Yeah the VP of SOA basically said "we need to make more efficient vehicles so we can balance out our turbo polluters and make more turbo cars"


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verc,
what day? which section? thanks in advance

 

I thought Subaru was modifying one of their cars so it can be classified as a light truck.

 

time for a boxer hybrid engine!

 

I think this is really being spun in a strange way- Subaru is making changes to the outback that will allow it to fit the SUV/truck catagory which is pretty much the tactic everyone in the industry has gone after with all of these car-like "crossover" SUV's.

Subie engines already burn quite cleanly, as evidenced by guys here who have taken off cats and such and still pass smog.

The silly federal regulations allow worse fuel economy and smog out of SUV's, so of course auto mfg's are going to exploit that anyway they can.
The whole corporate average fuel economy thing might have been a good idea in principle, but wound up being the only constraint to higher performance offerings from manufacturers with limited engine choices.

Subaru has only 3 engines currently offered in the US (in various states of tune and set-up), EJ20T EJ25 and EJ25T, with the popularity of the 2.5T's already offered, I expect they are getting challenged to meet the CAFE regs, so moving the outback will allow the CAFE numbers to line up better and at the same time provide another outlet for the 2.5T motor without killing their overall CAFE rating.

But seriously, Ford, GM and Chrysler led the chagre in this direction 10-15 years ago, and the big Japanese companies caught on a couple years later- for Subaru to get tons of flack for following suit in 2004 with ONE MODEL, is pathetic.

 

well, to quote the article, "This move will let Subaru sell more vehicles with turbocharger, which pep up performance but hurt miledge"

I guess the rule is that the average mpg of the fleet has to be above a certain amount? I didn't quite get it.

 

I've read that there were tariffs placed on imported trucks that fell away only a few years ago...that was the primary reason no European manufacturers sold trucks in the US. I can't remember the details though, so I may be full of it!
It does irritate me that the government is essentially encouraging people to buy behemoths by not requiring them to meet the same emissions requirements as cars.

 

this is the whole reason the PT Cruiser exists and is classified as a light truck.

 

the PT cruiser is a light truck? wtf?

 

light as a truck, heavy on the ugly.

 

LMAO....I would consider that as FUGLY.....LOL....

-Ted