Tow capacities are plummeting on 2012 cars...

[Jim Edgerly]

I've got a 2005 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with 53,000 miles and a tow rating of 2000 pounds (with brakes). I'm keeping it! A long time ago I had a Hyundai Elantra with a 2000 pound tow rating, that then went to 1000 pounds a few years later, then eventually went to 0.

[McBrew]

I have gotten up to 29.6 MPG with the Outback (calculated at the pump). . . The fuel economy is nothing to write home about . . .

Nothing to write home about? 30mpg under tow is pretty close to amazing! 30mpg for constant AWD is a dream machine.

Yes, that would have been great IF it were under tow. That's just day to day driving. Towing the Scamp, I get about 23 MPG.

[McBrew]

I've got a 2005 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with 53,000 miles and a tow rating of 2000 pounds (with brakes). I'm keeping it! A long time ago I had a Hyundai Elantra with a 2000 pound tow rating, that then went to 1000 pounds a few years later, then eventually went to 0.

The European version of the Hyundai Elantra (they call it the i30) can haul 1,210 pounds unbraked and either 2,640 or 3,080 pounds braked, depending on whether it has the 1.4 or 1.6L gas or the 1.6L diesel engine.

[Pete S]

Nothing to write home about? 30mpg under tow is pretty close to amazing! 30mpg for constant AWD is a dream machine. [/quote]

Actually, the forester drives a lot like the little pickups I've had over the years. I've rarely gotten more than 20 mpg with those (usually around 17 mpg) and here this thing is supposed to get close to 30 mpg.

Compared to my current sedan that gets a repeatable 42 mpg @ 78 mph it isn't all that impressive but compared to the little trucks it resembles more it is pretty impressive.

[afreegreek]

with CARB, NTSB, EPA, and the other alphabet soup agencies dictating what manufacturers can and can't do you'll be lucky to pull a rickshaw by hand in a few years.. better start paying more attention to politics and vote accordingly if you want to have any freedoms left..

[McBrew]

Actually, the forester drives a lot like the little pickups I've had over the years. I've rarely gotten more than 20 mpg with those (usually around 17 mpg) and here this thing is supposed to get close to 30 mpg.

Compared to my current sedan that gets a repeatable 42 mpg @ 78 mph it isn't all that impressive but compared to the little trucks it resembles more it is pretty impressive.

I'm only 1/4 of the way through my current tank of gas, but my MPG display is showing 32 MPG. It is usually 1 MPG high, so I would estimate it to be 31 MPG in reality. I did have to tow my cargo trailer today, but only for about half a mile, fortunately.

I am going to try to keep my speed down. I'm really trying to break 30 MPG on a tank with the Outback. 29.6 MPG (calculated) is my best so far. I guess it's really not bad, figuring that I averaged about 37 MPG with my previous car, but the Outback is three feet longer, 4 inches wider, 6.5 inches taller, weighs 900 pounds more, has 42 more horsepower, has an automatic trans, and is all-wheel-drive. You don't get all that for nothin'!

[wagondude]

Our '10 Outback is a short trip city dweller right now, so my wife isn't doing as well as you are on gas milage. I can get 30 out of my '06 Outback during the summer if I limit my speed to 55 mph. The '06 turns about the same RPMs at 55 as the '10 at 70. Slowing down will help, but winter blend fuels are going to take back a bunch of the gain.

Bill