Subaru XV
The 1990s and early 2000s were a golden age for the World Rally Championships (WRC). It was a time when mighty machines like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Toyota Celica Turbo competed with Subaru’s Impreza. Names such as Colin McRae and Tommi Mäkinen were on every rally fan’s lips and it was nearly impossible to predict who would win a season. But then the rules changed to beneit hatchbacks and Frenchmen named Sébastien. Ten years ago many a school boy begged his dad to buy a blue Impreza WRX STI – one with gold wheels, a gaping air intake in the bonnet and a hilariously huge spoiler on the bootlid. But those days are gone. The renowned Subaru World Rally Team disbanded and teenagers ind a 2018 Impreza about as thrilling as a Toyota Etios. Subaru XV But what about the Subaru XV? It’s a hatchback, it’s an SUV, and it’s an Impreza on stilts that begs to be muddied up on logging trails in a pine plantation. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?
Inside and out
The XV is indeed based on the Impreza, but thanks to black plastic fender liners and a roof rack for mountain bikes and kayaks – and of course because it’s higher of the ground – it has an attitude that screams “adventurous”. Its long nose is reminiscent of the Mazda CX-3’s and the allwheel drive puts it in the same company as the Volvo XC40 and Mini Countryman rather than the front-wheel-drive Toyota C-HR – all of which are the Subaru XV’s competitors. The Subaru XV shines because of its safety features. The XV received ive stars in the Japanese and even stricter European NCAP crash tests, and its EyeSight camera-and-sensor system keeps a watchful eye on fellow motorists and pedestrians. When the system detects that you might be involved in a collision, the vehicle will brake automatically. It also warns you if you’re drifting over a line or if there’s a car hidden in your blind spot. In this class only the Volvo XC40 ofers this level of safety. What the XV is sadly lacking though is boot space. At 310 ℓ its boot is substantially smaller than, for example, the Volvo XC40 (460 ℓ) and BMW X1 (505 ℓ). It’s bigger than a VW Polo, but not by much.
How it drives
The drive in an XV is pleasant – it feels almost like a Sunday outing to a botanical garden. We deinitely wouldn’t describe it as boring, but it’s certainly not exciting. The suspension is stif enough to keep body roll to a minimum, but it’s also not so hard as to crush your spine. Subaru is known for its acceptable continuously variable transmission, or Lineartronic CVT. In fact, the CVT in a Subaru Outback is almost better than an ordinary automatic transmission, although not entirely. The Outback, however, does come with a strong 3,6 ℓ six-cylinder engine that allows its transmission to perform well, but the XV is handicapped by a gloomy 2 ℓ four-cylinder engine – no turbocharger – which isn’t powerful enough to make the CVT excel. The average motorist won’t complain about this though, and if the wretched powertrain bothers you, switch over to Sport mode and use the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel to simulate seven “gear changes”. The transmission in the XV delivers acceptable service if you’re driving at a leisurely pace and you’re not planning to channel Sébastien Loeb or Sébastien Ogier.
The XV’s traction control works brilliantly on a dirt road, as you’d expect from a Subaru, and the steering feels perfect: neither too sensitive nor too slow. The 18” tyres roll forgivingly over corrugated roads and potholes, and because the engine-and-transmission combo is so timid it never feels like you’re going to lose control and end up in the rough. Like the Outback, the XV also has an X mode. It’s basically electronically simulated dif lockers that also regulate the hill descent control that’s activated by the push of a button as soon as the road surface becomes slightly challenging.
Conclusion
In terms of workmanship and appearance we can’t fault the Subaru XV Its engine-and-transmission combination does disappoint if you’re a petrolhead, but the average Joe will think you’re nit-picking if you criticise it. The Subaru XV’s ultimate problem is that the Renault Duster (R312 900) and Hyundai Creta (R349 900) are more practical – for considerably less money.
sources: Go Drive & Camp, July 2018
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