facts about the subaru h6 engine

[subarus-in-uganda-inthe70s]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat-six_engine

Flat-six engines are wide, and would restrict steering lock if placed in the conventional positions for front-engine drivetrain layouts. As a result, most flat-six automobile designs have been rear-engine or rear mid-engine designs, and have been subject to the limitations and drawbacks of these designs. The longest surviving flat-six-engined model, the Porsche 911, is a rear-engined sports car with acceptably compromised interior room and a long history of suspension development to utilize the characteristics of the drivetrain layout.

Subaru, an automobile manufacturer with a history of making aircraft engines, has adapted a front-engine configuration for use with its flat engines. The engine is mounted longitudinally ahead of the front axle and the transmission is mounted longitudinally behind the front axle. Although this layout is intrinsically more expensive to manufacture, less compact, and less space efficient for front-wheel drive than a transverse V6, it allows the addition of four-wheel drive by taking power off both the front and back ends of the transmission, since the transmission is located between the front and rear axles. As a result of this layout, Subaru now specializes in all-wheel-drive vehicles.

Subaru's 2003-2009 EZ series EZ30 engine featured a Porsche designed and German manufactured Variable Valve Lift (VVL) system, that further enhances high range power and smoothness at idle. It was discontinued on the successor of the EZ30 engine, the EZ36 engine.