[jonb]

Newbie greetings to the board, my thanks to all the posters for the info I've gleaned.

I am probably going to buy/order an 05 o.b. today, and have narrowed it down to xt ltd, or 2.5i ltd wagon. This is supposed to be the wifes car so I was set on the 2.5i, as a plush but fuel efficient
car. But the closer I get to buying the more I keep thinking about that xt ltd.
These are my concerns.
I'm worried about not letting my wife drive "her" car if I am always driving it!
The premium fuel and lower mpg is an issue. I'm supposed to be buying an economical to operate car.
Any issues with the 5sp auto? Is this the 1st year of production?
If I get a few speeding tickets this car gets really spendy to own.:22:

Any xt owners out there like to share their thoughts? How is the mpg? Sounds lame to worry about that, but here at South Lake Tahoe, premium is $2.50 a gallon (at the cheapie stations) so fuel economy is a real issue.

For anyone still awake, thanks for reading this!
JonB

 

[FMGreen]

I don't have much to say other than, in your situation I'd strongly recommend NOT getting the XT. And if you are concerned about fuel economy, you're going to have trouble with just about any car you buy these days, save the few Hybrid Electrics on the market.

The 2.5i seems to fit your needs better than the XT, don't kid yourself, you know it's the truth. But I can't blame yourself for lusting over the XT, we all lust for one!

However, that being said, convince your wife that you somehow "need" the XT, and then the situation greatly changes!
Give her some BS about how the extra turbo-power would help her speed around big trucks on the highway's, thereby reducing risky road position...

 

[rwsub]

The XT is GREAT!!!

I picked mine up yesterday. I went with the 5 MT, but I did test drive the 5EAT. The automatic was not bad at all. I previously owned a 4 speed auto stick in a Mitsubishi. This one is much better. More direct shifting and a lot less delay during down shifting. However, this was the 5EAT which is available only on the XT's and the 3.0's. The 2.5i's come with a 4EAT. One of the main reasons I got rid of my 03 2.5L Outback LTD was because I did not like the transmission at all. I think there is much to much "space" between the gears in Subaru's 4 speed Automatic transmissions. Under hard acceleration, it will stay in first upto about 5500-6000RPM and then drop all the way down to 2500-3000 RPM to pick up second. The five speed managed to prevent such shifts all together.

The XT is not all that bad on gas. The window sticker on mine said the average annual fuel costs would be $1142.00. (These numbers make me laugh) In actuallity, I fill up once a week, say at an average of $30 a fill up. That comes to $1560 a year.

If the difference in price of the low grade as compared to the premium fuel in your area is about $0.20 (guesstimate) then the difference on a tank of gas would only be $3.38, that is of course if you ran the tank dry before you fueled up. Most people fill up with about 1/4 of a tank left. The difference in the gas milage of the XT compared to the 2.5i was not all that different anyway, about 3-5mpg.

If nothing else, the XT is worth getting just for the 5EAT as compared to the 4EAT. Best advice, drive them both.

 

[jonb]

Wellll,
There is a champagne opal xt ltd in the driveway, so I guess I will be able to answer my own mpg questions shortly! We drove all the wagons except the sixes, and it was my wife who wanted the xt, I figured the 2.5i was adequate. The xt is a blast to drive, thats for sure. I hope we can feather that boost a bit when it is snowy and slick. We only have about 5 miles on it, so we haven't had much drive time.
We opted for the a/t, and it performs very nice, hope it holds up. The monotone color does not stand out like the two-tones, which are synonymous with ob's around here. (At Tahoe there are more subies than any other make, and probably more ob's than any other subie.)
This car is the ultimate sleeper, anybody know what the top speed is? Or is it chipped to prevent reaching the top speed?
Thanks for the replies,
JonB

 

[rwsub]

The OBXT's top speed is electronically governed. I can not remember off the top of my head what exactly that speed is. When I was going through the owners manual for the first time yesterday, I do believe that it was listed in there. No big deal though, it is fast enough. Faster than the law allows, that is.

I can not wait until the break in period is over. It takes a lot of restraint to keep it under 4000RPM as recommended. Love that XT!!!

 

[jaoutback]

Newbie greetings to the board, my thanks to all the posters for the info I've gleaned.

I am probably going to buy/order an 05 o.b. today, and have narrowed it down to xt ltd, or 2.5i ltd wagon. This is supposed to be the wifes car so I was set on the 2.5i, as a plush but fuel efficient
car. But the closer I get to buying the more I keep thinking about that xt ltd.
These are my concerns.
I'm worried about not letting my wife drive "her" car if I am always driving it!
The premium fuel and lower mpg is an issue. I'm supposed to be buying an economical to operate car.
Any issues with the 5sp auto? Is this the 1st year of production?
If I get a few speeding tickets this car gets really spendy to own.:22:

Any xt owners out there like to share their thoughts? How is the mpg? Sounds lame to worry about that, but here at South Lake Tahoe, premium is $2.50 a gallon (at the cheapie stations) so fuel economy is a real issue.

For anyone still awake, thanks for reading this!
JonB

 

[jaoutback]

Have you ever listen to Bill Wattenberg on KGO 810? He has said there there is no difference between regular unleaded and premium gasn performace. He said it is just a marketing gimmick. I drive a mb e430 and I have not noticed any difference in acceleration between reg. and premium gas. Gas mileage is about the same and I do save $$$.

 

[rwsub]

I would not recommend running lower octane gasoline in the XT. The purpose of the higher octane gasoline is to prevent the fuel air mixture from spontaneous ignition from compression. The lower the octane rating the more susceptable the mixture is to this phenomena.

I think the XT runs a 10.1:1 compression stroke, it also packs quite a bit more air in with the turbo charger. I would suspect that running lower octane fuel in the XT would cause knocking which could lead to engine damage over time. You may be able to get away with it for a while without any noticable effects (knocking and such).

I agree with jaoutback, however, I have never noticed better gas milage when using a higher octane fuel in an auto that did not call for it. I had a Nissan pickup several years ago with over 120K miles on it. If I put the cheaper gas in it, it would knock and ping when under load. Putting the higher octane fuel in it cured that problem. It did not, however, give me noticably better gas milage.

Overall point here, you won't catch me using anything but "premium" fuel in my XT.

 

[Jondalar]

Have you ever listen to Bill Wattenberg on KGO 810? He has said there there is no difference between regular unleaded and premium gasn performace. He said it is just a marketing gimmick. I drive a mb e430 and I have not noticed any difference in acceleration between reg. and premium gas. Gas mileage is about the same and I do save $$$.

I've certainly shown a significant increase in fuel economy using premium over regular unleaded in several cars I've owned. Usually 10-15% better economy which more than covers the price difference.

I'm sure that there's no immediate damage going to happen in most circumstances, but knocking can seriously damage an engine over time, and if the manufacturer found you weren't using the recommended grade of fuel, might not cover it under warranty. No point saving a dollar or two per tank and then having to pay thousands for a major repair.

 

[chrisx]

I've certainly shown a significant increase in fuel economy using premium over regular unleaded in several cars I've owned. Usually 10-15% better economy which more than covers the price difference.

I'm sure that there's no immediate damage going to happen in most circumstances, but knocking can seriously damage an engine over time, and if the manufacturer found you weren't using the recommended grade of fuel, might not cover it under warranty. No point saving a dollar or two per tank and then having to pay thousands for a major repair.

I'd have to agree with Jondalar on the above. I have noticed better fuel economy in my cars.

Also, I'm sure if Bill Wattenberg bought a vehicle requiring premium and filled it up with regular at every fill, his pockets would be very empty after an engine rebuilt/replacement......

 

[tlippy]

Compression

The XT has LOWER compression than either the 3.0 or the 2.5i. The XT is 8:1 vs 10:1 on the other two engines.
CHAMPAGNE OPAL mono is an incredible color. I have gotten more complements on the paint than any of the car's features. BUT is it Gold, Green or Champagne - that is the question..

 

[jaoutback]

tlippy,
Are you using regular, mid-grade, or premium gas for your XT? If you are using mutiple grade of gasoline, do you notice any difference in performance??

 

[tlippy]

jaout-------I don't have the XT. I bought the 2.5i

 

[Sario]

I vote for a nice limited. N/A engines tend to last a bit longer.