Little test of the Subaru XV

[frankphuket]

Not sure if anybody cares, but why not:

Tested the Subaru XV recently.

Exterior:

I always liked since it came on sales and still do so. They do have a strange cream/beige color which I have never seen on another car, which is pretty cool. It has a good masculine stand. Nice alloys as well. The STI Performance package adds a couple of nice skirts, etc, but also maybe a rather "over the top" back spoiler...and it is 200,000 dearer. It does not add anything to the performance as I understand though...merely cosmetical.

8/10

Interior:

Well oh well...I did not have any issues finding things. Just sit in and drive away as "one" did 20 years ago. Key in the keyhole, crank the engine....that's it. No electric this and that, blabla.

In plain English: it is plain and simple! Bland and dashboard plastics rather cheap looking.

Seats are comfy though and the air con works....not much more other positives.

Except maybe I thought the back seat leg room was above par, pretty spacious.

4/10

Engine:

Yep, it does have an engine.....!

I could stop here, but hey I guess that wouldn't be too fruitful. Together with the CVT (I dislike them greatly, always have) it just isn't moving with any convince. If you really put your foot down it gains in noise but not much in pace.

Best is to just put foot half down and let the pace build up by itself....rather boring.

5-6/10

Ride/Handling:

Oh La la, surprise. Wasn't expecting much, but impressed. It does ride very nice indeed, smoothen out any bad road joints nicely. Felt extremely planted, like it has all 4 wheels glued to the road (....ok, no shouts please, I know it is a 4WD). The steering has good feel and overall not much body roll. A really nice handling car with still very decent ride.

9/10

Such a shame about the interior and the engine: The interior I could live with but the Engine/CVT combo not really. Any idea of swopping it out or maybe a 'strap-on' turbo!!! anything, please.

Must admit also that the local Subaru dealer here in Phuket, was not up to the task. Went in and had to wait and walk around in the showroom till any of the 4 staff came closer (there were only 2 cars - both XVs)....and than not having to much idea about anything.....well, well...Finally the sales guy went with me on test drive was ok, pretty much shut up most of the time - in stark contrast with the Benz girl recently....I guess more to tech to talk about too.

[skorchio]

well that more or less answers any questions I might have had ..... I was hoping this car was an animal. I have aseen a few around and I am in the market for something new. Shame to read the power is so disappointing, cos I seemed to read that all Subaru are more or less sharing the same powerplant, 2.0 boxer engine. Maybe it is possible to strap on a turbo?

[frankphuket]

well that more or less answers any questions I might have had ..... I was hoping this car was an animal. I have aseen a few around and I am in the market for something new. Shame to read the power is so disappointing, cos I seemed to read that all Subaru are more or less sharing the same powerplant, 2.0 boxer engine. Maybe it is possible to strap on a turbo?

unfortunately they don't share the same engine with the WRX....it would not come at that price than either.

In all fairness I am coming from more powerful cars, so my perception might be a bit off. Let's say I always complain about my wifes Xtrail as well, which supposingly has 180hp!!!! never found them though. Compared to the Xtrail it was maybe on par, maybe slightly slower, hard to really recognize as the CVT kind of mulls some speed sensation (if this makes any sense).

It definitely handles better than any other SUV in my opinion, it does not handle like an SUV actually.

The strap on turbo would be great, but in Thailand it is really hard to find any specialist in this I believe....if anybody has had success and knows someone, give us a shout.

Skorchio: if you don't need 4wd and looking for something around 1m new, my suggestion at this time would be Mazda 3. Nice to drive, nice interior, quite good power....was quite impressed with it. Even the Mazda 2 diesel (my son got one since 3 months) is surprisingly powerful and a nice drive as well.

Or a bit dearer the CX-5...

All Mazdas....trust me I don't work with them, and my sons Mazda 2 was the first ever Mazda we bought.....i just think at the moment Mazda is doing more than others. Honda - nothing new since ages in terms of engines, same Toyota. Nissan got most of the designs quite wrong (Pulsar, etc.)...Mitsubishi is doing zippppp, so yes, not much choice.

[steveromagnino]

I think they sold quite ok before, but since the Honda HRV and the Mazda CX3 were announced, the 2nd/3rd tier brands like Subaru, Kia, Nissan are struggling a bit with the XV, Soul and Juke respectively.

The HRV is a generation ahead of the XV really, and the Mazda CX3 is the looker.

[ignis]

Read the other day in the paper we cannot mention, about the all new Vtec Turbo engines and will be coming to cars/SUV's in Thailand. ?

Edit: Honda Vtec Turbo engines

Edited June 12, 2015 by ignis

[Jitar]

I saw the article but did not see any suggestion the new generation of direct injection turbo engines would make to LOS any time soon. The last sentence indicates the opposite (conventional engines with E85 compatibility for tax reasons).

So far Toyota and Honda seem happy to leave the newer engine technology in the Thai market to Audi, BMW, Ford, Mazda, Mercedes Volvo etc.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Jitar

[raffo77]

This is the link to the previous discussion:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/601420-subaru-xv/

having owned one for 6 months, this is my take on the XV:

1. handles like no other SUV and most cars out there. full time 4 wd helps (and the driver...)

2. cvt is boring, but manual mode is quite fun and snappy. even has engine brake.

3. power is more than adequate, its just 150 hp after all. again, manual mode helps.

4. interior is bland, I admit it. but then everything I need is included.

5. service has been good until now and all my questions have had a reasonable answer.

6. only other car I took in consideration was the CX-5, but at the same price I would have only the fwd version.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

May be worth noting that the CX-3 is a Mazda 2 sized cabin. My first thoughts were "WOW!" when I saw it. But then I though the same of the Ford Ecosport last year, only to find out that it's teeny-tiny cramped inside. (Narrow especially).

So.. I wish I'm wrong about this, it looks stunning both inside and out.

[steveromagnino]

@Winnie the Kwai you are indeed correct, the reviews of the CX3 suggest it is more sporty and elegant from the outside, meaning it is less practical and spacious on the inside; that makes it closer to the Nissan Juke than the Honda HRV.

It really is a looker though. The Ford Ecosport to me is something I don't get at all; it's a fiesta jacked up, what possible benefit is that? When really the CX3 is basically the same concept from a Mazda 2, but they have made it look a bit better.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes.. I tried the new Mazda 2 on for size today.. It's not bad.. but it's a small car of course.

I then tried the Subaru XV and actually did a test drive. I really liked it! It's spacious and has lots of equipment for the price, including all wheel drive, 2 liter engine, climate control, cruise control, bluetooth phone integration, CVT and manual paddle shifters (not sure I'd actually used those but okay)

Only thing I liked less was that the power steering is helping a little too much in high speed corners (a bit jittery) but maybe that's just something to get used to.

And then the dealer network is super small of course.. If I don't hit it off with the single dealer in Chiang Mai then I'd be up squid's creek without a paddle..

Edited June 22, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[steveromagnino]

never heard the squids creek expression. I gonna start using that.

The other issue is resale. The HRV is going to have good resale, the best of that crop of mini SUVs without doubt (you can see already from the resale prices). Have you looked at an HRV? Lovely car and interior wise pretty decent size.

[casualbiker]

There are a couple of black XV's on Taladrod.com for 850k baht.

[T_Dog]

Best car I ever owned was a Legacy GT with the sport tuned suspension. Just no roll in turns and I could outrun motorcycles on courses with a lot of 90 degree turns.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

never heard the squids creek expression. I gonna start using that.

The other issue is resale. The HRV is going to have good resale, the best of that crop of mini SUVs without doubt (you can see already from the resale prices). Have you looked at an HRV? Lovely car and interior wise pretty decent size.

Yeah.. But HRV is small and I never liked the CRV, with the current model looking by far the worsed compared to everything before it.

HRV seems a little like the Ford EcoSport.. jacked-up Jazz that's still tiny, no actual off-road capacity, and WAY over priced. Fashion car for the mia noi.

Anyway I'm not too worried about resale, on my current cars I'm at 15 years. Whatever is left at that point is a bonus. (Also, the XV with a 2.0 liter engine would have some tuning / after-market potential when selling it. I'd hate to think what kids could do with it adding a nice turbo, etc.)

Edited June 23, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai