Why the 2015 outback is unsuitable for cold climate: the relays caused ignition problems in frigid temperatures and floor vents don't work - I'm freezing
This guy gets it. Besides, they have it tuned to run hot at start to warm up asap to get those cats warm. Warm cats = clean happy cats. Cold cats = dirty angry cats.The relay issue is associated with their parts supplier, not really Subaru themselves. It could be the way the relays are being mass produced compared to those used in prototype cars. It should be an easy fix assuming it's really the relays.
As for the heat, I can't say my wife's 2015 Outback 3.6R struggles to heat and it's been in single digits. It's always seemed plenty warm when I've driven it this winter. My wife hates the cold and likes being warm. She's never complained once about the heat in her new Outback. This is her third Subaru in the past 17 years and by far her favorite.
I'm not sure why people think a motor will nearly instantly produce heat in cold temps. Not until the thermostat opens will coolant be transferred to the heating core in the cabin. The colder it is, the longer it takes for the t-stat to open and starting cycling coolant. In auto mode, my 2012 WRX (2.5 motor) doesn't start putting out any measureable heat until around 5-8 minutes of steady state driving in temps below 30 degrees. If I start off with a lot of stop and go, it will take longer. Higher rpms, and more importantly load, gets a motor up to temp the quickest.
Lastly, if you leave it in auto mode, it will certainly take longer to warm up because Subaru dialed the heating element response back to get the motor up to operating temp as quickly as possible. A warm motor is an efficient motor. If you're trying to heat the cabin on cold motor, you're taking away the motor's ability to warm up, thus reducing mpgs.
That's what I was hinting at. 1st year models always have teething problems. From faulty components being supplied to people misunderstanding how something works to things just not performing as expected. It's the same on any make/model forum, you can divide people into three groups:Seems to me that they would only help.
As needed, yes. A feature first introduced on the XV Hybrid.I would think they would have an effect. From my understanding, they stay closed until the engine gets up to temp, then they open.
Are you using your AWP? I'd be willing to bet it's as if not more cold and snowy here than anywhere in WV. I've logged about 165k miles between 4 Subarus, 2 with AWP and 2 without. I've never once had issues with my wipers freezing up on me constantly at 16degrees. Either you have your temps confused or you buy cheapo wipers. Or both.The problem with setting the mode to face & feet is when you need heat on the windshield, either to avoid fogging, or to warm it up to help reduce or eliminate snow/ice buildup on the windshield.
And on that count, I have to say my 2015 was TERRIBLE dealing with icing on my wiper blades in a recent snowstorm and about 16 F degrees temps. The car was amply warmed up, had traveled about 10 miles, and still was having to reach out the side window and lift and slap the wipers against the windshield just to have PARTIAL view out the front. I had cleared the blades before setting out, and had the front defrost button pushed, which blasts the windshield with max air flow as long as it's engaged. And it still couldn't keep up with the ice that was attaching to my wiper blades and leaving a wide space of windshield not cleaned enough to see anything. I was straining my head upwards to see the top section of glass, where there was a little clear area I could use to see and get home safely.
Goldilocks did a great job handling the snow and treacherous conditions, EXCEPT for allowing me to see where I was driving!
I hate that this old, dead horse still needs more beating, but Subaru really missed this again. I've complained to them loudly more than a couple times, all the way back to 1999, with our two Foresters that were guilty of the exact same problem.
Subaru did a poor job of designing the front lower vents that put air down where your legs and feet rest. If you feel with your hand exactly where the heat comes out, you'll find it has almost NO downward direction to it.
So when it is providing COOL air, it will do very well because that air will sink onto your feet even though it is directed out at about the middle of the lower leg.
But when it is providing WARM air, you get no such help, and the air tends to rise upward into the dash components. (And the lower the speed of the fan is, the more this is compounded.)
On my '99 Foresters, I finally had to address it myself because Subaru totally didn't care about addressing it. I ended up cutting out the bottom of the vent at its terminus, where the air was coming out horizontally. That allowed the air to also come out in a downward direction, and to my surprise, it really made a significant difference.
I had expected to also have to somehow attach something to cover the ends of those vents so that the air would be even more forcefully directed downward, but I never had to do that because the issue was improved enough already.
On my Outback, I have determined the same scenario exists, to the complete shame of Subaru engineers that didn't have enough concern to aim the air flow better than they did.
So I may make that my Saturday morning task to get out the Dremel tool and go to work on those vents.
Pretty sad that this needs to be done to a brand new vehicle.
I hate that this old, dead horse still needs more beating, but Subaru really missed this again. I've complained to them loudly more than a couple times, all the way back to 1999, with our two Foresters that were guilty of the exact same problem.Apparently the 3.6 models heat up much faster than the 2.5's. My car eventually heats up fine, but getting heat to my feet is my issue. I'm going to try the suggestion mentioned above by ilikecats.
Makes sense to me. Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to experiment with that; I think your method bears out my suspicions about the Auto pushing too much air for the heat to stay with it. HVAC units for buildings are easily made ineffective when too many or too few CFMs of air are pushed through.@Subies, pretty sure my Canadian Touring (more or less equivalent to US Premium) is a 7-speed fan, which is a huge improvement over my 07 Legacy wagon's 4-speed fan and actually factored into my buying decision. In my experience for volume of air, say to defog the windshield, I turn it up to 7 (11 if I could!). However, for the highest air temperature, I usually dial it back to 4 or 5. Seems to be the sweet spot for volume/temp. I really notice it on the full vent setting, the higher speed pushes more volume but the sensible temperature drops quite a bit. If I am looking to clean ice off the windshield, or keep it off when highway driving at -20C, speed 4 is usually sufficient and I can usually turn the temp down once the ice is cleared. For what it's worth, I never use the auto setting and prefer to dial it in manually.
The wiper deal is another one of those. I spent $30k for the safest car in the world for my family. I would not hesitate to spend $20 on the safest windshield wipers in the world. That is something we take serious up here. Bosch is outstanding as well as the Rainx wipers. In the voice of the Dos Equis man "Stay warm my friends."