Does this baby have a closed-deck block? Is this a de-tuned version
of the US WRX STi's powerplant?

On a slightly different topic, why do you think the US H-6 equipped
Outback's aren't offered with a manual transmission? Are they
available with a manual overseas?

Verbs Under My Gel wrote:

Just a wild-assed guess. The clutch and drivetrain
couldn't stand the torque of dropped-clutch starts.
With an auto and torque converter, the engineers
can modulate the torque.

<Verbs Under My Gel> wrote:

I guess market research shows they wouldn't sell enough of them to make it
worth while.
--
Dominic Richens | dominic (AT) alumni (DOT) uottawa.ca
"If you're not *outraged*, you're not paying attention!"

From what I've heard/read, they are only similar in the fact that they are
both 2.5L. This makes it easier for the mechanics to service the motor with
existing tools.

Good points in the other posts, and because they want to see if there is a
market in the USA for what will be a significantly more expensive Legacy (B4 &
Touring) than they currently offer.
IIRC, Subaru of N.America only sells ~11% of its cars with manual trannies
and there are a lot of manual WRX's, so that leaves very little demand for them
in the Legacy based line-ups. Of course if they offered a Legacy-based car
with a decent motor... doh!
I'd be *very* interested in a 275hp B4 with a semi-automatic or manu-matic
tranny with shifters on the steering wheel (paddle or button) .
C'mon Subaru!
Terry - '02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 25,000 miles
'03 Silver Legacy SE auto-sedan - 2450 miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"