Our automotive experts choose every product we offer. We may make money from the links on this page.
From the archives: In order to gain mainstream recognition, Subaru has been raising the horsepower of GL to a sufficient level.
From Car and Driver in September 1983.
When was the last time you saw someone who belongs to the Subaru Owners Club? Do you know anyone wearing a Subaru racing jacket or dragging a suitcase with Subaru monograms? Have you read any good coffee table books on Subaru mysticism recently?
What we want to say here is that Subaru has not yet acquired the icon status of the connoisseur. However, its popularity among backpackers, birdwatchers, Sierra Clubbers, and no-nukers implies a kind of cult worship that is unknown to any other car owner except Saab and Volvo (both of which are unreasonable) The reason) has been regarded as a car responsible for the environment by the guilty upper middle class). At least Subaru has an optional four-wheel drive, which must be the core of its appeal. Some people also believe that it has an anvil-like reliability, which is important to the environmental collective, because it can vent the subsequent Luddite anger by treating the obnoxious but necessary car as a burdened beast.
Therefore, Subarus can run everywhere except underwater, and will plow deep enough in the snowdrift to stop the M-1 tank. So they are the official cars of the American Ski Team. Therefore, under their faint and strange appearance, there is a tenacious heart and a steely will. So what about all this? The question remains, do you want a Subaru parked in your driveway?
Answer: If you want to do some serious, multi-purpose, dirty towing action, please trade all your old airline coupons, your complete Eddy Howard album collection, your Annette Haven videotape library, and your season pass Toledo Mud Hens lets you experience Subaru GL-10 4wd station wagon mit turbocharger. Aesthetic damn it. Damn friends of the earth. GL-10 is a smooth machine.
Here's the thing: As you probably know, Subaru (part of Fuji Heavy Industries, which has been in the automotive business for only 25 years) began manufacturing four-wheel drive trucks in 1976; this latest version has been in existence since its redesign in 1980. The 4wd settings are great, especially when connected to a three-speed automatic. It can be activated by pressing a button on the shift lever, without any hub locking, fiddle with auxiliary shifters, etc. It is one of the simplest four-wheel drive systems in the world, but so far, there is only one major problem: even with its "large" 1782 cc engine (1595 cc version powers low-line DL cars and coupes ), the car will not remove the lid from the granola box. The normally aspirated 1.8-liter overhead valve four-cylinder water-cooled engine is rated at 71 horsepower (the 1.6-liter model is 53 horsepower) and produces a maximum of 93 pound-feet of torque at 2400 rpm.
The little boxer engine is known for its bulletproof, but once the 4wd station wagon is loaded on the mountain to travel, unlucky car owners are sometimes asked to throw away their ski boots, backpacks, and even strange passengers in order to make the little panting car pull serious results. The traction of 4wd is great-but the engine is too weak to work even on dry roads. How can anyone pass through open fields or snow-capped mountains?
Enter the wonderful, exhaust-driven steroid dose we call a turbocharger. The Subaru engineering department went back to the drawing board and connected an L-Jetronic fuel injection system to replace the old two-barrel Hitachi carburetor, and bolted it to a smooth small IHI turbocharger. The turbocharger can Output seven pounds of supercharge and increase horsepower to 95.
This change is magical, even for the refurbished three-speed automatic transmission, which is a must-have for turbocharging. (The same powertrain, officially called "turbo traction", can also be used for BRAT pickups.) The old truck will travel slowly to 60 in about 17 seconds, while the turbocharged car will accelerate from zero to 13.7 seconds. sixty.
But more important is the improvement of mid-range performance. For a normally aspirated car, overtaking in two lanes is usually the place where 4wd is most needed, because you may always have to jump on the opposite shoulder to avoid oncoming traffic. No longer. The GL-10 Turbo-Traction will jump from 30 mph to 50 mph in 6.5 seconds! More importantly, it accelerates from 50 mph to 70 mph in 11.6 seconds! Compared with the new kid in the block, Toyota's acclaimed Tercel 4wd wagon takes 28.8 seconds to go from 50 to 70 mph, while the new Subaru is a pocket rocket in the mid-speed range.
But let us say one thing straightforwardly: Subaru GL-10 Turbo-Traction wagon, despite all the technical aura, is not the Japanese incarnation of the Audi Quattro. Since Volvo hinted at this concept with its short-lived 1800ES three-door car in the early 1970s, this is not the ultimate sports wagon fancied by enthusiasts. In fact, the Subaru turbocharger is not used to increase power, but only to raise it to an acceptable level. In this sense, the unit is pragmatic in spirit, just like most of the rest of the car, despite considerable effort to show off the interior with digital instruments and power gadgets.
Ultimately, the Subaru GL-10 borders on schizophrenia. On the one hand, it presents itself as a brave, ubiquitous little instigator, ready to attack on the side of Mount McKinley. On the other hand, it provides department store elevator bells as seat belt warnings and "luxury" equipment such as power windows and mirrors. Somewhere in all this chaos, one hopes to find some treatment to accompany the increased power, but that is not the case. Sadly, the additional power of the turbocharger boosts torque steering to unpleasant levels. The Subaru Wagon is a tall car (56.5 inches), and when it bends over a corner, it feels like its door handle is about to tip over. The clearly unpleasant Bridgestone 185/70SR-13 Mud and Snow tires reinforce this impression. These tires are between two stools: they are too hard and too hard for normal road use, and too timid to be seriously messed up in the weeds. Coupled with the heavy-duty steel Jackman-replica off-road wheels, which look like they were stolen from an early Walker Evan pickup, the GL-10's highway handling has been severely affected. If Subaru can provide better street radial on a set of alloy wheels (available as an option), then the car's behavior under normal driving conditions will be greatly enhanced. If the owner wants to do some serious work in the woods, he can install a set of large knobs and head to the mountain.
Although this may sound unreasonable, it can be said that "Subaru" and "styling" are mutually exclusive terms, as are "military" and "smart" or "English" and "gourmet". Sometimes people wonder if there is actually a Subaru styling department, or if it is just a blackboard installed on the sidewalk outside the factory where passers-by can graffiti suggestions. The basic styling of this car is pleasant, but when it is fitted with chrome decorations, lights, golden signs, luggage racks and a set of completely inconsistent white pickup wheels, the impression becomes very busy.
The same is true for the interior. Like most small Japanese cars, the passenger compartment looks like a vinyl blister pack. Inside the Subaru, the pressure is reduced only by inserting polyester cloth under the seat. The dashboard is an ergonomic comedy, with various buttons and knobs, and digital readouts that emit red and green luminous lights, similar to the Kmart Christmas display. The seats are slightly comfortable, and the overall interior space is about what you would expect from a car with a wheelbase of 96.7 inches and a total length of 168.7 inches.
Despite the flaws in the handling and decoration department, the Subaru GL-10 Turbo-Traction wagon is a powerful small car. It is no accident that this brand became the best-selling imported car in Vermont, where icy mountain roads are a way of life. Its success in New Hampshire, Idaho, Utah and Colorado is not responsible for its stylish appearance. Any reservations about aesthetics can be made up for by the reliability of the car and the kind enthusiasm for handling everything on this side of the Israeli border post.
The basic price of the turbo station wagon is 10,300 US dollars, which is very cost-effective. The Turbo-10 package includes power windows, sunroof, cruise control, the above-mentioned digital instrument panel and trip computer. Pragmatists may refuse to pay an extra $800, but even if the price is about $11,000, this car is also very valuable. Not Audi. This is not Texel. This is not AMC Eagle SX/4. It is pure, undistilled Subaru. With news that the 1984 sedan and coupe will provide turbocharging, the prospects for ownership become more interesting. After all, have you ever tried mysteriously wading through muddy streams or sailing on snow-covered mountains?
Although Subaru's new 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine is the company's first foray into the field of air-blown engines, its implementation reveals a thorough understanding of the basic principles of the turbocharged power system.
The pressure is generated by the IHI RHB-52 turbocharger, whose flow characteristics, size and efficiency are very suitable for engines under 2.0 liters. The overall wastegate of the turbocharger limits the peak boost to 7 psi; if it fails, the exhaust valve in the intake manifold will open above 7.7 psi. The engineers chose the L-Jetronic fuel injection system (Subaru's first) to deliver fuel precisely and directly to the intake port, avoiding the long and tortuous intake port inherent in the carburetor turbine engine. They also added a knock sensor to the ignition system to ignite the compressed mixture at the highest efficiency point without worrying about destructive explosions. The result is 95 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 123 pound-feet of torque at 2000 rpm, greatly increasing the naturally aspirated power unit’s 71 horsepower at 4400 rpm and 93 pounds at 2400 rpm -Feet of torque.
Almost no modification is required to withstand the severity of this increased output. The newly cast piston reduces the compression ratio from 8.7 to 7.7:1. The piston ring is upgraded, and the temperature is controlled by a larger radiator, a thermostatically controlled oil cooler and an additional fan.
Subaru installed a higher overall gear ratio (3.70:1 vs. 3.90:1) to maximize the fuel efficiency of the new engine. However, in order to maintain performance at low speeds, when the boost is minimal, the first and second gears of the automatic transmission are lowered, and a torque converter with a higher stall speed (2850 rpm vs. 1900 rpm) is installed. These changes allow the turbo engine to work in the most efficient mode, combining higher performance with the same EPA fuel economy (24 mpg in the city, 30 mpg on the highway) as a naturally aspirated engine. It is unique to Subaru to achieve a power increase with almost no efficiency loss, making the GL-10 a leader among turbocharged cars sold in the United States. ——Csaba Csere
Equipped with a turbo traction system, Subaru can neither control the road like the Porsche 944, nor can it maintain the road like the Porsche 944. This does not prevent it from being hailed as one of the most useful and flattering cars ever made by a combination of humans and robots. It makes the Audi Quattro look like a very fast, very expensive light reconnaissance car-unbearably frivolous. This is the rolling realization of that seemingly impossible dream, "A good car that ordinary people can afford." It is simple, sturdy, well-built, and fully equipped. It can do what a two-wheel drive car can't do. matter. The most important thing to remember is that a Subaru equipped with a turbo traction system is not a premium car because the yen is artificially underestimated, or because Japanese workers’ wages are lower than UAW members and are expected to sing company songs every morning after aerobics . The reason why Subaru is outstanding is that the concept of its creation is outstanding. General Motors and Ford spent a lot of time and money to introduce us to "world cars". Subaru built one. ——David E. Davis Jr.
Common sense believes that the smoothness of a car's power system depends on the vibration output of the engine, but this ignores the overwhelming influence of the exhaust system on the perceived smoothness. A perfect example is the new turbocharged Subaru.
Naturally aspirated and turbocharged Subarus share the engine mount and the four-cylinder engine, which is essentially smoother than an inline four-cylinder engine of similar displacement. However, the standard car feels like an unbalanced meat grinder, while the turbocharged version is perfectly acceptable.
The difference is exhaust. Both cars have similar exhaust systems and are poorly isolated from the body structure. However, the turbocharger induces an overall transformation by emulsifying and flattening the peak of a single exhaust pulse that is strongly transmitted to the interior of a standard car. Obviously, when it comes to smoothness, the exhaust system is more than just processing hot air. ——Csaba Csere
If I am stuck on a desert island and can have any four-wheel drive equipment I want, I assure you it will not be a Subaru turbo. Turbocharger or not, it does not meet the conditions of 4wd artwork. The Tercel 4wd station wagon is more refined, the S-10 Blazers and Bronco II are more spacious, and the Quattros makes the poor Subaru choke in rubber smoke.
However, the Subaru Turbo does have a lovely quality that sets it apart from almost any other vehicle I can think of: it seems to thrive in malice. Treat it like camel dung, and it will come back more-wagging its tail, a lot-and hardly ask you when bargaining.
Since there is no need to change gears, four-wheel drive can be achieved at the push of a button, so the driver's involvement is minimized. It will permanently destroy the potholes in the front end of a normal RX-7 and will not even make Subaru feel uneasy, so you don't need to pay too much attention to where you are aiming. For all of these, it won my reluctant respect. For a car that won't make you feel guilty for slapping it, there is something to say. — Abundant Ceppos
VEHICLE TYPE front engine, front wheel/four-wheel drive, 5 people, 4 door station wagon
Test price: $11,260 (base price: $10,303)
Engine type turbocharged push rod 8 flat valve 4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection displacement 109 inches 3, 1782 cubic centimeters power 95 horsepower @ 4800 rpm Torque 123 pound-feet @ 2000 rpm
Chassis Suspension (F/R): Strut/Trailer Brake (F/R): 7.2-inch ventilated disc/7.1-inch cast iron drum tire: Bridgestone SF radial, 185/70SR-13
Dimensions Wheelbase: 96.7 inches Length: 168.7 inches Width: 63.8 inches Height: 56.5 inches Passenger volume: 78 feet 3 Cargo volume: 29 feet 3 Curb weight: 2612 pounds
C/D test results 30 mph: 4.1 seconds 60 mph: 13.7 seconds 90 mph: 48.4 seconds top gear, 30-50 mph: 6.5 seconds top gear, 50-70 mph: 11.6 seconds 1/4 mile: @1711 seconds top speed: 94 mph braking, 70-0 mph: 224 feet road maintenance, 282 feet diameter anti-skid pad: 0.65 grams
Observed C/D fuel economy: 17 mpg
EPA Fuel Economy Comprehensive/City/Highway: 26/24/30 mpg