Cars
Chances are unless you've worked in secretive operations inside the Porsche R&D facility or lived in Europe and paid close attention to the curiously wonky sounds emanating from a Subaru Legacy idling in traffic, you've never heard four or six horizontally opposed cylinders suck diesel.Â
- 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0 Turbo Diesel In Detail
At next month’s Paris Show, Subaru will unveil the first-ever diesel-powered versions of the Impreza and Forester models. The Japanese automaker has very high hopes for the Forester 2.0D as it expects it to account for a massive 80 percent of sales...
- Subaru To Present The World's First Boxer Turbo Diesel Engine
See, this is one of the things I love about Subaru. Instead of choosing the easy way by borrowing a diesel engine from another manufacture or developing a "normal" diesel powered motor of it's own, Subaru went ahead and engineered the world's...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part Xi
SUBARU FORESTER There's something about the Subaru Forester which makes other good, solid, and capable small SUVs seem bland and uninteresting. Foresters play in a league where competition is ripe - nearly every Forester adversary is, for one reason...
- The Good 12 Supersize - Part Xi
SUBARU FORESTER Earlier examples of Subaru's venerable Forester enjoyed and struggled with one issue: a cult-like following. When manufacturers or critics refer to such a following, they're inferring that the vehicle was much-loved by few and...
- Subaru Boxer Diesel Technical Diagram And With Sound At Idle
Subaru worked hard to continue their horizontally opposed tradition. No, we're not talking about their characteristically unique nature, but the configuration of their engine. Now available in the Forester is a boxer diesel, discussed a few minutes...
Cars
SUBARU PUTS BOXER DIESEL IN THE FORESTER
Chances are unless you've worked in secretive operations inside the Porsche R&D facility or lived in Europe and paid close attention to the curiously wonky sounds emanating from a Subaru Legacy idling in traffic, you've never heard four or six horizontally opposed cylinders suck diesel. I'm just sayin'. The sound is as unfamiliar to you as it is to moi.
Nevertheless, two manufacturers are addicted to this cylinder layout. The boxer engine, found in the rear end of the Porsche 911 Carrera, Boxster, and Cayman as well as the Subaru Legacy/Outback and Tribeca in six-cylinder form and in the Subaru Impreza, Legacy/Outback, and Forester in four-cylinder form, is a unique layout.
See, everybody else likes to line up their cylinders in a row or position them in a V, like Canadian geese except without taking turns at the front. True, Volkswagen Group members have been known to configure their cylinders in a WÂ formation, most famously in the Bugatti Veyron and previous-generation Volkswagen Passat.Â
The boxer nomenclature comes from obvious engines. Think of Obama and McCain or Biden and Palin who will go back and forth at each other in a few debates, over and over and over. They are diametrically opposed, basically two competitors inside a square circle ring; just without the punches. As for the Subaru and Porsche engines, the cylinders are going back and forth at each other; also without making contact in an uppercut or jabbing fashion.
Because of this strange configuration, Porsches and Subarus export a unique sound. We all know that diesels, even modern ones, still have a bit of a unique note as well.Â
Subaru has joined the two. The aluminum block 2.0L boxer four is now in the Forester and makes 145 horsepower. That's 25 down on the output of the basic 2.5L gasoline-fed four-cylinder in the Forester. However, torque stands at 258 lb-ft, up 32 lb-ft on the turbocharged version of the 2.5L gas engine and 88 lb-ft more than the torque output from the naturally aspirated 2.5L. All that torque is available from a very low 1,800rpm.
With towing capacity of 4,400 pounds, Foresters with the boxer diesel can tow an extra 2,000 pounds. And as you'd expect, the Subaru Forester with the boxer diesel and new 6-speed manual transmission will return between 8-10 more miles per gallon than an equivalent gasoline-powered Forester. Subaru UK claims the Forester diesel has the lowest fuel consumption and emissions in its class.
What must it sound like? Check back soon and The Good Car Guy will post a couple YouTube clips.
- 2009 Subaru Forester 2.0 Turbo Diesel In Detail
At next month’s Paris Show, Subaru will unveil the first-ever diesel-powered versions of the Impreza and Forester models. The Japanese automaker has very high hopes for the Forester 2.0D as it expects it to account for a massive 80 percent of sales...
- Subaru To Present The World's First Boxer Turbo Diesel Engine
See, this is one of the things I love about Subaru. Instead of choosing the easy way by borrowing a diesel engine from another manufacture or developing a "normal" diesel powered motor of it's own, Subaru went ahead and engineered the world's...
- The Good 12 Supersize V2.0 - Part Xi
SUBARU FORESTER There's something about the Subaru Forester which makes other good, solid, and capable small SUVs seem bland and uninteresting. Foresters play in a league where competition is ripe - nearly every Forester adversary is, for one reason...
- The Good 12 Supersize - Part Xi
SUBARU FORESTER Earlier examples of Subaru's venerable Forester enjoyed and struggled with one issue: a cult-like following. When manufacturers or critics refer to such a following, they're inferring that the vehicle was much-loved by few and...
- Subaru Boxer Diesel Technical Diagram And With Sound At Idle
Subaru worked hard to continue their horizontally opposed tradition. No, we're not talking about their characteristically unique nature, but the configuration of their engine. Now available in the Forester is a boxer diesel, discussed a few minutes...