RE: Subaru Reveals All-New Boxer Engine
Friday 24th September 2010
Subaru Reveals All-New Boxer Engine
New-from-the-ground-up motor will hit the streets next year
Yes, it's a picture of an engine, which is not ordinarily a cause for particular excitement, but this is the first image of Subaru's new-generation boxer engine - which will start filtering out to its road cars next year with the Forester.
A new Subaru motor is a pretty rare occurrence, too. This is only the third all-new iteration of the firm's boxer motor, the first coming in 1966 and the second with the Legacy in 1989.
The new engine will come in 2.5-litre and 2.0-litre displacements and will, says Subaru's parent company Fuji Heavy industries, improve on both the economy and performance of its forebear by around 10 per cent.
Discussion
GravelBen said:
It will be interesting to see how it goes - they've gone to a longer stroke and smaller bore which I hope doesn't make the performance versions less rev-happy.
Sounds like they are still pushing for the mass market again by trying to make it more torquey, usually if they want to get more out the engine the bore goes up and the stroke down. You harly see any new impreza's on the road so i don't think its what people want.FWDRacer said:
I think it is great that Subaru are sticking with the boxer format. It's a proper signature for the brand and its cars. It must be more expensive to produce than an in-line four, so in this "profits are king" manufacturing environment, it is good to see.
Quirky is the only thing still selling Subarus instead of comparable Ford/ Honda/ whatever ... that said atleast in the US, Subaru seems to have found a nice niche between quirky to keep the old school fans happy and mainstream enough to attract Camry and Accord buyers. chilled901 said:
FWDRacer said:
I think it is great that Subaru are sticking with the boxer format. It's a proper signature for the brand and its cars. It must be more expensive to produce than an in-line four, so in this "profits are king" manufacturing environment, it is good to see.
Quirky is the only thing still selling Subarus instead of comparable Ford/ Honda/ whatever ... that said atleast in the US, Subaru seems to have found a nice niche between quirky to keep the old school fans happy and mainstream enough to attract Camry and Accord buyers. doogz said:
TheRoadWarrior said:
Going in the FT-86 probably... if they ever make one.
I want one of them.And i want to ditch the NA they put in it, and turbo it's ass.
Wonder if they'll become the new chav mobile of choice in 15 years
doogz said:
chilled901 said:
doogz said:
TheRoadWarrior said:
Going in the FT-86 probably... if they ever make one.
I want one of them.And i want to ditch the NA they put in it, and turbo it's ass.
Wonder if they'll become the new chav mobile of choice in 15 years
Edited by chilled901 on Friday 24th September 08:40
Some questions:
- Is a boxer engine actually any lower overall? The sump looks very deep (always an issue for those who swap Subaru engines into VWs) and the intake system looks high. Everyone says that height is one of the big advantages of a boxer layout, so is it true?
- Is there a problem fitting emissions equipment onto a boxer, it must be a bit of a squeeze just fitting an exhaust under each bank and weren't Porsche thinking of going to a V layout for exactly this reason (the rumoured V8 911)?
- If it is no lower and emissions are harder then why bother? Does anyone really care that much? After all no one else apart from Porsche makes boxer engines for cars, Alfa and Ferrari stopped over a decade or two ago, Citroen, VW and GM (the Corvair) stopped many years before that.
cymtriks said:
Some questions:
The deep bit underneath in the pic is the exhaust manifold and you can see the sensors going into it- the sump sits centrally above this. Other engines also have the exhaust routed under the sump, so they haven't raised the engine to do this.- Is a boxer engine actually any lower overall? The sump looks very deep (always an issue for those who swap Subaru engines into VWs) and the intake system looks high. Everyone says that height is one of the big advantages of a boxer layout, so is it true?
- Is there a problem fitting emissions equipment onto a boxer, it must be a bit of a squeeze just fitting an exhaust under each bank and weren't Porsche thinking of going to a V layout for exactly this reason (the rumoured V8 911)?
- If it is no lower and emissions are harder then why bother? Does anyone really care that much? After all no one else apart from Porsche makes boxer engines for cars, Alfa and Ferrari stopped over a decade or two ago, Citroen, VW and GM (the Corvair) stopped many years before that.
In terms of the intake system, a lot of it is plastic/ light alloy so won't make much difference to CofG, whereas getting those cylinders and heads lower down will do. Many regular engines also have the intake over the head of the engine, and the Subaru engine will still have it's intake lower than other engines when fitted to a car I imagine.
hi , i have owned two Subarus in recent years and am a complete convert, the first was a legacy GTB twin turbo, which had bundles of torque alebit when the second turbo woke up, and it handled like a small car, the front felt planted which is why they stick to the boxer as all the heavy parts are lower down, wish i had never sold that car as it was excellent, however i got a new job and they would pay for any car i wanted, but it had to be diesel, now i have the new Legacy sports tourer diesel for work, which again is excellent, quite smooth economical, excellent handling and build quality, at the time i had a company choice of an A4 or BMW 3 series, the Legacy is far better looking than both and i argue better built, all the A4s have been back or broken and the 3 series are forever going wrong, not the Legacy.
I have also bought an older 54 plate Legacy 3.0 spec B sports tourer, beast in sheeps clothing!!!!!
always dislikes japanese cars and prefered italian, with a string of alfas, lancias, fiats, but this brand Subaru just have something very special so i am glad they are sticking to a boxer.
I have also bought an older 54 plate Legacy 3.0 spec B sports tourer, beast in sheeps clothing!!!!!
always dislikes japanese cars and prefered italian, with a string of alfas, lancias, fiats, but this brand Subaru just have something very special so i am glad they are sticking to a boxer.
I know it isn't a very PH way of looking at things, but surely only improving economy and emissions by 10& is pretty piss-poor.
Given the advances BMW and VAG are making in their engines, i think someone with the might of Fuji Heavy Industries could do a little better.
Unless the economy and emissions are massively improved over the current engines, i can't see Toyota going ahead with having it in one of their cars.
Given the advances BMW and VAG are making in their engines, i think someone with the might of Fuji Heavy Industries could do a little better.
Unless the economy and emissions are massively improved over the current engines, i can't see Toyota going ahead with having it in one of their cars.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff