Outback fuel mileage regression for 2013

[Restlessk]

Originally Posted by autorot8

I average 28 consistently, 50/50 city highway. Last weekend, Tahoe and back from Bay Area with a Yakima 16S roofbox loaded with ski equipment, averaged 31. Have 7500 miles. I have manually checked computer and computer reads .1 mpg low.

What speed got you 31? No way in heck were you 65+.

[G-Omaha]

Why not 31+. On my 2010 OB Limited, we got 36+ MPG on a trip from Omaha NE to Denver, the Mountains close by and return back to Omaha. This was with 4 people in the car and a bunch of luggage and other stuff. Average speed on the Interstate was 70+ MPH - just didn't floor it unless it was absolutely necessary.

The 2013 OB, that was recently purchased appears to be getting about 1 MPG less than the 2010 that we traded in (urban driving). Don't know if this is because of the "Winter Blend" gas or not - time will tell.

[goatGibson]

How are all of you hippies getting 27 city? I'm lucky if I can pull off 23 combined. On another note since the pre 2013s have a timing belt, it makes the car lighter and more fuel efficent than the heavier chained 2013. Boom!! Stew on that for a while.

[sd976]

I've got a 2013 with the CVT. 60 mile round trip commute daily, about 75% hwy. I've only got 2 grand on the odometer, and I calculate each tank. I've been between 27-30 mpg on each tank thus far. Manual calculation seems to come out a little lower than the trip calculation every time.

[Chaslau]

I too have noticed very disappointing results on my 2013 limited 2.5. My best ever milage was the first 2 tanks right after delivery, 27/28 mpg and the mpg had been downhill since. I now average 24 mpg on mixed highway suburb driving at 4000 miles. This appears to be in line with most of the 2013's reported on fulley. I have never seen the 30 mpg that Subaru claimed for the 2013 over the 2012/2011. also interesting on fulley the mpg average is indeed better on the older cars and crappy on the 2013 models. Just check it out!

[4wheeldog]

I cannot speak to the mileage that '13s are getting directly, but I can say that my '12 got 27 on its first full tank. By 10k miles, it had averaged 30.3 for the entire cumulative period from new. From 10k to 20k, I got 31.5 cumulative. Since winter gas has been put in, it has dropped to about 30.

This includes one tank of really questionable gas in Texas that netted 24 when I have been getting 34 for the rest of the 4k trip. California gas dropped my average about 2 mpg while I was using it.

I believe the OP will get a nice suprise next spring, between the car being run in, and non-winter gas going in the tank. YMMV.

[dstedman]

We are into the winter gas season FWIW...

[MichaelC]

I was averaging 28-29 every week in the summer and early fall, now my last tank only got a little better than 26 mpg. Same kind of driving. I wouldn't think winter gas would make that big of a difference, but I think it does.

[subiesailor]

It does and the guy above who claims 36mpg both ways had some serious tail wind both directions if he was doing 70mph and saw an actual calculated 36mpg at fill up. Extreme rare examples of this sort never helps people who simply want to sort out the average use mileage they should be seeing. Which case with the OB regardless of the engine 30mpg is going to be a rare case and anything between 21mpg and 29mpg is going to be common place pending conditions - speeds etc.

Mine gets 16mpg at 70mph towing the boat with a head wind.

[edawg]

Originally Posted by MichaelC

I was averaging 28-29 every week in the summer and early fall, now my last tank only got a little better than 26 mpg. Same kind of driving. I wouldn't think winter gas would make that big of a difference, but I think it does.

In Hotlanta, the summer fruit punch we get for gas gets a special "anti-ozone" blend that actually reduces MPG by 2+ or so. So our winter blend actually gets much better mileage. That accounted for part of my recent jump as it was instant first fill up after the change-over... I had a tank of 31+ MPG going until a road trip with heavy load and air conditioning going...

For folks who have mileage decreases lately, check your tire pressure. Cold temps reduce the psi in your tires and mileage will decrease significantly. Add a couple of pounds of air if you haven't since first freeze in your area. Also folks who leave cars outside will have lower mileage as the CVT seems to like to "warm up". I'm sure folks will argue to infinity otherwise, but it's really a trait of this car based on my father in law's 2010 experiences. OB's are like a faithful dog... they'd rather sleep in the house with you.