Subaru Liberty engine options

[TUF351]

My lovely wife has finally convinced me that she needs a new car and we are looking at Subaru Libertys around the 2006 -2008 model range. This is the first non - ford car that I have ever purchased.

From looking through cars guide and car sales I now realise that they come with a few engine options, 2.5l 4 cylinder, turbo 4 and 3.2l 6 cylinder. Obviously the 2.5l N/A version is the cheapest (but after driving a impreza with a N/A motor and being unimpressed I doubt it'll be much good in a heavier car).

I am wondering if the N/A 6 cylinder version or the turbo 4 is a better option, has anyone had any experience with either of these engines.

Thanks for your help.
Brett

[sbcb]

Gidday mate, no personal experience but a few of my friends that have owned them have complained about some very high standard servicing costs. If you are getting the sub serviced through a sub dealer you might want to check standard service/maintenance costs also. Interstingly enough the of the 3 friends I know of who have owned subaru's none have stuck with the brand. They went ok but they weren't impressed enough to stick with them.

[buggo]

I drove a 08' Liberty GT Spec.B 6-speed my dad brought home from work once and it was a great car and the engine was very punchy and smooth, it was awesome to drive around in.
The interior was also very nice with leather seats and blue mood lights everywhere, the instrument cluster also lit up really nice.
They are definentily a good car and would recomend that model, I havn't drove or been in any other models.

[Airmon]

Hey mate they can be a bit confusing, recently went through the same thing with my old lady, ended up with a 2006 6cyl Auto Spec B. Great car.

Havn't had it long but this might help you with your hunt.

You can get a 2.0lt and 2.5lt 4cyl With 4 speed auto, 2.5lt Turbo 4 or 3.0lt n/a 6 with 5speed auto or 6speed manual.
Then there are spec Bs which I think have Bilsteins, 18" wheels, upgraded stereo with climate control etc. The auto's also have paddle shift on the steering column and Subaru's SI drive.

When we took the 4cyl N/A 2.5 (the only way you can tell the difference between the 2.5lt and the 2lt we found was the engine #), my old lady thought it was good to cruise around in, easy to get up to the speed limit. But thought it lacked a bit of balls for overtaking, just didn't have the torque of the bigger motors, and with her commute and coming from an 8 it just didn't cut it. Didn't take the 4turbo for a drive, she was more interested in the 6.
The Turbo4 and 6 have almost identical power/torque figures but they would probably put that power out differently.

From driving the 6 I can say it goes pretty damn well! It flies when it needs to, although the power delivery is a bit different to what I'm used to. It just seems to have such a flat curve, it pulls pretty much identically at low revs then it does at high, there isn't really a noticeable power band.

The Auto is too lazy in 'I' mode, and way too busy in 'S#' but works pretty well in 'S'. So if you take one for a drive give the SI switch a try, it changes the throttle response aswell.

One thing we've found is that the thing is whisper quiet, she thought there was something wrong with it because she couldn't feel or hear it change gears, its just so smooth.
Overall though its been a fantastic car even though we havn't had it that long.
The sound system is great for a stock car (it has the upgraded version though), leather seats are great and fully electric for both driver and passenger. All the little touches inside the cabin make it a nice spot to be.
One thing I do find though is that it can seem a bit busy, there are buttons and switches everywhere, and it seems as though everything on the console is also mirrored on the steering wheel which has about 10 buttons in various spots.

One reason she wanted a subaru was because of good resale, and thats shown in their price now which is still pretty dear. It was also very difficult to find a nice 6cyl one in the right price and specs, 95% of the Liberty's out there are 4cyl.
We found a couple but at dealers that were just downright useless.

Anyway hope this helps a little mate, best of the luck with the search and hope you both enjoy it.

[SSVPom]

We own a 2007 2.0R Liberty sedan, and so I therefore can heartily recommend the 2.5 model, as it has 227nm of torque rather than 186nm... much better for overtaking.

[ebxr8240]

Own a 07 WRX no issues.. Crap alarm system !! But lucky the Liberty won't have it !!!

[Mark^^]

We have 2 subarus, a MY10 2.5i Sports and a MY10 2.5 Turbo Premium (which is my daily drive) both are great cars. The Turbo is a fantastic car and I love driving it, of course the n/a 2.5i sports does not fly as the GT does but its a nice car to drive.

[FPVSutto]

I know this isn't what you asked for.... but if anyone is looking at buying a new WRX Sti make sure you buy it in manual and not auto. Spent today helping the in-laws look at new Subaru's.... they wanted an Auto in a Sedan, so they were choosing between the WRX Sti spec R and the Liberty GT Turbo. (They've owned Liberty's for the past 10 years.... no problems at all)

The Sti auto was gutless and even at full thottle in Sport Sharp Mode felt boring. Couldn't tell when the turbo kicked in or hear it spooling up. I was really really disappointed with it because I had high hopes of being blown away. (The dealer said that they didn't know how to make the auto for it and the manual is alot quicker and more fun)

The Turbo Liberty was unreal to drive, it felt like a turbo compaired to the Sti and I could here it making noise. Sure it didn't have the handling of the Sti, but it wasn't sloppy either. Out of the 2 car mine and the father inlaw loved the Liberty..... but for some reason un-known to us the mother loved the Sti (and she doesn't even drive hard enough to get the turbo to kick in???) Plus it being $20,000 less the the Sti was a bonus.

A fun day either way.