Gas mileage in my '03 OBW

[M. Baker]

Well, I'm somewhat disappointed in the gas mileage I've gotten so far
in my OBW. The mfr's sticker when I bought the car said it gets 22/28
city/highway. I have a '03 OBW, 4-cylinder 2.5, automatic. After my
first fill-up, I've been keeping an eye on the tripometer (reset to 0
when I filled up), and I've only got 290 miles on the tank of gas when
the "low fuel" light came on this morning. The gas gauge is now
pointing at the "empty" line. Even if there's 2 gallons of gas to
spare after the light comes on, that means I'm only getting ~19 mpg.

And I know this isn't an accurate way to gauge, but when i was at 1/2
tank, I had 170 miles on the tank of gas so far. But yet on the second
half I only got 120 miles until it's on the "empty" line this morning.
WTF???

This car has the same size gas tank (16.9 gallons) as my '03 Mazda6.
My Mazda consistently gets 24-24mpg during normal driving around town.
This OBW is under 20mpg so far. I'm not a lead-foot, and I don't let
my car sit and idle any longer than necessary. If I get stopped by a
train, etc. I turn the car off so as not to waste gas. I realize it's
an AWD so it's not going to get as good of mileage as my Mazda, which
is FWD. But I expected low 20's around town, not 19 or worse
(depending on how much fuel is left after the Low Fuel light comes
on)!

What kind of gas mileage are you other OBW owners getting?

 

[Todd H.]

Well, I'm somewhat disappointed in the gas mileage I've gotten so far
in my OBW. The mfr's sticker when I bought the car said it gets 22/28
city/highway. I have a '03 OBW, 4-cylinder 2.5, automatic. After my
first fill-up, I've been keeping an eye on the tripometer (reset to 0
when I filled up), and I've only got 290 miles on the tank of gas when
the "low fuel" light came on this morning. The gas gauge is now
pointing at the "empty" line. Even if there's 2 gallons of gas to
spare after the light comes on, that means I'm only getting ~19 mpg.

Sounds about right. You live somewhere cold? FWIW, the low fuel
light comes on and I tend to be able to get another oh, 50mi out of
the car.

My Mazda consistently gets 24-24mpg during normal driving around
town.

It doesn't have a nice viscously coupled all wheel drive tranny it's
carrying around though.

What kind of gas mileage are you other OBW owners getting?

Winter city/suburbs does get as bad sub-20mpg. Factors from lurking
here for years include the winter gasoline mix here in Chicago, and
the losses of all that transmission fluid being so damned cold and
viscous. In summer, with the summer mix gasoline, and long trips on
the highway at legal speeds, the best I've done is 28.

Best Regards,

 

[AS]

Well, you stummbled on a sad subaru reality. Their engines are not the
most fuel efficient on the road.

Even though the proper way to measure mpg is only after you refuel your
car and get the gallons used figure you probably already know the things
that can improve your mileage a bit:

- Proper tune-up (air filters, spark plugs, wires, coolant temp sensor,
etc.)
- Tire inflation
- Wheel alignment
- Dead weight you carry around
- Driving style
- Road conditions

I get somewhere between 20 - 22 mpg in town and up to 25 highway.

Good luck

 

[M. Baker]

Yes, I live in Michigan, so we get cold (VERY cold last week) and
snow. Yeah, the AWD has gotten a little workout the past couple weeks,
so I'm sure that had something to do with it also.

I'm going to fill up tonight and figure my true mpg, so I'll know for
sure then. But just on my preliminary calculations I'm expecting
around 19. Hopefully it'll improve when we take it up north for its
first "road trip" since I bought it. That'll show me what kind of
hiway mileage it'll get. And yeah, maybe it'll improve a bit this
summer too. Like I said, I'm not a lead-foot and try not to stomp on
the brakes or gas pedal (unless necessary), and all I'm carrying is
the spare tire, bungee cords, little tool/first aid kit, etc. so
nothing heavy and no cross bars or anything on the roof. Would a rear
spoiler for the top of the hatchback make any difference?

I knew AWD wouldn't get as gooda mileage as my Mazda front-wheel
drive, but I guess I expected a little bit better than I've seen so
far. But this is the first time I've had an AWD car.

 

[Todd H.]

Yes, I live in Michigan, so we get cold (VERY cold last week) and
snow. Yeah, the AWD has gotten a little workout the past couple weeks,
so I'm sure that had something to do with it also.

I'm going to fill up tonight and figure my true mpg, so I'll know for
sure then. But just on my preliminary calculations I'm expecting
around 19. Hopefully it'll improve when we take it up north for its
first "road trip" since I bought it. That'll show me what kind of
hiway mileage it'll get. And yeah, maybe it'll improve a bit this
summer too. Like I said, I'm not a lead-foot and try not to stomp on
the brakes or gas pedal (unless necessary), and all I'm carrying is
the spare tire, bungee cords, little tool/first aid kit, etc. so
nothing heavy and no cross bars or anything on the roof. Would a rear
spoiler for the top of the hatchback make any difference?

Increase drag and decrease mileage probably.

I knew AWD wouldn't get as gooda mileage as my Mazda front-wheel
drive, but I guess I expected a little bit better than I've seen so
far. But this is the first time I've had an AWD car.

Yeah, I went from a Mazda 626 to an Outback, and if you look back in
2001 you'll probably find a post from me very similar to your own. I
wish they were more efficient machines.

 

[Oscar_Lives]

Well, I'm somewhat disappointed in the gas mileage I've gotten so far
in my OBW. The mfr's sticker when I bought the car said it gets 22/28
city/highway. I have a '03 OBW, 4-cylinder 2.5, automatic. After my
first fill-up, I've been keeping an eye on the tripometer (reset to 0
when I filled up), and I've only got 290 miles on the tank of gas when
the "low fuel" light came on this morning. The gas gauge is now
pointing at the "empty" line. Even if there's 2 gallons of gas to
spare after the light comes on, that means I'm only getting ~19 mpg.

And I know this isn't an accurate way to gauge, but when i was at 1/2
tank, I had 170 miles on the tank of gas so far. But yet on the second
half I only got 120 miles until it's on the "empty" line this morning.
WTF???

This car has the same size gas tank (16.9 gallons) as my '03 Mazda6.
My Mazda consistently gets 24-24mpg during normal driving around town.
This OBW is under 20mpg so far. I'm not a lead-foot, and I don't let
my car sit and idle any longer than necessary. If I get stopped by a
train, etc. I turn the car off so as not to waste gas. I realize it's
an AWD so it's not going to get as good of mileage as my Mazda, which
is FWD. But I expected low 20's around town, not 19 or worse
(depending on how much fuel is left after the Low Fuel light comes
on)!

What kind of gas mileage are you other OBW owners getting?

23.5 overall, with about 80% highway driving on an '07 LL Bean OBW with the
H6 3.0 litre.

 

[bigjim]

You dont buy a Subaru for MPG. My 04 normally gets 22-24 city in the
summer and the highest was 28. However it is better than any truck
you can buy yet the Subaru can handle most any conditions 99% of
trucks and SUV's can handle. Plus my OBW has proven to be reliable
and low maintenance.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Fill gas to full and set trip odometer to zero. Drive till tank is
low. Fill tank to full and divide miles driven (trip odometer) by the
gallons i.e. (12.24 gal). This is the only way and it is best to use
the same gas station (car level) and average 3-5 tank fills to get a
good average statistically.

 

[bugalugs]

Well, I'm somewhat disappointed in the gas mileage I've gotten so far
in my OBW. The mfr's sticker when I bought the car said it gets 22/28
city/highway. I have a '03 OBW, 4-cylinder 2.5, automatic. After my
first fill-up, I've been keeping an eye on the tripometer (reset to 0
when I filled up), and I've only got 290 miles on the tank of gas when
the "low fuel" light came on this morning. The gas gauge is now
pointing at the "empty" line. Even if there's 2 gallons of gas to
spare after the light comes on, that means I'm only getting ~19 mpg.

And I know this isn't an accurate way to gauge, but when i was at 1/2
tank, I had 170 miles on the tank of gas so far. But yet on the second
half I only got 120 miles until it's on the "empty" line this morning.
WTF???

This car has the same size gas tank (16.9 gallons) as my '03 Mazda6.
My Mazda consistently gets 24-24mpg during normal driving around town.
This OBW is under 20mpg so far. I'm not a lead-foot, and I don't let
my car sit and idle any longer than necessary. If I get stopped by a
train, etc. I turn the car off so as not to waste gas. I realize it's
an AWD so it's not going to get as good of mileage as my Mazda, which
is FWD. But I expected low 20's around town, not 19 or worse
(depending on how much fuel is left after the Low Fuel light comes
on)!

What kind of gas mileage are you other OBW owners getting?

You've got to measure it over a number of tankfulls to get a
representative reading. Another factor is the number of cold starts you
do. Doing a lot of cold short runs the engine uses a lot of fuel just
getting up to working temperature....and then you shut it off.

 

[M. Baker]

That is how I figure it out. My low fuel light came on this
morning, so I'm going to fill it up tonight on my way home, and figure
out what I got on this tank.

 

[M. Baker]

What's considered a "short run"? My commute to work is 11 miles each
way.

 

[bugalugs]

What's considered a "short run"? My commute to work is 11 miles each
way.

That could be a significant part of your problem. For the first 5 or so
miles your probably only getting 12 to 15, 18 MPG as everything warms up
to operating temperature.

 

[alf]

2002 OBW, H4, MT, 100K miles on it, only oil and filter being changed,
heavy footed driver (me):
-winter condition, most highway some suburbs: 20MPG
-car warmed up, 40F ambient temp. , drove at 60-65MPH yields 26MPH
-highway at 80MPH, a lot of hard accelerations - 22-23MPG

My friend's OWB H4 2006 with AT could reach 33MPH driven like 55MPH. He
normally get 26-8MPG when very gently driven.

A-

 

[M. Baker]

Well, I got 19.9 mpg on that tank of gas. We'll see as the summer goes
on, with changes in temperature, road conditions and gas mixture, if
it improves.

 

[Brad W.]

I have a 5spd Manual OBW 01 LTD Wagon and the BEST I've ever gotten was in
the summer and it was 29.8. Just ever so shy of the 30 mark.

 

[M. Baker]

On my 2nd tank of gas, which included ~70 miles on the highway using
cruise control, I got 20.5 mpg.

Looks like I'll have to be satisfied getting around 20mpg, at least
until summer. I'd like to know why the sticker said 22/28 when
it's not even close so far. I know mfr gas mileage aren't 100%
accurate, but they're usually in the ballpark.

At least on my '03 Mazda, I'm getting what the sticker said. Average
about 24.5mpg in "city" (suburban) driving and about 30mpg on the
highway with cruise control.

 

[DS]

How's this for not matching the sticker: my wife's 2002 Golf TDI is supposed
to get 42/49. Last summer we were getting highway mileage of 55+ even with
the AC on. Always nice to err on the bonus side.

Unfortunately the mileage suffers in the winter.

DS

 

[M. Baker]

A little better again this time/tank: 20.7 mpg. This included some
AWD-usage on snow/slippery roads, but not much.
I'm going to check my air filter too...I just read that changing that
can increase your gas mileage up to TEN PERCENT. That's a lot. Wonder
if they're on sale anywhere? My husband prefers FRAM, altho I don't
know if brand really matters...?

 

[M. Baker]

Well, a little better this time/tank: 20.7 mpg.

This was with a little bit of AWD usage on snow/slippery roads, maybe
20% of the tank.

I have to remember to check my air filter...I just read that a new/
clean filter can improve gas mileage up to TEN PERCENT. That's a
lot! I wonder if they're on sale anywhere...my husband prefers FRAM
but I don't know if brand matters in air filters?

 

[DS]

Unless they changed the meaning of AWD, your Subaru is always driving all
four wheels. So your statement below makes no sense. You are using AWD for
100% of your tank, period. Temperature will affect your mileage, as will
driving style. You don't have a part-time 4WD so stop blaming poor mileage
on AWD.

DS