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2020 thru current Outback Owners! Please report your Model and recent Gas Mileage! Thank you!

332K views 2K replies 702 participants last post by  Bassman 
#1 ·
Too much time on my hands, and curious as to what mileage (MPG) you are getting?
Seems like the Turbo Mileage not as good as advertised, but there is also a break in period which includes fun time pushing the engine.
I'm still 70% in favor of a Blue Onyx XT, with a Blue Limited at 30%
 
#9 ·
It's all a matter of degree - there's no on/off switch really. The turbo is spooled up pretty much as long as you've got your foot on the accelerator. If you slam the pedal down suddenly while you're already accelerating less aggressively, the car just takes off. Under normal milder situations the turbo is just providing less power.
 
#12 ·
I have about 400 miles on my Onyx XT so far, so the engine is still breaking in. My avg mpg on my current tank of gas is a whopping 17.5 ?

Things impacting this include:
  • Horrible stop-n-go traffic in the DMV (5 mile one way commute takes me ~25 minutes). I actually like the start/stop feature when I’m waiting several minutes to get through an intersection
  • The aforementioned new engine break-in period
  • Lead foot syndrome means lots of boost
  • Showing off the car to friends and family means lots of boost
I’m starting to notice that using the paddle shifters can drastically increase your mpg. For instance, if you had to accelerate a bunch to get through a light or make a tight merge, you can shift up afterwards to let the CVT know you’re not always driving crazy.

Ultimately if you drive the car conservatively you should probably get around the EPA estimates. But boost is also pretty fun....

I have my first mini road trip (250 miles) for a wedding this weekend, so I should see a good uptick in mpg. Will report back!

On a side note, are there any drive modes on this vehicle (eco, sport, etc)?
 
#803 ·
I have about 400 miles on my Onyx XT so far, so the engine is still breaking in. My avg mpg on my current tank of gas is a whopping 17.5 ?

Things impacting this include:
  • Horrible stop-n-go traffic in the DMV (5 mile one way commute takes me ~25 minutes). I actually like the start/stop feature when I’m waiting several minutes to get through an intersection
  • The aforementioned new engine break-in period
  • Lead foot syndrome means lots of boost
  • Showing off the car to friends and family means lots of boost
I’m starting to notice that using the paddle shifters can drastically increase your mpg. For instance, if you had to accelerate a bunch to get through a light or make a tight merge, you can shift up afterwards to let the CVT know you’re not always driving crazy.

Ultimately if you drive the car conservatively you should probably get around the EPA estimates. But boost is also pretty fun....

I have my first mini road trip (250 miles) for a wedding this weekend, so I should see a good uptick in mpg. Will report back!

On a side note, are there any drive modes on this vehicle (eco, sport, etc)?
I'm happy I'm not the only one, I hope it gets better but I have a 21 Onyx XT 2.4 Turbo and I'm only getting around 17 City (~300 odometer) I'm doing city driving mainly in Fort Lauderdale. It really is fun to drive though but I've been keeping it under 4k rpm for the first 1k miles. Thats what was recommended by Suburu online and I'm planing on doing a 1k Oil change (at the dealer, mainly for warranty inspections) when that comes up.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I have owned two turbo charged cars and driven both for a long time (> 120k miles on one, 75k the other).
I still own and drive one of them, sold the other when I bought our 2016 Outback.
Two things both Turbos had in common, and both things I never experienced in non turbos:
(1) neither one of the two was able to reach the advertised mpg numbers. Not new. Not after break in.
(2) both vehicles mpg kept on getting worse slowly but steadily over time after the break in period. I know this because I log every fillup with the odo reading and the gallons filled. Excel shows the graph.

Worst is the truck. Advertised at 17/21mpg, I am now averaging 14.5 mpg. That's at 72k miles. Did all maintenance, and recently had the plugs and coils replaced before the plugs were even due at 100k miles. Didn't help.

Not saying this will be true for all Turbos, but I am good for now. Just don't believe in the hype anymore, or in the efficiency numbers.
Our 2016 Outback, on the other hand, has 65k miles on the odo, and still meets (or beats) the window sticker consumption. Easily at 32-33mpg on the hwy and 29mpg average on daily city hwy driving.
 
#28 ·
Funny - I sell Turbocompressors for a living - specifically centrifugal air compressors...if a customer makes changes to the factory settings during the warranty period - they are on their own!

Several years ago, I rented a VW GTI on a business trip....great car!....I was gunning it all the time...got lousy gas mileage.

My 1998 Porsche Boxster doesn't have a big engine and I don't gun it, but love driving it on the twisties!
 
#29 ·
So my first tank (actually only 13 gallons because I needed to fill up before a potential power outage where I live) was 19.6mpg. Just filled up so I’m awaiting to see what I get on the second tank.

What seems to be killing me is that most of my driving are short 2.5 or less miles with many stop lights. I did have a few (3 or 4) longer drives (20-40 miles) which seemed to boost my MPG Even though in those cases I did have some hill climbing.
 
#40 · (Edited)
there is also a break in period
The average break in period before you actually get mileage approximating the EPA estimates is about 3,000 miles. The first few tank fulls, the car is learning your driving habits. THEN it starts figuring mileage appropriately.

In case anyone wonders, this same conversation came up on the Ascent Forum as well. And has, every single time we've come out with a new car. You will NOT get the EPA estimates right off the bat. (When we traded in our 2015 Forester for the 2019, the wife complained about her fuel economy. Lo and behold, once it hit about 2,500 miles, now she's getting the 32 mpg she was expecting.)

Also, ALWAYS take with a grain of salt the DTE (distance to empty) calculation. A perfect example is my 2014 Impreza. I mostly drive back and forth to work, 6 miles.. So when, on my day off, I drove to the casino, 16 miles one way, and on the interstate. So when I left home, it showed DTE of 260 miles. When I GOT home, after driving 34 miles, it showed DTE of 270 miles. (That's my comment about using your gas gauge, folks, and don't let these things run out of gas.)
 
#44 ·
Turbos seem to do very well in the government test procedure. Would be interesting to know why.
I had the same experience with two turbo engines I own(ed) - still drive one of them. Also, mpg seem to go down over time - more than for non-turbos. At least that's what it was for me.
 
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