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NYIAS: 2020 Subaru Outback

jzmtl

Intermidiot
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Apr 25, 2017
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Montreal
I just WISH, the Japanese will make a middle ski pass through like the Euro cars, rather than using the 60-40 fold down seats.
That's what really bugs me about Subaru, for a car with such a strong presence in skiers, how could they choose to skip this little thing? When Euro/Koreans all have it.
 

trailtrimmer

Stuck in the Flatlands
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^^ I agree. You expect your new car to work, your washer to produce clean clothes, your milk not to be sour. This shipping of skis not ready to ski bugs me. Fine, there's the 5% of the ski population who are going to change the skis anyway, just like all these folks who can't wait to change their new car, but most expect the product to work as advertised.

Tough to generalize..mine doesn't consume a drop...BMW on the other hand...

No generalizing about it. The non-turbo motors open deck design leads to head gasket failure sometime between 120k and 150k on every 2.5l Subaru. The turbo motor has a different deck and gasket configuration and doesn't suffer the same shortcoming. Subaru even has released a additive like bars leaks as an official fix.

Our 2012 uses nearly two quarts of oil every 6000 miles, insane. Two friends of ours sold or traded theirs in for the same reason, and their cars burned even more, one had his for less than two years. There is also a standing class action lawsuit for it, unfortunately we are beyond the 100k mile limit.

Aside from the radio wiring shorts, the three sets of idler pulleys and three belts by 80k, replacing every brake caliper by 90k, the stock battery puking before it was even two years old and that sweet smell and antifreeze slipping past the head gaskets now at 120k, we'll it's been a great car. :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

It's too bad, I like the ground clearance, and the AWD system is decent, but the quality of the modern Subaru is trash compared to my Toyota/GM hybrid that's eight years older.
 

EricG

Lost somewhere!
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They simply guzzle oil like a two stroke and eat headgaskets instead.

We have 3 Subaru’s right now, zero oil guzzling or eating of HG’s. My buddy just had to do his HG on his outback but he just passed ~275k miles so at that point his car owes him nothing. I just don’t like the CVT tranny, so I picked up a VW w/DSG for my daily driver.
 

rcc55125

Getting on the lift
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Apr 28, 2017
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Wasatch Back
From the announcement letter, I will miss the 6 cylinder though.


All-New Onyx Edition XT
outback1.jpg


The ultimate in Outback capability and style, the all-new Outback Onyx Edition XT features a 260-horsepower turbocharged SUBARU BOXER® engine, a StarTex™water-repellant interior, dual-function X-MODE® and black exterior accents.
 

Ken_R

Living the Dream
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Denver, CO
From the announcement letter, I will miss the 6 cylinder though.


All-New Onyx Edition XT
outback1.jpg


The ultimate in Outback capability and style, the all-new Outback Onyx Edition XT features a 260-horsepower turbocharged SUBARU BOXER® engine, a StarTex™water-repellant interior, dual-function X-MODE® and black exterior accents.

I LOVE the new 2.4L Turbo Subaru engine. I have the Ascent and it is a perfect engine for long trips on the highway even at high elevation. It should be just awesome on the lighter Outback. On the Ascent I am getting about 23mpg in mixed Highway/City driving.
 

HDSkiing

You’re Sliding On-Snow; Don’t Over-Think it!
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I LOVE the new 2.4L Turbo Subaru engine. I have the Ascent and it is a perfect engine for long trips on the highway even at high elevation. It should be just awesome on the lighter Outback. On the Ascent I am getting about 23mpg in mixed Highway/City driving.

I have an Ascent also, love it! I’ve owned 4 Subies, 3 which I still have. Haven’t seen the problems others mention, although my 2011 3.6 outback does burn a bit of oil, but by the time it gets to where I need to add some, it’s time to change the oil anyway (5k miles w/synthetic).

I drive up a steep mountain road daily during ski season where the parking lot is 10K in elevation. Subie w/snow tires will put the jeeps to shame!
 

LegacyGT

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Some interesting stuff going on here. Surprised that they stuck with the roof rack/rail system. Not that it's good or bad but the Ascent doesn't have it so I figured Subaru was done with it. I think it has pros and cons but I don't really understand how they think it works on the Outback but not the Ascent. On the styling front, the exterior is evolutionary and a minor improvement. I don't like the rocker panels. 2010 introduced the chunky blocks there and they were toned down a little with the current model. This new Outback seems to emphasize the blockiness again. I don't know what they are for, what they are supposed to do for the image. It seems like a silly attempt to inject a rugged masculinity (that may have worked on the Ford Escape in 2008 but do we need it?). A smooth rocker would look better. The interior looks like a major improvement. The photos must be of the top trim...we'll see what other trims look like. The turbo should be great in this car. The 2.5L must be fine for a lot of people because they sell a ton of them but I find it very underpowered in this car. The H6 is a little better but let's be honest, it's an old engine that was never class leading. The 2.4 Turbo will be a huge step up. I agree with the other comments that a 40/20/40 folding 2nd row would be better. In theory you get some of the same result folding down the smaller side of the 60/40 but it's not quite as good.
 

trailtrimmer

Stuck in the Flatlands
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We have 3 Subaru’s right now, zero oil guzzling or eating of HG’s. My buddy just had to do his HG on his outback but he just passed ~275k miles so at that point his car owes him nothing. I just don’t like the CVT tranny, so I picked up a VW w/DSG for my daily driver.

2008 and prior Subaru's seem to have much better build quality than the 2009 to 2013 era. They don't have the oil consumption issues, fit and finish was better, wheel bearings lasted longer than 90k, etc. Head gaskets were still a problem, but it didn't come with the raft of other issues. If oil consumption wasn't an issue there would be no class action nor acknowledgement from Subaru that the problem exists. Another friend uses the oil light as a flag to change oil, that's like two quarts of oil gone in 5000-6000 miles.

When Subaru as a company has to produce this, you know they are admitting to a design flaw.
gasketinabottle.jpg
 

EricG

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2008 and prior Subaru's seem to have much better build quality than the 2009 to 2013 era. They don't have the oil consumption issues, fit and finish was better, wheel bearings lasted longer than 90k, etc. Head gaskets were still a problem, but it didn't come with the raft of other issues. If oil consumption wasn't an issue there would be no class action nor acknowledgement from Subaru that the problem exists. Another friend uses the oil light as a flag to change oil, that's like two quarts of oil gone in 5000-6000 miles.

When Subaru as a company has to produce this, you know they are admitting to a design flaw.
View attachment 72585


I recall using that stuff back in 2001-2 when we were adding forced induction to the EJ25 engines. This stuff is produced by Holt’s, not Subaru has been on-off the Subaru service department shelves for years. Several batches clogged radiators resulting in bigger issues, while most batches sealed the HG’s and pin holes in the radiators as intended and prevented a recall. Most of the old service writers I know won’t suggest it. But as the waves ebb-and-flow we will this stuff reappear to keep cost low and put a band aid on the faulty HG’s that occurred in certain years. It’s unfortunate that Subie still stocks this, but I think it’s only fir certain years of the 2.5 NA engine. If Subie is still having these issues we had in 01, that’s crazy & unfortunate.

I guess were lucky, we had Subies in the early 2000’s then left till 2016 when we wanted cars with solid AWD and lower prices than the German options.
 

DanoT

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During mountain descents, I like to use the engine compression/transmission to help control speed and save brakes. Easy to do with a manual tranny or an auto with manual gear selection/lockup. AFAIK you can't do this with a CVT in the new Outbacks, so I would not be a player.
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
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You can "downshift" with the CVT and use engine braking, especially if you have paddle shifters which I think the Outback does. Check it out at the dealer.
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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Every cvt I've driven has had 1st and 2nd gear options or paddles.

Though there are no gears in a CVT, some allow manual “shifting.” Here, the belt-and-pulley system moves to preset points that simulate changing gears. This is accomplished either by moving the shift lever or clicking on steering-wheel-mounted paddles. As an example, the CVT in the 2019 Subaru Ascent SUV comes with eight of these shift points. Source: Carfax
 

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