Philosoforester -
To the best of "feelings" generated by my rather inaccurate (mostly due to rather cushy insulation: aka fat :redface

butt-dyno, I've always felt that turbocharged vehicles were somewhat "sluggish" in terms of throttle response when off-boost. I actually don't know that "sluggish" is a good descriptor, but I'm at a loss as to how to better describe it: to me, it just feels that, off-boost, the throttle isn't nearly as responsive as that of a N/A vehicle.
I know that this is a feeling that's shared by many drivers/enthusiasts, and I wonder if perhaps this isn't what you're referring to, particularly as you're comparing the FXT with a rather nice N/A 6-cyl. sports car, with a powerplant that's known to be decently responsive and linear.
However, there's other concerns, too, which are purely technical.
And in this direction, I'd like to ask what, specifically, did you discuss with your local Scooby enthusiasts:
Are you referring to perhaps some of the "rough spots" (have a search for hesitation/"stuttering"/"studdering") that's typically seen at part-throttle, while at-cruise.
Or are you referring to the Drive-By-Wire (DBW) ECU mapping parameter known as "Requested Torque?"
Or are you referring to the CL/OL transition?
To examine each of these issues:
The first of these three concerns continues to baffle enthusiasts and tuners alike. So far, there's been much speculation, and a number of those affected have been able to achieve at least some level of resolution - but just as there lacks consensus in what's the root-cause(s) of the issue, there's also a lot of inconsistency in resolution.
As for the second, that's something that can be altered via the DWB vehicle's ECU. In my rather layman's :redface: understanding of the issue, Subaru's more recent "Si-Drive" is just such a trick. I found
rtbrjason's post on LegacyGT.com particularly useful in describing how this is applied with "Si-Drive" -
Subaru Legacy Forums - View Single Post - ? about Cobb AP and Si Drive , and also,
NSFW's early posting (
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthre...88377.html?t=88377&highlight=requested+torque) should provide some additional clarification, via its OP graphic. Additionally, there are now very affordable aftermarket products on-market which are designed to specifically alter this aspect of a DWB vehicle's behavior - the "NTD 3-Drive Throttle Controller" is just such a product. I've yet to see its use on a force-induced Subaru, but it's become popular in the N/A Subaru community, as you can see here:
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/official-test-ntd-throttle-control-unit-123112.html
As for that latter "bump" that you often feel in terms of CL/OL, it can also be accounted for via the ECU.
And like I said above, I'm really not that well-versed when it comes to ECU trickery: I'm a traditional backyard greasemonkey DIY-wrench. :redface: So this is a question, in-turn, that I'm posing to those with more knowledge than me: does tip-in enrichment also contribute to this issue?