Turbo 4 a Crude Motor?

From a USA Today test drive of a Legacy and Outback with the turbo 4 cylinder motor, this is their assessment: "But the turbo four vibrates remarkably at idle, cackles and grumbles at low speed instead of whirs and sings, and stutters and jerks during moderate acceleration. The hesitancy isn't evident during easy or full-on acceleration in the turbo four, nor present at all in the six-cylinder engine, which is smoother generally." Comments?

We've talked about it before. Probably hasn't driven a Subaru before. sixes are more smooth by nature, but the boxer 4 is rather good in itself overall, at least from a biased Subaru enthusiasts view. :P Don't worry about their words.

[quote name='SUBE555'] Don't worry about their words.[/quote] I am worried about this; "stutters and jerks during moderate acceleration". This cannot be considered normal, can it?

Every other review has commented on the quiet smoothness of the motor. I'm guessing that something was hinky with the USA Today car. I wouldn't worry about it. With all the people who have driven GTs, in all the different situations, I find it odd that this one guy would have all those issues. Nor do I worry about what newspaper or magazine folks have to say, at any rate. Kevin

As Kevin already touched on, i believe there must have been something seriously wrong with their test car. I've driven an auto OBXT and it in no way exhibited any of the negative mannerisms mentioned in the exerpt above. To add some perspective, I've never even owned a turbo car nor have I had much experience with them, so I am definitely not biased toward turbo cars or the way they deliver power. To sum up: My impression during my short test drive of this car was that it's quick, smooth and I believe it even sang a little turbo song. :lol:

No different than a Porsche or all the small aircraft that I fly with H4's. Sorry, no real problem here for you to jump with joy over...The Subaru engines (2.0, 2.2, 2.5 H4's) are ROCK solid engines and all the WRC titles are proof of this fact. If you want smoothnes, I will sell you my "02" IS300 Lexus and I will wave to you as I scream by in my vibratingly wicked new Legacy GT Limited!!! :lol:

FWIW, I can feel it shake a bit at idle when I'm not moving. It's not a bad thing, and I've felt it in other Subaru's as well. It' just the nature of a boxer with the pistons pumping away in the horizontal plane. Once moving though it's not noticeable and in fact is very smooth. Ultimately though, you've got to decide for yourself. If you haven't driven one yet quit reading the reviews and get to it! :wink: :lol: Cheers! -Ian

[quote] Sorry, no real problem here for you to jump with joy over...The Subaru engines (2.0, 2.2, 2.5 H4's) are ROCK solid engines and all the WRC titles are proof of this fact. [/quote] I am not "jumping for joy" over this, just wondering why this reviewer had such a poor opinion of this motor. [quote]FWIW, I can feel it shake a bit at idle when I'm not moving. It's not a bad thing, and I've felt it in other Subaru's as well. It' just the nature of a boxer with the pistons pumping away in the horizontal plane. Once moving though it's not noticeable and in fact is very smooth. [/quote] Thank you for this objective and informative assessment, one that is not compromised by blind enthusiasm. [quote]Every other review has commented on the quiet smoothness of the motor. I'm guessing that something was hinky with the USA Today car. I wouldn't worry about it. [/quote] This seems reasonable, but they imply the problem was in both turbo cars they tested. Strange. Bad gas perhaps.

So, a large-ish displacement boxer 4 vibrates at idle? No way! I'll bet an 8 liter V6 would vibrate a bit, too. I wouldn't hold much credence to what the USA Today or any other non-car rag has to say about cars. For that matter, I wouldn't let Consumer Reports reviews bother me either. If you are on here, you are likely an enthusiast, and can ignore some stuff that is rarely experienced in light of the awesome rewards of the platform.

Listen to them, we all sing the same tune. Many of us currently own Subaru's and in general, the boxer is a great engine. As Goneskiian noted and has before in the past, it makes a different type of vibration that is just more noticeable than vertically oriented pistons. The reviewer obviously isn't used to boxer engines. If all the reviews except one point to good things, is that one going to be a crutch? As Kevin said, your decision, but making your review based on paper rather than your own judgements could make you kick yourself in the end if you found out that reviewer(s) was not holding the same view as you.

The XT 2.5L rocks gently at idle, worse when I added a catback. It's pretty much perfect after the idle was increased by 50 rpm. The moderate throttle acceleration on XT's could be a bit smoother, it's mainly due to the ecu maps and open/closed loop issues. WOT is great though. Scott

I think the points about a big, horizontally opposed 4 are right on... plus the fact it's a longitudinal engine. I would think the writer -- just by virtue of 95% of the cars out there -- is used to transverse in-line or V engines, which move on their motor mounts in a different way, and therefore feel differently. The only thing is to drive it yourself and see. I know I'm itching to get in a GT with a MT. :)

My only caveat is when someone is the only person to comment on a particular artifact, there are a number of things that can be at issue: a) the person's a prig b) the sample is defective c) bad gas (even salesmen put regular in turbo Subies for test drives, even though the car takes premium...an easy mistake to make) d) the person is unaccustomed to the slightly rough quality of the boxer at times e) the person is a bad journalist, and overstated the issue for the sake of linguistic giggles (now that the car writer won a Pulitzer, every car writer in the country is losing his mind) f) the person just isn't used to Subarus, which have generally firmer engine mounts, that will indeed not yield Lexus-like levels of NVH in favor of a more direct driving experience. That is why I wouldn't worry about it. Based on what we have read from other reviewers about the GT's smoothness and quietude, something is clearly amiss with the USA Today person's sample or evaluative capabilities. I suppose that if he felt my WRX, with the engine/trans mounts, he might just pull over and call a cab! :lol: Kevin

Some STi engine and tranny mounts would be in my future.. if they ever become available :D

When I sat in the Legacy GT at idle, it was almost silent, and I could not really notice any vibration, personally. Now, the WRX in comparison, that was a lot more vibration than I was used to when I test drove it. The Legacy's refinement comes into play. :D

I personally always liked the boxer rumble on my WRX, motoring burbling away.... :D

I am not a Sub owner and drove the new Leg GT/Ltd for first time Saturday. I did not feel a vibration and in fact was surprised how quiet the egine was at idle, you wonder if car is running. I did not know salesman had AT in man/mode and took off not expecting I had to shift. Revs got higher than salesman would have liked before I figured out situation and car had a nice note, no scary noise. Since I was test drive number 5 and there were two people waiting behind me, drive was short and without opportunity to check cornering, squat/dive and dips/driveways. Would like to hear others experience on these mundane, but real issues for living with a car.

It's almost nice to have a little more sound from the car to know it's on when you're sitting somewhere for a lenghtly amount of time talking to someone or such. Otherwise it can be easy to get in, turn the key again and hear that aweful sound of the starter trying to turn and already turning motor. Yeah, like nails on a chalkboard and not good for the car either. Definitely a reason to open that exhaust up a little. ;)

I drove two Legacy GT Limited wagons, one with auto and one with manual. No shakes, shimmies, stumbles, cackles, crackles. Bought the manual. Smooth engine and pulls like crazy from 2,000 rpm up.

My GT is a bit lumpy at idle. There is somewhat more vibration (almost feels like a mild stumble) than I expected but it is completely acceptable if you understand that you are sitting in a boxer-motored car. If your frame of reference is a Honda or Toyota 4 cylinder you might think there was a problem. Once underway, the 2.5XT is close to turbine smooth. Tom