More diesel Scoobys on the horizon

E92

Yup, the Impreza will be getting a diesel for 2009, as will the Forester, from the end of the month.

The Forester has 145 bhp, while the Impreza retains the 148 bhp found in the Legacy. CO2 in the Forester is a rather impressive 167 g/km, one of the lowest in the class, and a big improvement on the 2.0 petrol's 199 g/km.

Both models will have a 6 speed box rather than the 5 speed box found in the Legacy too.

More info here.

pburns

Pretty much as expected. I'd still go for the Legacy though. Hopefully they'll evolve the styling of the current model rather than do something crazy. I could live with this as a replacement for the current one:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=126468

I don't see too many on the road around my parts though. Possibly because they were only introduced in July and the new car market is dead. 6 gears will presumably mean it'll be easier to access the power band?

I found mine to be lacking in torque at first but this has improved as the miles rack up. And way ahead of most rivals for NVH suppression I'd say.

O - bring the top specs into Ireland though please and eke the power out a bit more to rival the newest 320d.

unkel

pburns wrote: »

Pretty much as expected.

Indeed. Without the diesels, it would have been the end of Subaru in this country

245

The diesel Legacy is rarer on the roads than I would have expected - maybe people are taking a wait and see attitude on the new engine's reliability or perhaps they're waiting for 2009.

There is talk of greater output from the engine (180 to 200 bhp) which I'd imagine would be easily achieved as the turbo boost isn't that discernable on the 150 bhp model and it doesn't make full use of modern technology such as piezo injectors. Maybe even a twin-turbo...

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/03/subaru-thinking-about-diesel-powered.html

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/217485/subaru_impreza.html

I must be getting old but I'd really like some sort of multi-mode transmission instead of the manual. It'd be the icing on the cake for me.

VH

unkel wrote: »

Indeed. Without the diesels, it would have been the end of Subaru in this country

with 0.61% of the market here - 300 cars in 7 months - I don't think subaru would miss us tbh

bazz26

245 wrote: »

The diesel Legacy is rarer on the roads than I would have expected - maybe people are taking a wait and see attitude on the new engine's reliability or perhaps they're waiting for 2009.

There is talk of greater output from the engine (180 to 200 bhp) which I'd imagine would be easily achieved as the turbo boost isn't that discernable on the 150 bhp model and it doesn't make full use of modern technology such as piezo injectors. Maybe even a twin-turbo...

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/03/subaru-thinking-about-diesel-powered.html

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/217485/subaru_impreza.html

I must be getting old but I'd really like some sort of multi-mode transmission instead of the manual. It'd be the icing on the cake for me.

In fairness the diesel was only launched in May or June here so a full year of sales is a better judgement of the car.

I just hope they don't do an Impreza with next years new Legacy. The current Impreza looks yuke imo, bowing to main stream mediocrity in the looks department.

Slightly ot but while I ususally don't listen to Clarkson's predictable dripple on a recent episode of TG the review of the new Impreza was daming against the Evo X in every way it could.

245

bazz26 wrote: »

In fairness the diesel was only launched in May or June here so a full year of sales is a better judgement of the car.

I just hope they don't do an Impreza with next years new Legacy. The current Impreza looks yuke imo, bowing to main stream mediocrity in the looks department.

I'm not really complaining - I bought one instead of an Avensis so I appreciate the rarity. I've seen a lot of post-July BMW diesels and Audis so I would have expected one or two Legacy diesels around Kildare/Meath but so far - nothing. I currently cover roughly 3,500 KM per month on the backroads of Kildare/Meath so would have expected to meet at least one since last July but it hasn't been the case.

I agree that the new Impreza doesn't look good and I hear that the cabin plastics are rubbish. Hope the new Toyota investment Yen don't push Subaru into the mainstream. I'm all for automotive survival but would wish for the disparity that should accompany it. We really need more alternative design influences. As a classic enthusiast, I've read the obituaries of too many original thinkers. We need more Subarus and such. Only the likes of Mazda with the MX5 and RX series give us additional hope (I'm aware that Wankel was German and the inspiration for the MX5 was most likely British but both ideas would be dead if it wasn't for Mazda). I could stray off topic on Automotive mergers/takeovers (Mazda, Volvo and Ford spring to mind) but probably time to stop.

unkel

VH wrote: »

with 0.61% of the market here - 300 cars in 7 months - I don't think subaru would miss us tbh

Good point. Where did you get the market share data? Any linky would be great

VH

front page of simi site on the left - july data - you've probably seen it already