Turbo Subie Question

[texas taco]

My wife and i have a 99 forester we have been pleased with its quality.
My wife is really close to getting a car bonus at work. She wants a new forester with a turbo. I have two questions.
1. In the specs for the turbo car it says it has to run premimun grade fuel.
Do you really have to. I have heard people say it dosent really need in. Does any one know from experience.
2. We purchased are current subie second hand. at 80,000 it has a transmission quirk. Other than that it drives better than alot of newer cars.
About 8 months ago i read an article done by an unbiased test agency. It rated the Subie one of the top 10 worst quallity vehicles on the market. What is yall's take on that. The articl was in my bro inlaws Trucking mag. Subie was just above the new Land Rovers.

 

[ZooJunkie]

If you don't run w/ 93 octane, you won't get the rated HP, but it will run on the lowest octane gas on the market. As for reliability, it depends, there have been lots of people w/ WRXs complaining about the lack of oil delivery to cylinder 4 in their engines and causing the engine to seize. Mind you, these WRXs are mostly driven hard.

It's a safe and reliable car if maintenance is performed. Making sure the oil levels are always up to par and you don't take lots of high G corners. Overall, Subaru's aren't bad cars.

 

[gringocl]

Octane is very important depending on the application. Not only will you not be able to make the advertised horsepower, you can also cause detonation. This is of big concern to us wrx drivers. Paying an extra 20-30 cents a gallon for gas is pretty cheap insurance imo. Plus gas mileage for the extra power is great. On my wrx I get 19 mpg when I drive heavy footed, and 24 hwy.

Here is a cool video of the forester sti

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-117426835217777671&q=forester+sti&hl=en

 

[MountainBiker]

The Subarus do have a knock sensor that adjusts timing, so in theory, it can adapt to low octane fuel. But in practice, the ECU can only adjust within a certain range, and it isn't actively using closed loop at all RPMs. Personally, if I had the turbo and was flat broke, I'd run premium or sell the car.

 

[TeleScooby]

Check out that SubaruForester.org forum for great info on the turbo premium question. As for the reliability, I would love to see what they were going on. Everything I've ever read, heard, and experienced (3 Subbies so far) says their full of it.

 

[texas taco]

Thanks for the replies. They have helped alot.