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By EWAN
KENNEDY
9 November 2009
Subaru
Australia has finally been able to lay its hands on the
turbo-diesel engine it has been hankering after for some time.
Until now the European market, for which the engine was
specifically developed, has demanded all the engines for itself.
This diesel powerplant is now offered as a $2500 option in the new
Subaru Outback 2.0D.
The engine is fascinating in that it sticks to Subaru's flat
‘boxer’ design and is said to be the first diesel engine of
this type ever fitted into a passenger car.
Torque has long been a strong feature of all Subaru engines and,
of course, one of the big advantages of any turbocharged engine is
high levels of torque spread over a good part of its rev range.
Hence we have been eagerly awaiting the launch of this engine in
Australia.
The new engine’s capacity of 2.0 litres is typical of the
midrange Euro engines offered by most marques in that area. It has
two camshafts over each cylinder bank. Peak power is a useful 110
kW, but it's the torque that counts. In the Subaru engine 300
Newton metres of torque is there when the engine reaches just 1600
rpm. It rises to a maximum of 350 Nm when it gets to 1800 revs and
remains at that peak until 2400. After that it tapers off more
than we would have anticipated, but it has to be said that few
drivers will ever use more than about 2400 in real driving
conditions.
The official fuel consumption as measured to Australian
regulations is just 6.4 litres per hundred kilometres. The
turbo-diesel emits 168 grams of carbon dioxide (C02) per kilometre.
Subaru again follows the European way in only specifying the new
diesel engine with a manual gearbox (with six forward ratios). The
lack of an automatic option is likely to hinder sales in
Australia, but at this stage there are no plans in Japan for a
self-shifting transmission. Note that the Europeans like manuals
as they see them as a further way of reducing fuel consumption.
However, the best of the modern automatic transmissions are almost
as good as manuals in this respect.
Though the management of Subaru Australia was reluctant to say so,
they are obviously disappointed in not being able to offer the
auto option.
On the road we found the new Subaru Outback 2.0D to feel much the
same as the conventional diesels built by the best of the European
manufactures. There's the seemingly inevitable diesel-engine
‘clatter’ at idle, particularly when the engine is cold. This
is really only noticeable from outside the car, once on the move
the engine is virtually indistinguishable aurally from a petrol
engine.
There's some turbo lag, but clever design has reduced this to a
minimum. An advantage of having a manual gearbox is that the
driver can anticipate the need for extra performance and change
down a gear to get around potential lag problems.
The new diesel engine weighs 78 kg more than the petrol unit. This
does give the Outback 2.0D a little more understeer in corners,
but this is only going to occur when you are going relatively
hard.
Subaru diesels come in three models: the $40,490 Subaru Outback
2.0D has dual-zone air conditioning, an audio system with MP3 and
WMA capability, a leather bound steering wheel with inbuilt audio
controls. Then there's the safety of all-wheel drive, ESP
(Electronic Stability Program), ABS brakes, and seven airbags
including one for the driver’s knees.
To this the Subaru Outback 2.0D Premium model adds an electric
sunroof, leather trim and rear seat air vents as part of the air
conditioning. Its recommended retail price is $43,990.
Finally, the Subaru Outback 2.0D Premium With Sat Nav also has a
DVD player and Bluetooth, it comes with a tag of $46,490.
On-road costs by dealers and governments have to be added to the
above recommended prices.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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