Subaru Could Get Rid Of Its Flat-Six

We saw it coming. In recent years, the trend is aiming towards engine downsizing: smaller turbocharged engines are economical, as powerful as bigger mills, take less space and aren't much more expensive to produce than naturally-aspirated engines. Their reliability has also improved in the last few years.

It seems that Subaru is thinking about dropping their largest powerplant, a 3.6-litre flat-six that is found in the Legacy and Outback, as well as in the big Tribeca. It boasts 256 horsepower, 247 pound-feet of torque and, in the Legacy, can drink 12 litres of fuel per 100 km of city driving.

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Subaru’s engineers are certain that a turbocharged version of their boxer flat-four engine would be enough to propel even their largest cars: for example, the WRX’s engine (a turbocharged 2-litre) pumps out 268 horsepower, 12 more than the flat-six. And since some countries tax vehicles by engine displacement, this could enable savings for their customers.

Since Subaru doesn’t have the resources to build a large array of engines, they want to focus on one or two, and diversify them: some will be geared toward economy, others toward performance.