Why I bought the Subaru Diesel
Diesel engines on everything from small to large cars are more or less always an option in Europe. In many EU countries diesel is the most sold engine type regardless of car.
I have mainly used gasoline engines before, apart from boats where diesel is more or less the only reasonable option on any new purchase. So during my last lets buy a new car session I actually spent a lot of time checking out different manufacturers engines (how they felt and seemed to perform, I am not a mechanic). It was initially one of the main conversion points for my purchase. I happen to have R1200GS all-road motorbike so I might be biased towards boxers. :)
1.
Low diesel consumption. More or less class leading although the same goes for the low weight of the forester. Real-life tests indicate 6.5l per 100km which is pretty good for a vehicle that stop so much air. It all depends on your driving style though, but much less so in a diesel than a gasoline car.
2.
Low to moderate engine noise. The engine is strange :) On idle and some revs when under pressure the characteristic diesel valve noise is actually quite high. The engine is ticking away so you know it is a diesel. However it almost never produces that very low pitch humming noise you can feel throughout the whole body and actually make some people a little ill. Under normal driving conditions, while underway, you more or less dont hear that it is a diesel at all. Most manufacturers seem to try and get rid of that ticking noise but fail to remove the humming noise, which I believe it more irritating.
3.
Vibrations. This is a strange engine. It is the first diesel i have tried that don't vibrate a lot. I mean it is almost 100% without vibrations. Everyone who have driven a diesel know it vibrates a lot (especially low frequency vibrations). When you take out the vibrations and that low level humming noise you more or less have a diesel engine that feel like a gasoline car. Very impressive indeed.
4.
Characteristics. This engine can often feel just as if you are driving a gasoline car. But it is not. It is much more fun to drive :) At least compared to the 2 and 2.5 liter versions I have tried. They have tweaked it to be delivering a little bit higher in the rev-range than most diesels. You wont be driving at 600rpms as you would a volvo D5 for instance. This also means that the car is easier to stall on low revs than most competitors. It will in return provide a much smoother and turbo-like push from around 1500 until maybe 4000 where the engine no longer deliver anything more, at all. (maybe it is 5000 I dont remember right now). With the diesel engine the cars (legacy and forester were the ones I tried) became fun to drive! And economical. Some might argue that it is not as "manly" as the more old-school diesels are ;)
5.
Price. They are not charging a huge premium for the diesel option.
6.
Value over time. It is strange that Subaru want their cars served every 15000km's. That is twice as often as a D5 for example. They have the same service interval as the gasoline. This is not a problem the first 60000kms since they dont charge for the service (at least in sweden), but it is strange. In any case the diesel should last longer and also provide a much better 2nd hand price. It will also open up alternative fuels as they become available.
Unknowns.
Most other brands have a aux diesel heater which comes standard. And for a small extra amount you get a time controller for it as well. This aux diesel heater is needed to provide heat during winter since the engine is not as hot as the gasoline versions. Subaru instead use an aux electrical heater and they claim it will work. The subaru diesel is very popular in the far northern regions of sweden and I guess that means it works fine.
