Legacy 3.0R and fuel grades

[t3hWITdeuce]

I originally posted this on Nasioc but thought you guys could give me more H6-specific advice.

My parents are looking to trade in their 2001 Camry V6 and I've been suggesting they consider a 2009 Legacy. Being used to the power of the V6, they found the 2.5L Legacy to be a bit weak so I told them to look into the 3.0R.

In their eyes, the biggest turnoff in this is that Premium fuel is "recommended."

My parents each work about 60 miles from our home so, as you can imagine, they spend quite a bit of money a year on fuel. While premium fuel may offer the best performance, they are willing to trade a bit of that for savings at the pump.

My questions is related to key word, "recommended" and not "required." I work at a Nissan dealership, and different terminology is used on different models. The 370Z requires premium fuel, while it is simply recommended for optimum performance for the new Maxima.

Subaru also uses similar terminology between the 2.5 turbo models and the 3.0. That said, besides a decrease in performance, will there be any long term side effects with consistently using 87 or 89 octane with the H6? I'm not too familiar with Subaru's 6 cylinder engines, but I would assume that the ECU compensates for poor quality fuel.


C/N: Read the bold print.

Please refrain from questioning the intelligence of my parents. They are not car people, nor cheapskates, they just don't want to spend the extra 30-40 cents a gallon on premium fuel when it is not necessary. :smile:

[dodik]

if they need a communer car. H6 is not for them, you wouldnt feel much difference while driving tru town on 89 instead of 91 but on the highway you do feel the loss in power and unwilingnes of the car to move at hiegher speeds. On that note i own 02 H6 not 3.0R so i dont know if it would affect the same way better or worse. my average is about 20mpg and some change thats 50/50. the best i've seen was almost 27 mpg pure highway. and the worst was 17 pure city after snowstorm. If they are looking for commuter mpg friendly vechile h6 is not that its more of a luxury subaru than anything. tribeca though the 3.6 one eats 89. :)

[t3hWITdeuce]

I just talked to my dad again, and hes quoted the brochure as saying that while premium fuel is recommended, you can still use the low-octane fuel and just suffer a decrease in performance.

Which answers my original question, but insight is still appreciated.

[Legacy89]

How many fuel quality's do you have in the states?
Here we have 95 Octane, Shell V-Power 95, 98 Octane and Shell V-Power Racing 99Octane.
The 99 is not available here up north but what would you use?
95 or 98?

[decke48]

in the state you can find 85,86,87,88,89,90,91,93,94,100 depending on where you go. the common is 87, 89, 91/93 with an ethnol contain of 10%.
when we had our 05 3.0r we used 89 got around 22mpg city 26mpg hwy. 89 didnt have any effect on the butt dyno it felt the same 91/93

[Huffer]

They are not car people, nor cheapskates, they just don't want to spend the extra 30-40 cents a gallon on premium fuel when it is not necessary. :smile:

Buy a 2007 Honda Accord. The I4 engine is extremely peppy and responsive with excellent pickup on the freeway and around town. With the 08 models out now the 07's are available with massive discounted prices, still with a warranty and proven reliability. We have two in our workfleet and they are great. My wife has a same gen 03 Accord and it's great.

[t3hWITdeuce]

My parents ended up purchasing a 3.0R from Faulkner Subaru in Harrisburg PA. I'm about 800 miles away, so I didn't get to drive it, but they said it's just as quick as their 2001 Camry. They're not too concerned about the fuel grades as they're seeing time and time again that they can use regular fuel in it. I strongly recommended they at least stick to midgrade, and that's probably what they're going to end up doing.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/366/n1409469823303958763153.jpg

Huffer, most popular sedans didn't fit the bill. We get quite a bit of snow in our area of Pennsylvania. This car will primarily be my moms car, and her long commute to work involves 90% backroads and mountains. AWD is key.


If you're confused about the talk about PA and my location saying SC, it's because I'm here on a somewhat temporary basis. I'm from PA, plan to return to PA, and my parents continue to live in PA.

[Huffer]

Wife's Accord runs Graspic snows in the winter and she clears snow drifts just as well as my wagon. Admittedly not steep hill grades.

However, given that the Legacy is 7 years newer than the previous Camry, it BETTER run just as good as the Camry! What I don't understand though, is if your mom has driven in PA with an 01 Camry for the last few years why she now needs AWD?

[t3hWITdeuce]

Wife's Accord runs Graspic snows in the winter and she clears snow drifts just as well as my wagon. Admittedly not steep hill grades.

However, given that the Legacy is 7 years newer than the previous Camry, it BETTER run just as good as the Camry! What I don't understand though, is if your mom has driven in PA with an 01 Camry for the last few years why she now needs AWD?

The Camry is rated at around 190hp and is FWD. The Legacy is obviously rated at a bit more, but there is more drivetrain loss than with the Camry.

Why does she need AWD now? She's always needed it. Should we discuss all of the snow-related accidents we've had with the Camry? Or how about that time she was stuck in the snow for 4 hours only a couple miles from our house? :smile: