I have a 98 Legacy that I bought in February, Just wondering why it eats so much gas ...I barely get 450 kilometers per tank on the highway .. not exactly 600 that I was geting in my Suzuki sidekick . even though it was a 1600 cc engine .... why is Subaru such a gas pig ?
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All wheel drive, my friend.....and if you have an H6 versus the 4 I suspect that wouldn't help.
The early 90's Legacy models that had front-wheel drive (and a 4-banger) easily got over 20 in the city and near 30mpg hwy, or at least mine did.
I'll resist the temptation to rant about Subaru choosing to go exclusively to AWD, because it doesn't matter and no one wants to hear it anyway.
Stew
because 1.8liter engines are long, long, long gone along with the lighter imprezas and legacies of the yore.
As does my 05 OBS: i'll resist the temptation to rant (again) on the 5th gear ratio that enables that breathtaking highway mileage.
As if it would be competitive in case awd is stripped. there is no way i would've looked at (let alone contemplated buying) a subaru if it did not have a symmetric awd. strip an awd from subayota and you'd be left with a toyolet. who wants a toyolet camry when you can have subayota legacy for the same money with a working awd and the exact same amenities?
And don't forget weight..... Did your Sidekick have airbags? ABS? These and various other safety items all add weight.
Dan D (formerly) '99 Legacy L 30th (son's) Central NJ USA
I wasn't suggesting that AWD be abandoned altogether as I think you know. However, it would be nice for those of us in non-winter or non-mountainous areas to have that option (once again).
As to whether such vehicles could be or were competitive in the market, I suppose that depends on what criteria would be used. Perhaps there's not enough profit in producing them or Soob feels the market is too crowded.
You mention Toyotas as if that's a bad thing. I can tell you that our '90 Legacy 2.2 (automatic) far out-performed the 2.2 in my BIL's '92 Camry with regard to initial acceleration. But Toyotas have been extremely reliable for me even if a bit dull in recent years regarding design and performance.
There are a few of us out here who still want/need/enjoy a nice FWD 4-banger wagon and my point is that I regret that Soobies are no longer an option (for me).
I do enjoy my current Mazda (jap build) and Toyota (Fremont,CA build) well enough.
I think Subaru read the writing on the wall and felt like they would be squeezed between Honda/Toyota and the rapidly-improving Korean cars (Kia, Hyundai). They may have felt like their AWD technology could be the differentiating factor for them. I'm not sure they have the money or reputation to keep pace with H/T, and the cost advantages that the Koreans have right now mean that they could build comparable-quality cars for a couple thousand less. Hence, the all-AWD, all the time approach. I think it's been pretty effective for them.
Mazda has done something similar with their 'sporty' approach and emphasis on the performance of their vehicles across the line.
Dan D (formerly) '99 Legacy L 30th (son's) Central NJ USA
Sidekick was very heavy 3600 pounds to be exact
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