driving and about 30mpg on the highway with cruise control.

How's this for not matching the sticker: my wife's 2002 Golf TDI is supposed to get 42/49. Last summer we were getting highway mileage of 55+ even with the AC on. Always nice to err on the bonus side.

Unfortunately the mileage suffers in the winter.

DS

A little better again this time/tank: 20.7 mpg. This included some AWD-usage on snow/slippery roads, but not much. I'm going to check my air filter too...I just read that changing that can increase your gas mileage up to TEN PERCENT. That's a lot. Wonder if they're on sale anywhere? My husband prefers FRAM, altho I don't know if brand really matters...?

Well, a little better this time/tank: 20.7 mpg.

This was with a little bit of AWD usage on snow/slippery roads, maybe

20% of the tank.

I have to remember to check my air filter...I just read that a new/ clean filter can improve gas mileage up to TEN PERCENT. That's a lot! I wonder if they're on sale anywhere...my husband prefers FRAM but I don't know if brand matters in air filters?

Unless they changed the meaning of AWD, your Subaru is always driving all four wheels. So your statement below makes no sense. You are using AWD for

100% of your tank, period. Temperature will affect your mileage, as will driving style. You don't have a part-time 4WD so stop blaming poor mileage on AWD.

DS

I'm not "blaming" poor mileage on AWD, and I KNOW that the AWD is full- time on my Outback. All I meant was that the AWD got a "workout" for a few days there when we had slush and snow on the roads. As opposed to driving on clear roads with no snow to 'plow through', so to speak. I would guess that if I drove the entire tank of gas when we were having a blizzard with snow piles everywhere that I'd have to go thru, the engine/AWD would thus have to work harder than on impeded roadways, and thus result in worse overall mpg.

Take a pill. Jeesh.

I'm not "blaming" poor mileage on AWD, and I KNOW that the AWD is full- time on my Outback. All I meant was that the AWD got a "workout" for a few days there when we had slush and snow on the roads. As opposed to driving on clear, dry roads with no snow to 'plow through', so to speak. I would guess that if I drove the entire tank of gas when we were having a blizzard with 6+" of snow everywhere that I'd have to go thru, the engine & AWD would thus have to work harder than on unimpeded, clear roadways, and thus result in worse overall mpg.

Jeesh.

You guess wrong.