Subaru: The future is electric and diesel

Jay

the fool on the hill
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Subaru has revealed more details about its forthcoming diesel WRX.

Speaking to Motor Authority, Dominick Infante, national manager of product communications for Subaru of America said the car will be ?very very quiet? and you will only notice it at idle.

The diesel WRX?s economy will be on a par with the oil-burning Outback, which averages 38mpg on motorway driving, adding the move to diesel results in ?no small increase in fuel economy?.

?At full throttle in this car it?s designed to be very very quiet. That Subie thrum is still there but with the work that the engineers did on quieting the car you really only notice it at idle, under acceleration it?s just really quiet in there,? he said.

There is a also a hybrid Scooby in the pipeline, thanks to the company?s new found friendship with Toyota.

There are few specifics on what kind of car it is but it is expected to have the usual Subaru characteristics, including a symmetrical AWD system and seating for five.

If this isn?t enough Subaru is also working on a pure electric car with its R1e program.

It won?t go into mass production but will be a test bed for a future where Subaru believes plug-in electric cars are a serious option for all driving needs.

Also, one of the reps from Subaru has told me Fuji Heavy Industries is buying up every patent and idea with regard to electric or hydrogen engines.

Source.
 
They fucked up the the WRX seriously already with the current generation model. Now they are proud they managed to silence it almost completely when being trashed full throttle?!
Subaru has really dropped the ball.

What's next, hybrid diesel-powered STi?
 
The new Legacy and Outback Boxer Diesel are available to Order!

http://www.triangleofchesterfield.co.uk/

EDIT/ holy enormus font batman - how'd that happen? - Fixed, I am "not on the ball" to day sorry. Diesel Scooby, something not quite right but they have actually been getting rave reviews for the engine - seems that the BOXER is a great config for a diesel.[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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Yeah, we should see the diesel version of the Legacy here in 2010. About time, and I bet it will last a long time because of the flat four engine configuration.

EDIT: Aww, you're no fun, Ian. ;)
 
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Ladies and Gentlemen, we're witnessing the end of an era: The fire breathing road-going rally car is dying.
 
Well, consider this:


1)I am sure in some countries diesels are taxed less.

2)it will be, more than likely, under two liters, thus getting by yet another pesky tax.

3)Imagine having the same 230 horsepower, but maybe 300-400 foot pounds of torque!

4)I can attest that all usable power is from 2500 to 5000 rpm's.*

5)Torque gets you going, horsepower keeps you moving. Now imagine 400 foot pounds of torque in an all wheel drive car that weighs 1500 kilos launching from a standstill.

6)Performance when you want it. Using my own 2.5 liter WRX for comparison, it has so much low range, useable torque I can accelerate at a good pace from 1500 rpms in fourth gear. I short shift at 2200 rpms and I can get 28 MPG. The diesel version could get 50% better than that.

7)Audi R10 diesel. Must I say anymore?

As much as I hate and loathe it, the world is changing. Subaru might be on to something that may revolutionize sport sedans. What if Porsche had to start running diesels in their cars to skirt around some stupid ass regulation? You can bet they would closely examine Subaru's diesel design.

*In my 2.5 liter WRX.
 
A rally-bred AWD sedan with a turbodiesel? Sounds like a match made in heaven. With all that torque going to four wheels, it should really move. As for them making it completely silent, that's just lame. I'm not much of a fan of diesel noise, but it's definitely better than nothing.
 
If this isn?t enough Subaru is also working on a pure electric car with its R1e program.

It won?t go into mass production but will be a test bed for a future where Subaru believes plug-in electric cars are a serious option for all driving needs.

They really need to focus more on this, then Diesel... the Tesla has now set the standard
 
The new diesels are actually pretty nice.

Also you have to take into account the fact that running a petrol/gasoline engine on biofuels requires some modification. Diesels can run on used vegetable oil without needing anything. This means that there is less of a necessity to completely change the line up in order to accommodate biodiesel. Hydrogen cells are nice but they will require a whole new factory toolset and for people to actually buy a new car.

Besides does the diesel in the R8 V12 TDI make it any more boring ;)
 
Besides does the diesel in the R8 V12 TDI make it any more boring ;)

Well, consider this:


3)Imagine having the same 230 horsepower, but maybe 300-400 foot pounds of torque!

It's useless to bring the Audi R8 V12 card up. The fact is Subaru already has the engine. They are selling the new boxer diesel in Legacy and Outback models and next year it can be had with Impreza as well.
It is no V12, V8 or even V6 but a tiny 4 cylinder 2-litre, 150 BHP diesel engine and it'll have bit more power in upcoming WRX diesel but it will be nowhere near petrol WRXs 230 BHP.
 
Diesel. WRX. *shudders*

I haven't heard a lot of good about the diesel boxer..
 
I may be alone in this, but :

YAY! Diesel means torque, torque means epic win.
That is all.

I'm all for having 250ish hp in a WRX, but not having to shift or having to wait for turbos to spool up and having a zillion lb/ft FTW
 
UK is getting Forrester with a 2.2-litre diesel, this is coming along in September. It will be a 4 pot BOXER. Now how they are going to get this into an Impreza I am not sure, and it may depend upon the weight is it going to compromise the handling in any way? - but if anyone can sort out a nimble 4 wd diesel then it will be these guys. ...
 
UK is getting Forrester with a 2.2-litre diesel, this is coming along in September. It will be a 4 pot BOXER. Now how they are going to get this into an Impreza I am not sure, and it may depend upon the weight is it going to compromise the handling in any way? - but if anyone can sort out a nimble 4 wd diesel then it will be these guys. ...

No, it's the same 2.0 diesel not 2.2l.
Noodle: It'll have nowhere near 250hp...
 
No, it's the same 2.0 diesel not 2.2l.
Noodle: It'll have nowhere near 250hp...

well if BMW can get 170 bhp out of a 2.0l diesel (204 hp chipped, a mate of mine has this car, it's batshite insane quick), I guess Subaru can do something similar

bear in mind that this is the first ever boxer diesel, so it'll get better and more refined in the future.
 
Newsflash! Subaru is WRONG! Well, as we can see from the latest impreza, they've been wrong before..
 
It won't matter if it has 1000 "torqs", that is only half of the equation when it comes to acceleration. Engine RPM is the other bit, and the two combined is how we get horsepower. So you can have all the torque of a nuclear aircraft carrier, but if the engine is only spinning at low RPMs then you are going to go very very slooooowly.
 
It won't matter if it has 1000 "torqs", that is only half of the equation when it comes to acceleration. Engine RPM is the other bit, and the two combined is how we get horsepower. So you can have all the torque of a nuclear aircraft carrier, but if the engine is only spinning at low RPMs then you are going to go very very slooooowly.

Like I said earlier,

5)Torque gets you going, horsepower keeps you moving. Now imagine 400 foot pounds of torque in an all wheel drive car that weighs 1500 kilos launching from a standstill.
 
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