Subaru's gone diesel?

[Steve Barnes]

Subaru's producing a turbo diesel, boxer engine with 148 h.p.. Bad news is that it's going to Europe and Australia, but not the U.S.. Is anyone thinking of putting one of these babies in an RV?

Steve Barnes "the Builders Coach"

[John Courte]

If the ECU can be made to play nice, or a good aftermarket one sourced, It might be worth a look. It would also depend on the usual factors of weight, cooling, etc. Unless they've done something metallurgically interesting, the diesel block would probably weigh more than that of the garden-variety sube.

[instructor_bill]

From motor trend mag

"Output is 145 hp at 3600 rpm but the engine makes a manly 258 lb-ft of torque at just 1800 rpm (compared with 226 lb-ft for the Forester's 2.0L turbo gas engine)."

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz11yiNjOc5

Great that it's not 100LL, but the mechanical architecture still doesn't allow the engine to make it's power quite where we need it without a PSRU.

I'd do it in a heartbeat if the peak output was at a lower rpm-- provided it didn't weigh as much as the rest of the whole airplane.

I'll stick with the 13b.


Shouldn't this be moved out of V-bay?

[rv6ejguy]

Originally Posted by John Courte

If the ECU can be made to play nice, or a good aftermarket one sourced, It might be worth a look. It would also depend on the usual factors of weight, cooling, etc. Unless they've done something metallurgically interesting, the diesel block would probably weigh more than that of the garden-variety sube.

I posted a link quite some time ago about an aftermarket diesel ECU from the UK which should allow the use of all the stock injection hardware so this is certainly doable for someone with the gumption and talent. Search "new diesel ecu".

Would be cool to see one flying but will be heavier and less powerful than a Lycoming. Would probably perform decently at altitude being turbocharged at least.

[kgood]

I agree with Ross. It just about has to be too heavy. When you consider that even the gasoline Subaru installations (at least the ones I know of) are quite heavy, the diesel will probably be over the top. Especially if it needs a PSRU, which I'm sure it will.

The aftermarket ECU for diesels is a good thing. I think it will open doors for more development of aerodiesels. We found an aftermarket ECU for our Duramax diesel race car, and it has worked well. It's amazing what can be done with it in terms of tuning, monitoring, data logging, etc.

I still think that the future of diesel aviation lies with two-stroke, direct drive engines. It will be VERY difficult for a 4-stroke to match the simplicity, weight, and performance of the 2-stroke.

That being said, I'd still like to get my hands on a Subaru diesel and see what can be done with it!
Kurt

[breister]

I don't think that PSRUs will be a challenge for much longer.

Watch this video for an explanation of a nearly frictionless PSRU that reduces torque pulses and prevents from torque overload.

[deej]

Originally Posted by breister

Watch this video for an explanation of a nearly frictionless PSRU

That is extremely cool!

-Dj

[Andy_RR]

Originally Posted by breister

I don't think that PSRUs will be a challenge for much longer.

Watch this video for an explanation of a nearly frictionless PSRU that reduces torque pulses and prevents from torque overload.

That's pretty neat. However, I think using brushless DC motor technology as a baseline, this idea will sadly suffer from being extremely heavy for the power levels we require.

[Syncrogreg]

Hey!
I have the Subaru diesel engine in my garage here in the US !!

Can you guys guess the weight of the engine ?

Then I will post it later... I just want to know what is people guess.

http://www.vanorama.com/


GSB

[chuckwn]

Exactly 300 lbs