Will my mpg's get better?

[Nicolaas]

I have been reading about OBW drivers getting about 25-27mpg. I am getting
18-21mpg. I have a 2005 OBW 2.5i.
Will it get better?

 

[Edward Hayes]

My Forester with the 2.5L yields about 20-22 in urban driving and
27-28 at 65-70 mph on 100 mile road trips. My mileage improved about 2
mpg after the first oil change at ~ 2,500 miles. My driving style is
that most of the shifts with my AT occur before 2,500 rpm. Maybe your
pushing it a bit harder???

 

[Nicolaas]

Maybe. I'll pay more attention to that, and keep an eye on the mpg's. I
currently have about 2000 miles on the OBW, if that means anything.

 

[jabario]

Subie mileage will improve after about 10000 miles. You should expect
22-24 city and in the high 20's in pure highway driving.

 

[Nicolaas]

That's good to know. Thanks!

 

[Al]

Subie mileage will improve after about 10000 miles. You should expect
22-24 city and in the high 20's in pure highway driving.

You must have a special one. My wife's H6 gets about 16 MPG overall. My
'91 Jeep gets 14 MPG overall. These are real numbers from actual
experience.

Al

 

[P T]

If you live in a place like I live (Minnesota) you will see your mpg
improve in April or so.

 

[jabario]

I have the 2.5 use synthetic oil and a K&n filter . I dont think this
is unusual. I'll be driving a long trip in march and I hope it is
higher. The 6 will definitely get worse mpg and the jeep is typical.
My 94 Trooper avg'd 14-16 city. Try the k&n filter and clean it out
will a bottle of RXP gas kicker.

 

[Jay Alperson]

California gas gives mine lower results. When I go to a neighboring state,
I get 26-28mpg highway; CA it runs about 24-26 mpg highway.

 

[jabario]

In the NE the oxygenated fuel will cost you a couple mpg's

 

[Rick Courtright]

Maybe. I'll pay more attention to that, and keep an eye on the mpg's. I
currently have about 2000 miles on the OBW, if that means anything.

Hi,

Watch for changes as the more volatile "winter" fuels are replaced in
spring: people from many areas report lower mileage when using "winter"
fuels, especially with shorter trips. If your local fuel is an alcohol
blend, expect lower mileage, too. Alcohol may be cleaner, but has fewer
BTUs per unit of volume, so it returns lower mileage. And with more
miles, your car may start doing better regardless of fuel.

Rick

 

[jbaker]

My Y2K OB has 110,000 miles and I still get 28 mpg (winter) to 30 mpg
(summer) with it. That is driving between Portland, OR and Sun Valley,
ID running between 75-80 mph. I will say this, my OB seems to be
pretty sensitive to being kept tunned, compared to any other car I have
owned. Pay very close attention to spark plugs, plug wires and air
filters (I have a K&N and yes it made about 1 mpg difference, but keep
it clean). The OB seems to also be sensitve to gas brands. While I
have never seen any improvement running anything other than regular, I
seem to do better with good brands like Chevron or Exxon. It also does
well with Pilot (go figure). Some of the other brands it doesn't like
as well, don't know what the difference it.

Others have made this comment, it took about 15,000-20,000 miles before
I started getting this kind of mileage. The boxer seems to take a long
time to break in.

The interesting thing is my OB has never done as well as my Acura TL.
I can get 35 mpg with the Acura, loaded with 4 people and all our
luggage. The Acura is a bigger heavier car with a bigger, more
powerful engine. I think mileage is a valid complaint about the
Subarus. They are heavy cars, but there are other cars out there just
as heavy that do better.

Jack

 

[Rick Courtright]

powerful engine. I think mileage is a valid complaint about the
Subarus. They are heavy cars, but there are other cars out there just
as heavy that do better.

Hi,

I think you're right: I don't recall any Subies I've known of personally
that were really impressive in the fuel economy department. Not sure
why. And I don't think it's a weight/AWD issue, at least not totally: my
'90 Loyale, 1.8l, 5 spd, 4wd (which means 2wd unless I switch it) gets
27-28 mpg on most long trips (usually running right at 70--much above
that and it starts breathing pretty hard, especially loaded) while my
'92 Camry, 3.0l V-6 auto, weighing close to 1000 lbs more, gets almost
identical mileage on longer trips, but it's a chore to keep it DOWN to
75-80 mph on open road while still turning in that kind of mileage.

Where the weight and other penalties really come into play for me is
around town--the Subie runs 22-24 mpg around town, which isn't much of a
drop, but it doens't take much town driving before the Toyota will only
get 17-18! Wonder if this is similar to peoples' experience with the
newer, heavier Subies?

Rick

 

[Florian Feuser /FFF/]

On 2/28/05 12:02 PM Rick Courtright wrote:

[my..] '90 Loyale, 1.8l, 5 spd, 4wd (which means 2wd
unless I switch it) gets
27-28 mpg on most long trips (usually running right at
70--much above that and it starts breathing pretty hard, especially
loaded) while my '92 Camry, 3.0l V-6 auto, weighing close to 1000
lbs more, gets almost identical mileage on longer trips, but it's a
chore to keep it DOWN to 75-80 mph on open road while still turning
in that kind of mileage.

My 98 GT Wagon (2.5l AT) is currently getting 19mpg 70% highway 30% urban - with
tons of traffic. During the summer, this goes up to 22 - 23mpg.

[I think the curb weight of that car is close to the 05 Legacy and a bit under
the 2000 - 04 model]

My previous Legacy - a 95 2.2 MT AWD wagon - got 25mpg in the same conditions
and up to 28mpg highway.

The difference makes sense considering the higher weight, greater displacement
engine and AT of the later model.

I believe Subaru offered pretty much the same car in AWD and a FWD version until
96. I'd be interested to know how the FWD Brighton (?) compares to the AWD
version and if it is in fact the addition of the AWD that's causing the fuel
economy to take a dive.

florian

 

[WRXtreme]

If you live in a place like I live (Minnesota) you will see your mpg
improve in April or so.

I can vouch for that, North Dakota gas seems to get better in April here
too....that or there's less dense air going through the MAF so the ECU
doesn't add a ton of fuel to compensate.