4th Gen Outback Gas Mileage

[mediocrity]

2.5 cvt

2500 miles.

25.8 lifetime. Probably 90% highway. I have a light foot.

I'm not impressed. Granted, this is lots of 80mph driving with the AC. But it should be 2-3 mpg higher.

[fun2drive]

3000 miles now a lot of city driving mostly 75% and temps cooler too. Mileage is between 23.5-24.9 which is still acceptable for the 3.6L but down from 24.5-25.0.
When measuring the mileage on the interstate doing 70 with the cruise on and AC seeing 26.7 most of the time.
My hand calculations and the computed mileage agree well...

[Restlessk]

Originally Posted by mediocrity

2.5 cvt

2500 miles.

25.8 lifetime. Probably 90% highway. I have a light foot.

I'm not impressed. Granted, this is lots of 80mph driving with the AC. But it should be 2-3 mpg higher.

I'm having about the same results. What I've learned is that the mileage drops off dramatically above 65mph. The people here that are reporting 30+ are driving 55 or 60 mph. At 65, I can get almost 30. At 70 I drop to 27. At 75+ I drop to 25.5.

I'm curious if this is pushing the limits of the drivetrain at higher speeds, or if this is simply the programming of the transmission.

[pd2012]

I'm generally in the same ballpark with my 2.5 cvt. Getting over 30mpg requires driving under 70mph.

Could be aerodynamics too. My 3.5l v6 minivan has a Cd of .32 while the Outback is .38. Both turn ~2000 rpms at 70mph, though the difference in highway mpg is not nearly as much as you might expect given the 23 vs 30mpg EPA estimates and 40% larger displacement of the v6 and more weight. The v6 doesn't have to work as hard-throttle opening, compared to the OB's 2.5.

Pretty well-known that wind resistance rises exponentially with speed and the OB's relatively high drag figure due to higher ground clearance, etc. is increasingly a liability as speeds rise relative to other types of vehicles and how the EPA test results are generated.

The gap in favor of the OB with highway mpg compared to my minivan diminishes as speeds increase over 70mph. I imagine there may even be a cross-over point at some speed I am unlikely to drive where the minivan may actually do better--80? 85? FYI I have seen 30mpg twice in the minivan at 70mph, once with substantial tailwind and once with a 4000 ft elevation drop over a 250 mile stretch.

[Chaslau]

Our 2013 limited 4 cyl never saw 30mpg. We got 26-27 on the first couple of tanks and now with 3700 miles, the milage has declined to the 24 mpg level. Most of the driving is mixed 70/30 highway/ city, and I fully expected the MPG to improve over time, not degrade.
Checking the Fuelly site, a lot of folks are getting similar experiences, with mileage getting worse after a couple of tanks. The 2013 does not even have the same average as the 2012/11, contrary to the Subaru claim of 24/30, a bit of false advertising?

[foxrider68]

Originally Posted by Chaslau

Our 2013 limited 4 cyl never saw 30mpg. We got 26-27 on the first couple of tanks and now with 3700 miles, the milage has declined to the 24 mpg level. Most of the driving is mixed 70/30 highway/ city, and I fully expected the MPG to improve over time, not degrade.
Checking the Fuelly site, a lot of folks are getting similar experiences, with mileage getting worse after a couple of tanks. The 2013 does not even have the same average as the 2012/11, contrary to the Subaru claim of 24/30, a bit of false advertising?

I'm down to 23/24 with the cold weather. The emissions programming is far more aggressive this time around in its attempts to warm the engine up. Since I'm halfway to work before its warm (12 miles) my MPGs are dropping. The 2013 feels much more powerful around town than my sisters 11 OB but I think her MPGs are definately better. We will see what happens next spring when I have a fully broken in engine and things warm up. I did get 26.99 MPG combined 70/30 split once this summer but then it got cold, this was right around the end of September.

I don't really think false advertising is at play as the EPA does those tests. I have a feeling that if I reset my trip odomenter everytime the engine was warm I'd get the advertised numbers.

[JordanMayPhoto]

I am getting 29/31 Highway often. I just made a trip to Las Vegas from Orange County. Got there in less than half a tank. Could almost make it back home. Love my OB.

[Idlejunk]

I'm a bit disappointed right now with the fuel economy, though my 2013 2.5i CVT just crossed 1000 miles.

I've noticed the avg. mpg computer is off in combined cycle driving. First tank display was 23.5, actual was 23.4, second was 24.8 display, 28 actual.

But on a long highway trip at speeds < 70mph I only averaged 25.4 - display and actual matched exact.

When looking at cars, I drove a 2011 2.5i manual with 25k miles. That used car averaged 33.4 (at least on the display) on the same route as the cvt version which I bought seems to only get 25 - 28 mpg. I put 120 miles on the test car...

I'm hoping my car improves over time... I bought the CVT as the fuel economy was rated higher than the manual. Experience so far says I can seem to get more mpg by shifting myself... I hope this changes. The CVT works so well, I would hope it can beat me selecting the gears!

[Restlessk]

Originally Posted by foxrider68

I don't really think false advertising is at play as the EPA does those tests. I have a feeling that if I reset my trip odomenter everytime the engine was warm I'd get the advertised numbers.

Ironically, the EPA, which posts those numbers that we accept as gospel has very limited resources, and for the most part, just take the automakers claims rather than testing all of the cars.

The Truth About EPA City / Highway MPG Estimates - Feature - Car and Driver

We bought our 2013 2.5 cvt because we have for several years gotten Outbacks as loaners from the Porsche dealer, and the loaners got us 28-29 in suburban kind of driving (the same thing that gets us about 24 now).

I think that the changes that Subaru made in 2013 to improve the mileage actually reduced mileage rather than increased it. That would seem to support what we see on Fuelly.

Since at least some of the changes were software changes to the cvt, it would be nice if Subaru would do a TSR to try to improve mileage on the 2013.

[Novablue]

I very consistently get 27 mpg on my trip to work which is all hwy but several stop lights. I can easily break 30 on the freeway.

Tips:
Air up your tires 2-3 psi higher than the door.
Drive 60 or below on the freeway.
Make sure the CVT "knows" you are cruising. My mpg dropped to 25.5 on my current tank because I wanted to see if other's here were true. You need to let off the gas when you get to cruising speed or the CVT will never hit 6th gear. Watch the RPM meter. If you accel to speed and then hold it there at 60 you will see 2500+. Let off the gas and then reapply gently and you will see the rpm's go under 2k and stay there unless you go up a hill.

As stupid as it sounds, you have to learn how to drive the CVT.