Subaru has gone diesel – big time – with the launch of brand-new boxer turbo-diesels across most of its range, only the big Tribeca off-roader being excluded.
This means the new Legacy, Outback and Forester can all be had with the frugal and very smooth new diesel engines – upgraded from those seen briefly in NZ at the end of last year – although automatic transmission still eludes Subaru’s diesel lineup for the time being.
However the range gets a new six-speed manual gearbox which is 20 kg lighter and much slicker shifting than Subaru’s previous six-speeder, and the new models come heavily equipped, with such features as Bluetooth connectivity, heated electrically-operated seats, rain sensing wipers and automatic headlights as well as electric windows and mirrors plus climate controlled aircon among the features on the Legacy and Outback.
The Forester, though less equipped than the others, still gets a leather-trimmed steering wheel, heated seats and top-quality upholstery as well as standard features found in the petrol models.
Pricing is keen across the diesel range. The Legacy sedan comes in at $48,990 – and this model also gets xenon headlights - with an additional $1,500 for the wagon, while the Outback will retail for $52,990 and the Forester for $45,990.
However only the petrol-powered Forester gets an ultra low ratio in its gearbox, the diesel having six normal forward speeds instead.
Power output is healthy on each of the 2-litre four-cylinder horizontally opposed engines.
The Legacy and Outback produce 100kW at 3600rpm, with strong torque of 350Nm at a low 1800 rpm, while the Forester, its air intake limited by the upright shape, loses 2kW, although torque remains the same.
Styling across all three is almost identical to the petrol versions, with the addition of a scoop at the base of the windscreen the only quick identifying feature.
Naturally economy is a big plus point with the new engines, and official figures see overall fuel consumption of between 5.9L/100 km and 6.4 L/100km depending on the model.
We drove them on a quite varied route and driving normally easily managed to match these figures – and with a bit of steady driving, beat them – so we’re quite happy most drivers will achieve excellent economy with these vehicles.

At the same time we were impressed by the smoothness of the gear change, and the selection of ratios, and particularly by the quietness and smoothness of the engine.
Even the Forester, the “tough guy” of the bunch, was as quiet as most of the more upmarket luxury 4WDs on the market, while the Legacy and Outback can stand against premium products from Germany in this regard. You just don’t know you’re in a diesel.
The new Subaru diesels are all to the latest Euro specification and New Zealand will be one of the first countries to get them on the road.
“The launch of our first boxer diesel models last year was a toe in the water exercise,” says Graeme Woodlands, MD of Subaru NZ, “ and we were quite pleasantly surprised how well they were accepted by the market, with sales from the two models about 15 percent of our sales over that period”.
That matches average sales of diesels in the segment in which the new vehicles will compete, and it’s expected the new models will match or exceed that, especially given that these are more modern and higher specification than the “run-out” models sold previously.
The Legacy and Outback diesels have Euro NCAP and ANCAP 5-star ratings; the Forester has not yet been tested.