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7-2 Starting and operating
Fuel
CAUTION
Use of a fuel which is low in quality
or use of an inappropriate fuel
additive may cause engine damage.
& Fuel requirements
! Non-turbo models
The non-turbo engine is designed to
operate using unleaded gasoline with an
octane rating of 87 AKI or higher.
! Turbo models
The engine is designed to operate at
maximum performance using unleaded
gasoline with an octane rating of 93 AKI
or higher. If 93 AKI fuel is not readily
available in your area, unleaded gasoline
with an octane rating of 91 AKI may be
used with no detriment to engine durability
or driveability. However, you may notice a
slight decrease in maximum engine per-
formance while using 91 AKI fuel. Use of
91 AKI fuel will not affect your warranty
coverage. If premium unleaded gasoline is
not available, regular unleaded gasoline
with an octane rating of 87 AKI or higher
may be temporarily used. For optimum
engine performance and driveability, it is
required that you use premium grade
unleaded gasoline.
NOTE
Be sure to use premium unleaded
gasoline of 91 AKI or higher for a turbo
engine model. If other gasoline (lower
than 91 AKI) is used, knocking, re-
duced output and poor accelerator
response will result.
! Fuel octane rating
This octane rating is the average of the
Research Octane and Motor Octane
numbers and is commonly referred to as
the Anti Knock Index (AKI).
Using a gasoline with a lower octane
rating can cause persistent and heavy
knocking, which can damage the engine.
Do not be concerned if your vehicle
sometimes knocks lightly when you drive
up a hill or when you accelerate. See your
dealer or a qualified service technician if
you use a fuel with the specified octane
rating and your vehicle knocks heavily or
persistently.
! Unleaded gasoline
The neck of the fuel filler pipe is designed
to accept only an unleaded gasoline filler
nozzle. Under no circumstances should
leaded gasoline be used because it will
damage the emission control system and
may impair driveability and fuel economy.
! California fuel
If your vehicle was certified to California
Emission Standards as indicated on the
underhood tune-up label, it is designed to
optimize engine and emission control
system performance with gasoline that
meets the clean burning low-sulfur Cali-
fornia gasoline specifications. If you live in
any other state than California, your
vehicle will operate on gasoline meeting
Federal specifications. Gasoline sold out-
side California is permitted to have higher
sulfur levels, which may affect the perfor-
mance of your vehicle’s catalytic converter
and may produce a sulfur exhaust odor or
smell. SUBARU recommends that you try
a different brand of unleaded gasoline
having lower sulfur to determine if the
problem is fuel related before returning
your vehicle to an authorized dealer for
service. The CHECK ENGINE warning
light/malfunction indicator lamp may also
turn on. If this occurs, return to your
authorized SUBARU dealer for diagnosis.
If it is determined that the condition is
caused by the type of fuel used, repairs
may not be covered by your warranty.