Kevin Hepworth road tests and reviews the Subaru Outback diesel at its Australian launch.
Oils well that ends well ... that could well be the lesson from Subaru Australia's painfully drawn out entry into the diesel market. The arrival this week of an oil-burning Outback powered by a 2-litre turbocharged boxer diesel is the culmination of more than a decade of global Subaru's slow and steady approach to developing the world's first flat four diesel for passenger use.
"The diesel was completely done in house," Subaru Australia's Nick Senior says. "There were a couple of reasons for the extended wait and just one of those was that a diesel engine is, by definition , quite an expensive engine to design and to build."When you are putting a business plan together you need to see a return on your investment and the major markets around the world that Subaru compete in — Japan and the US — are not big diesel markets."
Senior says that while Europe and Australia had always shown interest in the engine Subaru sales in those markets did little to encourage head office to push ahead with the development. "There was well over a decade of just studying the European market before they could establish a business case. Then they basically had to start from a clean sheet of paper because there is no passenger car boxer diesel anywhere in the world. Subaru set out to be innovative, do it all themselves and design it in-house."
Senior says Australia started to push seriously for the diesel "a few years ago". "We knew we wanted the car and I was fortunate enough to drive it about three years ago at the proving ground. That was back-to-back against some well-known European brands and it was obvious then that they had produced a car that was as refined as the Europeans and head-and-shoulders above some of the Japanese models that were there.
"In some ways it was fortunate that we waited until now as we have the new platform and the six-speed automatic rather than the five-speed that was on the first generation 18 months ago."
Pricing
The Outback 2.0D sits on the same new-generation platform as the current Liberty and Outback petrol models and shares the same equipment and trim levels but will come with a $2500 premium over the 2.5-litre petrol wagon. Not surprisingly, Subaru has worked out that driving 25,000 kilometres a year with the 6.4L/100km economy that premium will be returned in fuel savings in 20 months.
The entry-level 2.0D manual is $40,490 (plus onroads), the Premium is $43,990 and the Premium with satellite navigation is $46,490. While only available in a six-speed manual, Senior doesn't believe the lack of an automatic will be an issue despite the almost 70 per cent of all cars sold being automatic.
"I don't know whether that is a problem," Senior says. "There is no automatic so there is no point getting hung up about it. We will just concentrate on selling the six-speed manual. "Obviously they will look at an automatic in the future, but it is not a short-term thing."
Senior says early reaction from the market has been very positive with dealers already holding orders ahead of this week's launch, although supply is expected to be restricted at least until the first quarter of next year. The diesel will roll out into the Forester around the middle of next year but that will be the last of Subaru's to get a diesel, at least in the short term
"For now it will only be offered in the SUVs," Senior says. "It will be a great fillip for our rural dealers and those customers are the ones where there is a greater propensity to consider a diesel ... and where much of the pre-launch excitement has come from."
Driving
On the road the horizontally opposed diesel boasts all the benefits of the more traditional compression ignition engines — good economy and huge urge through the mid-range chief amongst them — and has a level of refinement that may not have been expected from a first effort. It is not benchmark for quietness and smoothness — it is actually some way off the very best of the modern high-end diesels, but in the value market where it lives there are few better.
With 110kW of power and 350Nm of torque, that maximum urge is available only from 1800-2400rpm but a large percentage of it starts earlier and hangs around later, the 2.0D is not rocket but it does make for a relaxed drive with the six gear ratios well suited to the engine. For all intents and purposes the 2.0D drives very much like its petrol stablemate, the extra weight of the engine kept low by the boxer design and ably handled by the refined suspension set-up in the new generation Outback.
Equipment levels are exactly the same as the equivalent petrol model, the diesel gets the same five-star safety rating and air-bag count as the petrol models ... the only real difference is the extra noise when the engine is cold, considerably reduced as it warms to the task, and the lack of an automatic.
For fans of diesels these are not new characteristics and certainly will not equate to any form of discouragement.
Subaru Outback 2.0D
Price: From $40,490
Engine: 2L/4-cylinder turbocharged Boxer diesel; 110kW/350Nm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Economy: 6.4L/100km (combined cycle)
