Subaru 3.6 Six vs. 2.5 Four, is this true?
Asked by Mark Mar 18, 2016 at 12:22 AM about the 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
Question type: General
Is it true that the Subaru 3.6 H6 really burns more oil than it's smaller sibling, the 2.5 Four? Take a look at this article from Consumer's Reports,
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/06/excessive-oil-consumption/index.htm
4 Answers
TheSubaruGuruBoston answered 8 years ago
It's a coarse, naive generalization. Subaru has changed the design of its piston rings several times already to try to address this issue. So it depends upon age, which ring set, etc. Naturally, the 3.6 would "consume" 50% more oil, as it uses 6 of the same size cylinders as the 4. Duh....
I didn't say this...Consumers Reports did. From reading the report and the conspicuous absence of the 2.5 Four, one might conclude that the 3.6 flat six consumes more oil irrespective of the engine size. And, remember, there's a much smaller percentage of these cars produced and sold.
OK, but, WHY is the 2.5 Four NOT on the list of The Thirsty 30? And, did you see my question about whether the 2010 Subaru Outback had the newly designed head gaskets??
