There has been a lot of discussion about replacing the existing naturally aspirated Subaru engines (2.0 liter 152 hp and 2.5 liter 182 hp) in order to improve fuel economy. Tied in with that discussion is the addition of Toyota hybrid technology (regular or plug-in) to further increase mpg. Most rumours involve replacing the 2.0 liter naturally aspirated with a 1.5 liter turbocharged, and replacing the 2.5 liter naturally aspirated with the existing Levorg 1.8 liter turbocharged (possibly with an optional hybrid motor).
Consumer concerns are about upfront vehicle cost increasing, increased maintenance cost of a turbo, and possibly shorter length of usable life.
If we look at a table of EPA mpg calculations for automatic AWD vehicles we see that Subaru is one of the top performers right now in this class compared to smaller turbocharged engines from other manufacturers (see table).
Variants of Subaru's 2.4 liter engine in the sports cars (WRX and BRZ), the higher trims of the Legacy and Outback , plus the Ascent don't seem to have any issues, but very few of them have passed 100,000 miles.
The Solterra is not directly tied into this issue, but if it sells like gangbusters perhaps Subaru will get an improved CAFE and satisfy the ZEV states so that it might decide to stay with current naturally aspirated engines for the gasoline engines.
Consumer concerns are about upfront vehicle cost increasing, increased maintenance cost of a turbo, and possibly shorter length of usable life.
If we look at a table of EPA mpg calculations for automatic AWD vehicles we see that Subaru is one of the top performers right now in this class compared to smaller turbocharged engines from other manufacturers (see table).
Variants of Subaru's 2.4 liter engine in the sports cars (WRX and BRZ), the higher trims of the Legacy and Outback , plus the Ascent don't seem to have any issues, but very few of them have passed 100,000 miles.
The Solterra is not directly tied into this issue, but if it sells like gangbusters perhaps Subaru will get an improved CAFE and satisfy the ZEV states so that it might decide to stay with current naturally aspirated engines for the gasoline engines.