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Anon
By AA | Moderator | 844 Posts | 11 March 2011 at 1:36pm

I have an imported 1997 Subaru 2.5 litre Legacy Grand Wagon which has 77,000km on the clock.

Since purchasing I have used 91 octane fuel. I noticed in one of your other Q & A's that most Subaru's run on 95 octane or higher.

Should I run my tank down and refill with 95 or should I continue to use 91?

Ian

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 4 January 2011

jbiddle
By jbiddle | Community Member | 1657 Posts | 11 March 2011 at 1:37pm

I made contact with the technical boys at Subaru to discuss this matter.

Pretty much all Subaru’s up until the current model range require the higher 95 octane fuel. Some of their range (STi and WRX) require 98 octane to perform at their peak.

Subaru have worked hard in recent years to improve their fuel economy while still retaining their image and All-Wheel-Drive benefits. A quick look at their website shows most of their range will now run on 91 octane (apart from the high performers) and their claimed figures are pretty impressive.

So to answer your question; yes 95 octane is recommended for your 97 Legacy.

Be aware Ian, some of the big “super” sites only sell 91 and 98 octane which will drive your fuel costs up more than necessary.

There are the smaller outlets however who sell 91 and 95 octane so if you find one of those the increase in petrol price is not so great. The difference is normally about 7/cents per litre between each grade which means you could pay up to 14 cents per litre more moving from 91 to 98 octane.