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Subaru Legacy/Outback: MPG-Real World Numbers
With the price of gas being what it is, your real world mileage is becoming more important than the estimates on the sticker. This is the place to talk about your real world on the road results!
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Rural/Suburban driving: a daily mix of hilly backroads, a bit of highway, and some stop-sign & traffic light in-town travel.
Driving style: slightly leadfoot
Recently changed to 5w-30 Mobil 1, on Mid-Hudson NY 'Summer' reformulated gas (10% ethanol, 87 octane). Last few fillups slightly topped 24 mpg.
Wintertime / early Spring driving with snow tires ran around the 21-22 mpg range.
Steve
I drive mostly country/rural driving and interstate highway (I live in the Northern Catskills/Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York). I rarely exceed 65 MPH on the interstate in an effort to increase fuel economy. On long downhill sections of roadways, I often shift into neutral to lessen the engine speed and gas consumption.
My old lady habits pay off with good fuel economy. My vehicle is EPA rated 19 MPG city/25 MPG highway. I tend to average 25-26.5 MPG with 90% rural/country/highway driving. The remaining 10% of mileage per tank is often stop-and-go traffic in suburban New Jersey and driving in evening rush hour traffic in Manhattan/NYC. If my driving excludes NJ/NYC rush hours and is completely rural driving, I can get 26-27 MPG. On long highway stretches of non-stop driving using cruise control, I can usually get 28-29 MPG, once even 30 MPG, as long as I don't exceed 65 MPH. All of these figures are mathematically calculated. I find the car's computer is usually overly optimistic by 0.8-1.5 MPG.
My car, in non-winter months, is equipped with Pirelli PZero Nero M+S tires which I usually have pumped up 2-3 PSI above what Subaru recommends, which for my car is 35 PSI front and 33 PSI rear. These tires have a fairly high rolling resistance, especially in comparison to the OEM Potenza RE92 tires (but they handle so much better!). I normally travel alone in the car without any passengers with the exception of my dogs. My winter fuel economy tends to be lower, attributable to the use of winter tires, winter fuel composition, and colder operating temperatures.
I fuel my car with 93 octane fuel mostly, but when 91 octane is available (most Sunoco stations) I will often purchase that if it saves me a couple of cents per gallon (my turbo engine requires 91+ octane).
Mostly highway driving -- go from Prov, RI area to Montreal every few weeks. At the beginning was averaging perhaps 26 - 27 on these trips, but then beginning last November gas mileage dropped by a few miles per gallon, and remained lower until just a month or so ago. Was it the winter fuel they use here in New England, or because I got new tires last November (Goodyear Triple Treads)?
My gas consumption figures are fairly accurate as they are based on actual usage. The trip computer, as it is in most cars I have owned, overly "optomistic" on gas consumption. I would estimate that it is almost always higher than actual by 1.5 to 2 mpg.
My driving habits are quite conservative. On long trips rarely over 75 mpg, usually more like 70 on the turnpike. If I do little long distance travel for a few weeks & mostly short stuff, actual mileage more like 22 - 23. Can't complain for a AWD vehicle.
Enjoy the vehicle and congrats.
-juice
I sure wish I could get better mileage as I made a big sacrafice getting the 168 hp 6. My driving habits are quite conservative, but on the highway, run around 70. Suppose if I dropped it down to 60 or 65 mpg would improve a bit.
Lemme know if you ever want to sell that bad boy!
-juice
Last summer I was averaging 22.2 mpg with a little more highway.
My computer said 21.9..... so I'm a bit disappointed since a good portion of those 142 miles were highway.
I drove with Bob to the NY show and I think we got 28 mpg in a WRX turbo, and it was the 2.5l turbo.
-juice
My highway mileage in the H-6 automatic was 25.5 mpg travelling between 80 and 85 mph on the interstate.
In all city driving it varies between 17 and 19 depending on the season (winter being the lowest).
I alternate between 89 Octane (10% ethanol) and 92 Octane BP gasoline.
I notice lower fuel economy after resetting the ECU, but better driveability (acceleration, throttle response, shift points).
-juice
My average is in line with Consumer Reports and other car magazines like Popular Mechanics. They all say about 21 mpg.
Plus, the EJ22 was an engine before its time! :shades:
-juice
My '98 Forester has actually been doing better than average, I'm getting 27mpg pretty consistently. I have taken a lot of road trips lately so a lot of that is highway miles.
-juice
Best mileage was 31.05 on non-stop trip from Gettysburg to Long Island, NY with cruise control set at 65mph. I live on LI and travel daily mixed highway and city with multiple stops. Worst mileage was 19mpg.
Oh well, hopefully they will re-style the Outback over the next few years....more rear leg room, perhaps? Auto up window, perhaps? Retained accessory power, perhaps? Better stock stereo, perhaps? These little 'omitted' design elements are minor annoyances, but really necessary considering most other cars now offer them as standard.
Also, the octane is probably higher in LA, 87 vs. probably 85 I'd guess. That also should not cause a drop in mileage, though.
Strange...
COBB Tuning, for example, had different ECU maps for CA cars to factor in the crummy gas that we receive here...the original map that they were using on to reflash the computers on WRXs was causing some noticable drivability problems (stumbling, etc) in CA cars.
It's ironic that in a state so obsessed with emmissions and efficiency that they would supply gas that routinely delivers *less* efficiency than neighboring states.
Brian
Here in MD most pumps have switched over to E10, i.e. 10% ethanol. There is less energy in ethanol so most people will get a slight drop in efficiency.
#1- it costs 15 to 20 cents less per gallon.
#2- I get the best MPG from a Shell station in MN with 10% ethanol(29mpg in a 2001 Outback with 110K miles).
--jay
Personally, I have not observed a noticeable change in MPG since MD went with E10.
-Brian
There arer a fair number of possibilites. Try running the tank right down and then refill through several cycles using a good quality branded (eg Shell etc) fuel rather than supermarket or discount chain. The ethanol mix should not change economy much.
Also consciously think about driving habits of those around you. I find my fuel economy changes between cities although ostensibly the traffic is about the same. This is probaby because of the need to drive differently in differnt traffic conditions. For example, here in Australia, the traffic in Melbourne is solid but fairly calm. Sydney is more aggressive although congestion is probably about the same at present. I find my usage leaps when I drive in Sydney because you have to be more pushy to retaing your place in traffic
Cheers
Graham
You're running leaner in CO due to the altitude and richer in CA as the ECU adjust for condition.
The ECU should settle in to CA conditions after a few hundred miles.
-Dave
I am looking at a 2008 Outback and like the 6 cylinder but might just buy the 2.5 if there is a huge difference in MPG.
Thanks for the info!
The one road trip so far (190 miles) yielded 22.9 MPG
Around town it gets 13 to 15 MPG
I'm hoping that the engine will loosen over the next few thousand miles and the highway mileage will improve.
A battery failed on me just before a long highway trip, resetting the ECU.
Jim
FYI everyone, Reno sits at an altitude of 4,500 feet while Sac is virtually a sea level. In between is Donner Pass that rises to about 7,200 feet. The trip is about 120 miles depending on the exact door to door locations.
Just my 1.5 cents.