Wow, they must be sitting on a mountain of unsold right-hand drive inventory/production capacity.

Fuel consumption for an Outback is 8.5L/100km for the four-banger and 9.8 for the six. Not stellar perhaps, but then these are mid-size station wagons with AWD (i.e. safer in inclement weather). By giving away fuel vouchers, they are suggesting their vehicles are gas guzzlers, which seems odd.

Note that the Subaru UK web site advertises a fuel rebate for all models. Some qualify for GBP 1000, others for GBP 3000 promotional discount-in-kind.

Come on -- is it really free fuel??? Get real!! How stupid do they think we really are?? Free??? Not a chance. If you think it's free then ya just got your pocket picked and ya still got a smile on your face (and some people will believe it is free -- trust me -- A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE).

"But more than that, we want to make a dramatic gesture to get our outstanding cars onto more car-buyers’ radar."

That's a beaut. Same spinmeisters they 've got over at GM and Ford.

Rafael.

We have this continuing "discussion" between the wife and I about the efficacy of her Subaru vesrus my Prius in winter weather. Once you're on the road, even if there is ice and snow, I find that the Prius, for all practical purposes, does just as well as the Subaru. If one is in deep snow, of course, the AWD and higher clearance will take you places the Prius won't. But I avoid those situations. As far as breaking goes, I can't see that it makes any difference whether you have AWD or FWD as long as you have comparable tires. In any event, I think AWD is way overrated for those doing normal driving.

I'd like to get rid of the Subaru, but my wife insists that her life is in danger in the winter without it. I guess we'll just have to wait until it rusts, explodes or gets stolen, whichever comes first. I hit a deer a couple of years ago, but unfortunately the Subaru wasn't totalled.

Since I can't get my wife past her need to have AWD in snow, I'm hoping Toyota comes out with a hybrid AWD Matrix soon. Hopefully, it will average at least 40mpg.

Don't get me wrong. My wife loves our Prius but insists on her "tank" in snowy weather.

While I dont wan't an SUV, I would rather have cash off the price then one of these lame fuel offers. Offering 'up to' $5500 of free fuel actually encourages waste, as if you do conserve you will end up with expired free fuel.

Subaru, just cut your price back by the same amount and get it over with.

jj -

it's called a (desparate) sales incentive. The alternative is more options, a deeper discount, cash-back, whatever it takes to sweeten the pot.

t -

the Prius may be a bit of an exception among FWD cars because it's got a heavy battery pack in the back. That reduces the chances of having the rear of the vehicle break out laterally in a fast bend on a wet surface. A hybrid will recuperate during braking, even during emergency stops when the mechanical brakes are needed as well. Chances are, the brake pads on the hybrid will have little wear on them and the ABS will perform very well. If your wife drive defensively, she won't really notice the difference with AWD unless there is oil, loose gravel, black ice or snow on the ground.

You might want to talk to your wife about taking a special driver's ed class for dealing with winter driving conditions in *any* car, even your Prius or (horrors!) a rental. After all, what if her AWD car needs to go to the shop in the middle of winter for some reason? She should also know how to mount snow cables on a 2WD, just in case. You should both go, with both of your cars - let the instructor talk her into switching vehicles half-way through, when she's already got some confidence. Combine it with a romantic B&B for an adventure weekend and she'll dump her old clanger first thing Monday.

http://www.winterdrive.com/
http://www.howsondrivingschool.com/course10.htm
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/driving/articles/104583/article.html

Will people really buying these cars just becoz of the free fuel? When I buy a car i will look at the long term running cost, not too sure about other places but in here when average people buy a new car it is likely to stick with it for at least 5 years, some over 10 years.

Last winter, while skiing at the mountains, it began snowing, and road become covered in slush. On my way down I experienced catastrophic loss of grip on my performance (yet rated all-weather ) tires – car did not respond to braking and steering, gust sled slowly downhill. The only way to control it was engine steering – point wheels where I wanted to go and hit gas pedal (it is front wheel drive). I sled down this way for a mere kilometer, sinusoiding from one side of the road to another. Eventually I descended enough to snow turn into rain. It was chilling experience. I am not sure four-wheel drive car could effectively perform such a trick, let alone rear wheel drive….

I once had a car with a limitied slip differential (nissan sunny zx,fwd). Whenever it would snow (pretty rare now in the uk) I'd head out for the unsalted country lanes, incredible grip and great fun with many picturesque views that would only be there for a day. I'd sometimes end up rescueing people who had slid off the road and got stuck. Snow chains pretty useful aswell.