Hold on, where’s the rally car?
Subaru may have transformed its reputation from builder of dull-but-sturdy farmermobiles to maker of fast-and-furious racers with a little help from Burns and McRae, but the game’s moved on and not everyone’s impressed by sub-20mpg Imprezas anymore. Besides, Subaru’s WRC outfit isn’t exactly competitive these days. So Ikuo Mori’s speech – the man in charge of Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries – focused on the environment as an ‘essential concern’. And Subaru unveiled this, their first diesel boxer engine.
Subaru has made a hybrid, then?
No, a diesel. The Japanese weren’t exactly early adopters of diesel technology, and Subaru has only just announced plans to couple its famous symmetrical four-wheel drive system to an oil-burning boxer engine from early next year – the world’s first flat-four diesel. The 2.0-litre turbo will produce 163bhp and 251lb ft of torque. The Legacy (above) and Outback will be first with the engine, which is expected to arrive in January or February 2008. The Forester and Impreza will follow on, the UK on-sale dates as yet unconfirmed. Subaru hopes the extra powerplant will help increase European sales by a hugely ambitious 40 percent over the next three years – that’s a theoretical 100,000 units per annum by 2009.
But a diesel isn’t going to save the planet.
It isn’t, so to further highlight its green credentials Subaru also displayed the R1e for the first time in Europe. The R1e is an entirely electric car, 10 of which are on trial in Tokyo with Japan’s largest electric power company. Mori explained that ‘we are exploring the possibility of producing electric cars for use as urban commuter vehicles with an eye to commercialisation and widespread use of electric cars in the future’. Judging by the popularity of the G-Wizz in London, we reckon Subaru should get a move on. After all, it’s taken them long enough to bring a diesel to market.