Greetings,
Background: A while ago I bemoaned my Outback's penchant for running rough when first started, and hesitating in general during the warm months. It felt most rough and awkward after a restart during a hot day.
Example: backing out of the parking spot at the store would involve pushing down on the accelerator and having wimpy power until after a second the engine would kind of catch its breath and then you'd feel it kick in like you'd expect. You'd feel like you have to back off the accelerator a tad to let it catch its breath and then it would eventually kick in with some power. A similar feeling would occur when accelerating from a stop. Within a few minutes, that really bad hesitation would be gone, but would never entirely go away--regardless of whether the A/C is on or not.
And what was weird is that this problem never bugs me in the winter.
I'd talked to the factory srevice rep about this after several trips to the dealer where the tech tried to tell me my car was normal. The service rep gave me a more assuring feeling by saying this was an undesirably normal condition, and that Subaru was aware of it, and working on a fix.
The news: Evidently there is one out there. I got an ECU update today and it appears to have fixed the issue. Caveat: it's not that hot today, but the car is thus far driving much better and without this hesitation.
Program 455-288 UPG-48 was the update applied to my ECU today. It's the first new ECU code that it's had since last spring, or perhaps earlier.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA