Thursday, October 4, 2007

Bigger boxer six


Subaru goes to 3,6 liters for more muscle

Slow sales
have Subaru planners reexamining the B9 Tribeca,with its 3-0 liter boxer-six getting particular atention.Although the engine is Sub's biggest mill,power-and most noticeably torque-rises considerably owning to a 20 percent displacement bump to 3,6 liters.
Rest assured,it's still an iconoclastic boxer,with even new quirks due to constraints of manufacturing and packaging.For instance,while the bore spacing is unchanged(there's only a slight increase in cylinder caliber),the stroke is way up,rissing from 80 mm to 91.
That requires some unusual,asymetric connecting roads to keep the engine's wais line from expanding to much.
Result?256 horse power at 6000 rpm and 247 pound of torque at 4400-up from the 3.0-liter's 247 ponies and way up from it's puny old 215 pound-feet of torque.That's the good news.The even better news is that it'll now run on regular gas due to revamped(and far more efficient)coolant paths.Best of all ,expect 10 to 15 percent better fuel efficienty.
Just another one of those win,win,win situations you hear so often about.