Great question, John. Hopefully it is more of the later.
While the numbers on the sticker are wonders to behold (such as 47 on the Fusion), I think I would much prefer to be pleasantly surprised by beating the EPA numbers than disappointed by falling short.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
The Hybrid is appx. 300lbs heavier and the N/A engine already has the CVT transmission so the only thing I could think of that would increase hwy mpgs would be aerodynamics & low roll resistance tires? Hence not much gain in the hwy mpg, but rather a greater gain in the city mpgs.
Oh, I agree, I don't really see the Hybrid advantage over the N/A Crosstrek at all. Not to mention a 2 gallon smaller tank that will reduce your overall driving range, not sure why Subaru is doing this other to say they have a hybrid in their cuv/wagon lineup???
No, you nailed it. That's the only reason. But, in this day of thinking where "hybrid" automatically equals "green," they have to do it for marketing reasons. It's not enough that they have the zero-landfill plant!
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
but, if this is what they have come up with, it's actually a disadvantage since it appears to be a failure. Subaru has come up with aesthetic failures in the past 10 years, but I haven't seen what would be called a technical failure in that period.
You have to ask the question, "what were they thinking?".
I thought the 2014 FXT was supposed to be able to run on regular unleaded, with premium for slightly better performance. Now, I see on the Subaru site that premium 91 is required and 93 is recommended. What gives?
Tires are 225/60x18, so the rim size is 1" larger. They kept the adjustable fold-away roof rack. I also see memory seats. Hard to tell here with all the camo, but my gut tells me this car may be more sleek than the current model. I sure hope so. Note that it is accompanied by an Audi Allroad, which suggests it may be moving a bit upmarket.
but my gut tells me this car may be more sleek than the current model. I sure hope so
I sure hope so on the sleek too. It wouldn't kill Subaru to have a hands down attractive car, particularly the sedan. The Impreza hatch is sort of growing on me though.
I'd be thrilled if one day the cars appeared like the concepts.
I'm interested to see what it looks like. It clearly has bulbous head and tail lights, which is always awkward (IMO), so it's still on the current Subaru path.
People don't seem to generally care about cars being ugly, though, so what's it really matter?
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
I don't get the bulbous thing either -- I find it and most others not flush with the body pretty fugly. There's a reason you don't see it on upscale cars.
If they don't make the Outback sleeker (which is tricky to do given the name and expectation), what they need to do I think is separate the Outback and Legacy more styling-wise. Let the Outback be more rugged-looking and the Legacy go sleeker. Less sharing of body panels, etc. and more cost, but they're serving very different buyers.
been wondering the same too. I'm still looking for US specs on the hybrid Crosstrek to come out. I'm determined to get something like it, the VW wagon, or a C-Max. Definitely want mpg in the 40's this time.
Yeah, and in the quest for more mpg and a better car, I'm about to dump my '06 Tribeca for a diesel Grand Cherokee. Hard to believe Subaru has nothing new in this category.
I would be in a diesel Subie today, had they brought it to the US. I would have thought it to be a no brainer: if you make a new diesel engine, it better have enough newness to meet emission specs anywhere in the world, without all the fancy bandaids that have been added for an existing diesel.
I think VW has proven that sales of US diesel cars can be profitable.
Audi just launched a campaign touting the advantages of diesel here in the US. Now that mpg seems firmly planted as something US consumers value, we'll see more and more diesel outside of the Germans. To wit, Cruze diesel, Mazda 6 diesel. As with hybrid and some other stuff, Subaru is usually a follower on these things. They don't have the resources many other companies have for hybrid tech, but since they already sell diesel elsewhere, it's frustrating they don't sell it here. Yeah, they might have to re-engineer some for emissions, but you wouldn't think that would be a deal-breaker to get it here if they wanted to.
I'd love a diesel Subaru with a 6-speed manual tranny to replace my 2000 Legacy. Unfortunately, it looks like I might have to settle with an Impreza 5M to get reasonable mpg w/AWD.
If Golf & Jetta TDIs had AWD, Subaru would probably lose a sale. They don't require the "blue" additive and meet emission standards.
Tribeca hasn't been updated since 2008. Some competitors have had 2 since then.
I think the Forester now has more interior and cargo space.
Ironically, now that the Outback has grown, a Tribeca based on that larger platform could be competitive. Look at Pilot, Highlander, and now Pathfinder sales. This is a big segment.
Huge segment, and there's nowhere for Subie owners who want to move into it to go but elsewhere. Amazing that my choice if I want to replace my 06 TriBeCa and stay in the Subaru world is to basically buy the same car.
Hopefully with the increased sales/revenue over the last few years they have the development money to create something new for the segment.
Yeah, I'll wait a couple of weeks too. The renderings of the rest which I saw were disappointing but may be totally off.
Not nuts about the Legacy concept, very tired of the big character line colliding with the oversized front wheel well look. That's been done to death for me.
Like on the Impreza, the wheel wells up front look grafted on, though a bit less so on the Concept. They need to continue into the door panel at least for some elegance a la the Mazda 6.
Don't worry, it won't come to NA. Made narrower than the sedan like the old WRX and STi which screams JDM - there is some tax or registration regs there which relate to wagons of a certain width. I have forgotten all the subtleties, but basically under 1.7m wide and less than 2.0L wagons are classified as compact commercial.
well...my wife's cousin showed up today for Thanksgiving, NOT in their Outback (which seems to have been kicking the bucket around 170k) but in a new VW Jetta Hybrid. Yeah, and they said they got 47 mpg on the trip over. That's the new, trick 1.4 liter turbo direct inject. They had nothing bad to say about it (other than initial $$$$): quiet, comfortable, and a nice upgrade from the Outback.
hmmm...I still think that the hybrid in the Crosstrek must be able to add more than 1 mpg highway. Ok, vs the Jetta hybrid, an AWD penalty of say 3 mpg, and a raised/higher profile penalty of 3 mpg, the Crosstrek hybrid should be able to make 40 mpg highway IMO. Seems reasonable given that the Impreza hatch with CVT will get 35mpg highway without difficulty.
it was bigger than our 2012 Impreza hatch (wider and longer, but a sedan). I was surprised at the size, I thought maybe it was a Passat at first glance.
Does anyone besides me think there is just no way Subaru would really go ahead with dropping the WRX hatchback and only offering the sedan? In my area, the hatches outnumber the sedans about 6 to 1.
Could it be that they are just a little late in designing the hatch and it will follow the launch of the new WRX by a few months? Seems impossible to believe there will be no WRX hatchback after 2014.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I am on the same page as you with this one. I think they'll introduce the hatch a little ways down the road; maybe even for MY16. I guess it doesn't really matter to me at this point. I'm content with what I own, so I'll just sit back and watch for now.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
@nippononly said:
Does anyone besides me think there is just no way Subaru would really go ahead with dropping the WRX hatchback and only offering the sedan? In my area, the hatches outnumber the sedans about 6 to 1.
Could it be that they are just a little late in designing the hatch and it will follow the launch of the new WRX by a few months? Seems impossible to believe there will be no WRX hatchback after 2014.
I think we will see the Levorg wagon here next year as a 2016 model. It's basically a more luxurious "GT" version of the WRX.
@rsholland said:
Trying to figure out this new Edmunds format... Is there a way to delete your own post, within the 4-hour edit window?
If you don't have a "Delete" option in the geartooth Tools menu at the top-right of the post, you can at least delete all the text in the Edit function and leave a blank post.
Comments
While the numbers on the sticker are wonders to behold (such as 47 on the Fusion), I think I would much prefer to be pleasantly surprised by beating the EPA numbers than disappointed by falling short.
I do get it for the Subie mpg on the highway, but not how the others can be 47 and the XV only 34.
John
That's a rather huge discrepancy.
You have to ask the question, "what were they thinking?".
John
It should win that title without the hybrid powertrain because it is a compact car to begin with.
Of course it cold exceed EPA numbers, let's see the road tests.
It is, but it isn't. :sick:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=40172419&postcount=77
Tires are 225/60x18, so the rim size is 1" larger. They kept the adjustable fold-away roof rack. I also see memory seats. Hard to tell here with all the camo, but my gut tells me this car may be more sleek than the current model. I sure hope so. Note that it is accompanied by an Audi Allroad, which suggests it may be moving a bit upmarket.
Rumored to debut at Detroit show in January.
Bob
Since the Outback is getting 18" rims, I'm guessing the same holds true for the Legacy. The tires do look a bit larger here than on current models.
Profile suggests a bit of WRX Concept influence here—which is good.
Bob
I sure hope so on the sleek too. It wouldn't kill Subaru to have a hands down attractive car, particularly the sedan. The Impreza hatch is sort of growing on me though.
I'd be thrilled if one day the cars appeared like the concepts.
People don't seem to generally care about cars being ugly, though, so what's it really matter?
Sales still going thru the roof.
John
I think VW has proven that sales of US diesel cars can be profitable.
John
I'd be tempted by a diesel Subie too.
I'd love a diesel Subaru with a 6-speed manual tranny to replace my 2000 Legacy. Unfortunately, it looks like I might have to settle with an Impreza 5M to get reasonable mpg w/AWD.
If Golf & Jetta TDIs had AWD, Subaru would probably lose a sale. They don't require the "blue" additive and meet emission standards.
I think the Forester now has more interior and cargo space.
Ironically, now that the Outback has grown, a Tribeca based on that larger platform could be competitive. Look at Pilot, Highlander, and now Pathfinder sales. This is a big segment.
I doubt they will, though.
Hopefully with the increased sales/revenue over the last few years they have the development money to create something new for the segment.
Do this - let Subaru engineer it, which worked for the FT86. Toyota can add DI, cabin tech, and let each have a unique design.
http://theautopanel.blogspot.com/2013/11/2015-wrxsti-unofficially-revealed.html
Bob
Not nuts about the Legacy concept, very tired of the big character line colliding with the oversized front wheel well look. That's been done to death for me.
Like on the Impreza, the wheel wells up front look grafted on, though a bit less so on the Concept. They need to continue into the door panel at least for some elegance a la the Mazda 6.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/20/2015-subaru-wrx-2013-la/
That could appear with 3 turbos:
small (1.6l it gets now)
medium (2.0l from the base WRX)
large (2.5l from the STI)
Made narrower than the sedan like the old WRX and STi which screams JDM - there is some tax or registration regs there which relate to wagons of a certain width. I have forgotten all the subtleties, but basically under 1.7m wide and less than 2.0L wagons are classified as compact commercial.
hmmm...I still think that the hybrid in the Crosstrek must be able to add more than 1 mpg highway. Ok, vs the Jetta hybrid, an AWD penalty of say 3 mpg, and a raised/higher profile penalty of 3 mpg, the Crosstrek hybrid should be able to make 40 mpg highway IMO. Seems reasonable given that the Impreza hatch with CVT will get 35mpg highway without difficulty.
John
Sedan, right? I think they stopped selling the wagon.
I'd take the previous wagon TDI over the new hybrid sedan.
The Jetta Sport Wagon with TDI is still for sale.
Could it be that they are just a little late in designing the hatch and it will follow the launch of the new WRX by a few months? Seems impossible to believe there will be no WRX hatchback after 2014.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I think we will see the Levorg wagon here next year as a 2016 model. It's basically a more luxurious "GT" version of the WRX.
Bob
More Levorg concepts to be shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January.
Trying to figure out this new Edmunds format... Is there a way to delete your own post, within the 4-hour edit window?
Subaru to show a bunch of Levorg concepts at Tokyo Auto Salon in January.
http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2014-subaru-levorg-concepts-to-bow-at-2014-tokyo-auto-salon.html
If you don't have a "Delete" option in the geartooth Tools menu at the top-right of the post, you can at least delete all the text in the Edit function and leave a blank post.
2015 WRX STI images leaked.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/08/2015-subaru-wrx-sti-photos-leak/
This is the Launch Edition model. It's the only trim level with gold wheels. I'm hoping the Limited model comes without the arrest-me-now wing.
Bob