Subaru's upcoming diesel engine

Someone over on another Subaru fan site found some images of the upcoming new Subaru turbo boxer diesel engine on Subaru's global media site. The original image in the press packet was ghosted way back, but with some tricks in Photoshop, the image was brought back virtually to full strength.

What can clearly be seen here is that it is indeed an H4 boxer. It's a turbocharged DOHC unit with a timing chain... Currently the only Subarus using a timing chain are those with the H6 engine. So this is the first timing chain-equipped H4 Subaru.

News update: More info here.

This engine is primarily for the European market, where diesel cars are a huge part of the market. We may also see it here, perhaps in the next-generation Forester, as there have been rumors to that effect. Expect the Subie diesel to be announced at the Geneva auto show in March.

Permalink | Comments (8)
Posted by: Bob Holland September 29, 2006, 4:00 AM
Categories: Diesels, Subaru

8 Comments

By eriches on September 29, 2006 1:09 AM

Interesting that you posted this, Bob. Subaru mentioned the engine at the Paris press conference and said the official unveiling will be at next year's Geneva show -- and that photo is true to the press kit (with the exception that mine has headings in French). Hiroyuki Ikeda, Subaru Europe president, noted that the boxer engine design is well suited for a diesel application by virtue of its low center of gravity and compact size.

By once_for_all on September 29, 2006 9:42 AM

Excellent. I do not expect SOA to miss the North American LDD market.

John

By bkaiser1 on September 29, 2006 5:24 PM

I can't wait!! Sign me up in CA when this is available!

By rangner on September 30, 2006 12:39 PM

wow! with DOHC, 4 valve head and timing chain! That makes it superior to the VW TDI units Bring it here SOA!

Eric

By estreka on September 30, 2006 7:20 PM

I'd be very interested to see numbers for this innovative engine. Has a diesel flat four ever been done?

By ateixeira on October 3, 2006 11:40 AM

Bring it! I'd love to compare it to Honda's 2.2l diesel in a CR-V.

It's Forester vs. CR-V all over again! :-)

By rothneller on October 12, 2006 12:40 PM

This is what I would want to replace my 1995 Subaru Wagon with almost 200,000 miles, especially if it would be combined with a hybrid.