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The user manual for Subaru Legacy 2.0 says that the car should run fine on regular unleaded (95) and it is only the turbos that need the premium fuel (98 or above). However I am finding that the performance of my non-turbo 2.0 r is brilliant with say Shell v-power but horribly lumpy with regular unleaded. Obviously I am paying throgh the nose for the premium fuel and would rather not if I could avoid it. I'm doing a lot of out-of-town driving and the on borad comp tells me I am averaging 30.3 mpg even on the premium which sounds a little on the low side to me.
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30.2!
Wow. Mine (2006 RE) does that cruising, but the moment it enters town it kills the average...
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I should get 30.2mpg.....
20.2mpg for me, but then I have a proper Legacy/Outback - a nice wailing 3.0 flat six, tiptronic, raised ride height for comfortable entry and do lots of town driving.
Any using 95RON makes for a slightly less happy engine (a bit flat?) than V-Power.
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25-26mpg from my Forester turbo (vs combined test MPG of 26.4) - plenty of town and hard acceleration.
Boost is addictive...
I use super unleaded, not because it imparts awesome power or economy benefits, but because if I ever get the PPP pack on a whim it's going to need a tank of good stuff!
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On v-power it does, less on normal unleaded.
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Yup 30mpg sounds about right for Subaru 2.0l, way back in the 1990's when I ran a series of company Legacy Turbo Estates I managed 28mpg , nowadays our Outback 2.5l auto returns 33mpg with a light right foot - the fact that I am paying for every litre of fuel.
Subaru engines run well on Shell & BP unleaded. around the NW england we can pay between 100.9p per litre or if you have a company car you just drive up to the empty pump and pour in 106.9p at the local BP station.
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Should run fine on 95 octane - are you using branded or supermarket?
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Superunleaded usually but I gave it one tank of Tesco normal unleaded and it was kangaroo petrol all the way.
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one tank of Tesco normal unleaded...
Have you tried brannded regular unleaded? Shell is pretty good. Without wanting to start an old debate, I've never liked supermarket petrol...
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Yeah but the difference is like night and day. Surely shouldn't be this big a difference? Possible fuel filter problem?
Edited by warren321 on 26/07/2009 at 02:08
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If it is a fuel filter problem then changing to a different fuel shouldn't really make a difference: the filter will still be blocked.
I changed from supermarket regular to branded super in my Outback 2.5L. The difference was slight but immediate. I had intended to do a milage check but inertia, mine, has prevented it up to now. Perhaps this will trigger me to do it.
Has anyone noticed an improvement in running during wet conditions ? In my motorcycle days (1950s) bikes always used to run more smoothly when it was raining. Some enthusiasts rigged up a drip feed to inject small amounts of water into the inlet tube, and it seemed to improve smoothness of running.
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Complete shot in the dark but has the car been remapped? I know the gain on a non turbo is only small but it might have been remapped for improved driveability and for 97+ octane fuel.
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Try 95 ron from BP, our Forester 2.0x loves it.
MVP
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Since Subarus are supposed to be rugged cars, designed for use in less than ideal conditions I fail to see why they should be so picky about where their fuel is sourced from in the UK. I understand all supermarket fuel should meet the appropriate standards and that fuel in the UK is pretty decent. I think we have had this debate before.
My own Forester 2.0 X is perfectly happy with Sainsbury's, Tesco's, BP, etc, etc. No difference in performance and no discernible difference in mileage.
alfalfa
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Using a lower octane fuel may cause the ECU to retard ignition. Link here to some tests by tuning firm, using a chassis dyno: tinyurl.com/lt6wgt
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Yes Notones2, that seems to be the exact problem I am facing. Behaves just like a turbo lag on the lower octane fuel. As a matter of interest on the v-power I am now averging 31mpg, performance is smooth. I'm still curious to know why there should be such a big difference in performance on the Subaru. I had no discernible drop in perfomance on the Celica when using basic unleaded.
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Our Forester 2.0 auto did about 30 ish but never ran any different regardless of fuel or octane.
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Update. Problem now sourced to Tesco unleaded. Car running perfectly well on Shell unleaded. 31.8 mpg mixed driving.
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Pleased to hear you identified the likely source.
When I ran a series of Legacy turbo's the change in performance following a good 40 litres of Shell was most impressive.
Since then I have always run my Subaru's on Shell petrol + Millers Oil
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Hi Warren. I had a 1999 2.0 Legacy & it would only run ok on branded normal unleaded. On supermarket normal unleaded it was shocking; missing, flat, unresponsive. Changed the plugs, fuel filter, tried redex etc. Nothing worked. Remained ok on branded normal unleaded, but shocking on supermarket stuff. Seemed to like shell 95 ron normal unleaded, so that's what it was given.
Now got an 2002 Impreza 2.0 non turbo & it will run ok on anything. It's strange!
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I ran a 1998 Impreza 2.0 Sport (non-turbo) for a few months as a company car, and that would run happily on anything, including Tesco's fuel. Used to fill it up at the supermarket most of the time and no problems.
Got about 28 mpg average out of that, driving it fairly hard (sounded so lovely!) :-)
Edited by DP on 16/11/2009 at 10:46
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