What I'm getting from this thread is that some people with very short commutes are suffering from the one-size-fits-all approach to engine management.
Agreed. All cars do worse in gas mileage in cold weather, short trips, stop and go driving. But the OB seems to have a larger penalty than most for that kind of driving. Would be interesting if it's due to engine management regarding HVAC, PZEV, or some combination of both. It's also a heavy car powered by a smallish engine, so stop and go will tax it more than cars with bigger engines, and you get greater benefits from steady speed as well.
Shage, in my state and all states around me, Subaru doesn't just offer PZEV, they ALL are PZEV. That could be different elsewhere. But in PA, you can't buy the 4 cylinder as non-PZEV (I think the 6 cylinder is not, though). It is cleaner in terms of smog, but not in terms of gas mileage. They've got a beefier cat, thicker walled gas tank, extra stuff to absorb evaporates from the gas, and yes, changes to the ECM. That's the part we're talking about. Since the bulk of smog forming emissions happen when the catalytic converter is too cold to be working efficiently, one of those changes to the ECM is to apply logic which heats the catalytic converter to operating temps as quickly as possible. And yes, it actually burns MORE gas to do that, in the name of environmental stewardship!
The blue engine light or meter, whatever you are equipped with, shows you ENGINE temperature, not catalytic converter temp. But it's catalytic converter temp that has to get to temp before the rpm's drop. When temps are very cold, my rpm's stay high for 10-15 minutes whether or not I have the heat on.
That said, yes, you are correct, that a high demand for HVAC also raises rpm's. And that demand will lessen as the cabin heats up.
So, I may have mis-"diagnosed" your car, I dunno. Maybe it is the heat you are noticing. The 10-15 minute comment is what had me thinking otherwise as that's exactly what my car does with temps in the single digits or below, even if I turn heat off. It is about 2100 rpm in park. When in gear, it'll go below that coasting, but even a slight touch of the pedal puts it over 2000.
rschmidt, on the other hand, has his last for 45+ minutes. That has to be something different. He's either got something wrong with his car, or else he's really blasting that heat!
On startup today, it was -1C, not overly cold but I found the engine to be reving much higher than what I am used to (didn't think to look at RPM) but it was noticeable.
Normal. Subaru's are rather high rpm's on cold starts, and sound a bit "rough" for a while as well. The rpm's will drop when it warms, but even so, a Subaru is gonna run higher revs than most cars you may be used to, and the engine doesn't run as whisper quiet as a GM, for instance. This is in part due to the exhaust note of a boxer engine (though exhaust design comes in as well). In a way, they seem less "refined", but it comes with plenty of advantages too.
Then engaged into reverse, I thought it felt as if I was on an incline, like when using regular automatic transmission, if on an incline you would feel some of the weight of the car on while shifting.
Not sure on this one, probably more to do with the CVT than anything.
And lastly, I was a bit startled when pressing on the gas how quick the car responded...
Ditto. Generally with a traditional automatic, when you press the gas (ask for power), it waits for the transmission to downshift and then adds revs. With a CVT, the revs come immediately, but it still takes a second for the transmission to "catch up" and translate it into power. This is the "rubber band effect" that some complain about with a CVT. Subaru's isn't bad but it's there. Nomatter the starting speed, when you press the pedal to accelerate, the revs spike immediately, followed by the power increasing and the revs falling. You'll get used to it quickly.
I came to like the CVT, as the torque converter rarely disengages and you have the fully connected "feel" of a manual. Also, it doesn't hunt gears at certain speeds or on hills. I drove my wife's 4 speed Forester recently. It shifted going up a hill. My first thought was "how rude", lol.