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jonesk
By jonesk | AA Member | 3 Posts | 8 March 2014 at 9:05am

We currently have a BMW 318i 2004 station wagon and are looking at changing over to a Subaru outback 2004-2006. We do a lot of around town driving and around 3 trips a year from CHCH to Queenstown. Will we notice a big difference in fuel economy with the 3.0?
Thanks

Toggleco
By Toggleco | AA Member | 1 Post | 9 March 2014 at 10:53am

The 3 litre Subaru engine has a cam chain, the 2.5 is a cam belt.
The car you are looking at is 8-10 years old. It will depend on what sort of maintenance history and driving style the Outback has had to what the fuel use will be like.
Have you considered other vehicles - Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Highlander, Audi etc?
Have you evaluated air suspension on the BMW to provide greater ground clearance when required.