Care and feeding of a turbo car

http://ask.metafilter.com/258451/Care-and-feeding-of-a-turbo-car#3755277: "But whoever the original owner was looked at the standard model's already pretty healthy 175hp and said "Nope, need more." Presumably they did that for a reason, and I'd be wary of it for that reason." 175hp is pretty gutless in a 3500 pound car, especially if you plan to tow anything. For that reason, I wouldn't expect that an Outback with a turbo has necessarily been beaten within an inch of its life any more than I would expect the average V6 RAV4 to have been driven hard. I would stay away from a WRX unless I knew the owner. Or a Mazda "SPEED" line, or an Infiniti G series owned by anyone not at least 40 years old.

My husband is one of those Subaru-obsessed guys, and here is what he has to say: Subaru turbos do tend to require premium fuel, and they definitely require synthetic oil as well as more frequent oil changes. For gas mileage, with highway driving or low-acceleration driving, a turbo can actually improve mileage vs. a naturally-aspirated engine because turbos are just an inherently efficient design that utilize wasted energy. But they also let you burn more gas if you drive hard, which would obviously lower fuel mileage.

The obvious worry with a turbo Subaru, especially one that has fewer miles on it than you would expect, is that it has been rode hard and put away wet. Granted, a turbo Outback isn't a WRX -- a used WRX is well into the realm of "Not even with someone else's ten foot pole." But whoever the original owner was looked at the standard model's already pretty healthy 175hp and said "Nope, need more." Presumably they did that for a reason, and I'd be wary of it for that reason.

In terms of driving style, you'll become aware of turbo lag. The turbo works by extracting energy from the exhaust with a turbine to spin the compressor. Basically the engine runs, exhaust gas spins a turbine, turbine spins the compressor, compressor gives the engine more oxygen and thus boosts power. So that boost isn't quite instantaneous since it needs to get energy from the exhaust. In practice you'll learn that if you want that power boost you'll need to plan on it. The first couple of times you're looking for that when you merge on the freeway it won't be there until you're closer to the merge, and then after some time your body learns to press the gas just a little earlier than your normally-aspirated engine does and you'll feel the acceleration at the right time.

There was a period of a year or two in the mid-2000s where turbo-model Subarus didn't last very long. A family member drives Subarus exclusively and really likes them, but when she got a new one from one of the problematic model years, the turbo burned out and she had to replace the entire engine on her Legacy after 60,000 miles. (She is not a hard driver by any means.) Please check consumer reports' auto guide or website--you may have to subscribe, but the info is worth it. The year with the issues stood out like a sore thumb in their ratings.

But whoever the original owner was looked at the standard model's already pretty healthy 175hp and said "Nope, need more." Presumably they did that for a reason, and I'd be wary of it for that reason. Ehhh, not necessarily. For us it was between the Outback turbo and the Audi A4 Avant. The regular Subaru was just too sluggish. In the end we went with the Audi. But we're very conservative drivers, almost comically so, and take excellent care of our vehicles, and you would have been fine buying a turbo off of us.

And that turbo lag that Runes mentions is the reason I didn't want the Subaru. I want responsiveness as a safety feature. And in fact soon afterward I did manage to avoid getting T-boned in the Audi by leaping forward, which the Subaru wouldn't have been able to do in time.

If you want to tow anything, check the manual. I don't know anything about the Subarus, but I know of a Saab turbo that was strictly "don't tow."

I am the original owner of a 2004 Forester XT Turbo. Subaru's are quirky cars, but their motors are pretty spectacular. First, regarding lag: Subaru has the best turbo engineering in the business, IMO. Lag is almost non-existent. Seriously. Second, there are a couple of drawbacks: You'll want to use synthetic oil and, yes, the turbos require premium gas. They'll actually run acceptably on mid-grade, but it's nowhere near optimal for the engine. Can't recommend Subaru enough.