Archive for Subaru

Subaru has revealed a newly improved Justy 1.0R which is basically a re-badged version of the Daihatsu Sirion which is known in Malaysia as the Perodua Myvi.

This newly “improved” version, designated as the Justy 1.0 Twin Cam Special Edition carries a limited production run of 100 units only, with 50 finished in Black Mica and another 50 in Shinning Red.

With a base price of £9,995 which is about £700 more than the standard 1.0R, the Twin Cam Special Edition is powered by the same 68HP 3 cylinder engine found in the 1.0R, and is treated to a rear roof spoiler, twin exhaust system, over roof ‘viper stripes’ and side decals, leather and alloy gear knob and rear privacy glass.

As standard, just like the 1.0R model, it features ABS with EBD, radio/CD player with AUX input, four electric windows and remote central-locking. There are also driver, passenger, front side and curtain airbags. Potential buyers can also opt for 15-inch Monza R alloy wheels wrapped with Toyo 185/55R15 tires for an extra £ 600.

Just the Myvi we have back at home, it is also one of the cheapest vehicles to run in Europe with a 64.2 miles to the gallon fuel consumption figure based on the Extra Urban Cycle and an annual £ 35 Road Fund License fee. Subaru also further revealed that “The new Justy 1.0 Twin Cam now offers even more, and offers a racy alternative for the younger, and the young-at-heart, motorist”.

The new Subaru Legacy has been previewed in concept form at the 2009 NAIAS, or the Detroit Auto Show as it is frequently referred to as. From what was previously a sleek luxury cruise with that ever subtle tinge of sportiness, the new Subaru Legacy has grown rather large and has a noticeably high roofline, which Subaru says is designed to improve headroom in the interior. The car even has a little Hoffmeister kink at the C-pillar, so the Accord isn’t the only one doing that now!

The new car is larger, with a 2,751mm wheelbase that is longer than its predecessor, and even slightly longer than the large Subaru Tribeca. Like all proper Subarus (as in those that are not Daihatsu supermini rebadges), the Subaru Legacy Concept has Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive thats hooked up to a 3.6 liter 6-cylinder boxer engine. Subaru did not quote any power figures for this concept’s engine but it’s probably safe to assume that it is similiar to the EZ36 boxer-6 in the Subaru Tribeca that can produce 256hp.

The concept car has a few characteristics that probably won’t make it into the production model, and some of these include the tiny aerodynamic wing mirrors that use cameras instead of a mirror, as well as the 4-seater seating position which is most likely to be traded with a more practical 5-seater that uses a bench at the rear. There is a very comprehensive in-car entertainment system there too, and while it’s not likely to become a standard feature (or even a feature at all), it shouldn’t be too hard for any experienced accessory shop to reproduce it.

Check out a whole hi-res gallery and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Subaru Legacy Concept at the NAIAS 2009

Subaru takes its new badge engineering agreement with Toyota/Daihatsu further with the new Subaru Dex, which is essentially a Daihatsu Materia with Subaru badges and grill slapped on. Under the hood is not what you might typically find in a Subaru, a hardly exciting 1.3 liter VVT-i engine mated to a 4-speed auto, not unlike what you’d find in a Perodua Myvi. Speaking of Myvis, Subaru also rebadged the Toyota Passo as the new Subaru Justy. Anyone seen Myvis in KL with Subaru badges yet?

Anyway, check out a gallery of this Subaru-badged Materia after the jump. There will be more Daihatsus badged as Subarus to come in the future, with one of them being the Daihatsu Sonica. The phrase Subaru Sonica sounds a little catchy, at least.

Click here to read the rest of New Subaru DEX: rebadged Daihatsu Materia

Lots of delays in the Toyota camp thanks to the industry’s sad outlook. Right after Toyota and Isuzu agreed to temporarily freeze their join diesel engine project, it appears that the rear wheel drive sports car developed with FHI’s Subaru that it was supposed to launch in end-2011 will be postponed to beyond 2012 or later. That’s like, over 4 years from now, which is close to an entire Japanese product 5 year cycle, though Toyota seems to be extending the shelf life of their products these days. Toyota began reviewing all its new projects beginning last month after slashing its profit estimates by more than half thanks to falling North American and European sales, and a stronger Japanese yen.

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Motor Image has dropped the price of the Subaru Impreza WRX STi from the earlier RM289k price tag to a new price tag of RM251k. The price premium of upgrading from the 2.0 liter S-GT (priced at RM180k) to this 2.5 liter WRX STi model is now smaller than the previous gap of more than RM100k.

Although a sedan is available even down south in Singapore, Malaysians get the hatchback version for both the S-GT and the WRX STi. The WRX STi is powered by a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder boxer engine producing 300 PS at 6,000rpm and 407Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. These power outputs however were tested on RON 100 fuel so expect the engine to detuned itself on the fly with our RON97 fuel.

No fancy twin clutch thingamajig here, there’s only a 6-speed manual to work with. Ratios are 3.636 for 1st, 2.235 for 2nd, 1.590 for 3rd, 1.137 for 4th, 0.891 for 5th and 0.707 for 6th, with a final drive of 3.900.

The car rides on inverted MacPherson struts at the front and a double wishbone suspension at the rear. Despite being a hatch and looking smaller, it’s actually quite a large car when you look at it up close, measuring at 4415mm versus 4204mm long versus the Golf GTI. It’s wheelbase clicks in at 2,625mm, not best in class for a C-segment sedan but right smack in the average department and 25mm longer than the Corolla Altis.

Subaru’s SI-Drive system is a knob that allows you to switch between Intelligent, Sports or Sports# modes. They vary throttle response and various other vehicle dynamic settings. I’m not completely sure what but it’d better also control the steering assistance!

Right below that is a switch for the Multi-mode DCCD (Driver’s Control Centre Differential), which allows you to adjust the behaviour of the helically and electromagnetically controlled LSD. Basically there’s either a manual mode which lets you adjust how much locking force the LSD provides, or an automatic mode. More differential lock allows more traction on slippery roads, but this affects turning capability which may affect the car’s agility and responsiveness on winding roads.

Braking power looks good on paper thanks to 4-pot Brembo calipers at the front and 2-pot Brembo calipers at the rear, gripping ventilated discs on all four wheels. The wheels themselves are 17 inch alloys wrapped with 235/45R17 rubber.

There are a decent amount of creature comforts to prevent it from appearing like a cheap car with an inflated price due to its powerful engine. There’s automatic climate control, cruise control, bucket seats, HID headlamps, electrically controllable door mirrors, front airbags, side airbags and curtain airbags, a 6-CD changer with steering mounted audio, hill-start assist, and vehicle dynamic control.

Click for larger image

We’ve seen four installments of the Subaru Legacy so far since its inception in 1989, and next year will be the Legacy’s 20th birthday or sorts, so Subaru is going to celebrate it by unveiling a concept version of the next generation Subaru Legacy!

The Subaru Legacy Concept will preview the fifth generation Subaru Legacy set to hit the world in 2010. It will be displayed at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show, and of course to appeal to the American consumer a very large engine is required. The Legacy Concept has a 600cc upper hand over the 4th gen’s largest engine thanks to it being fitted with the 3.6 liter normally aspirated boxer engine from the Subaru Tribeca, producing 258 horsepower and 350Nm of torque. And of course, it’ll have AWD.

Somehow in this frontal teaser shot it kind of gives me the impression that it’s a larger sedan version of the Prodrive P2. All the latest “trends” are there, like LED daytime running lights. More will be revealed as Detroit 2009 approaches!

The above is supposed to be a preview of the upcoming Impreza Spec-C. It’s been christened the Subaru Impreza WRX STi Takumi Concept and gives us a sneak peek at the styling of the upcoming lightweight version of the Subaru Impreza. You can expect the Spec-C to shave at least 70kg off the stock standard STi via lighter body panels and roof, with other modifications as well such as bigger brakes and revised gear ratios.

Eager to enter the increasing market for 7-seater MPVs, Subaru first unveiled the Subaru Exiga concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and the production version was unveiled in July this year. Having a car industry that is completely based on CBU imports, Singapore gets the Subaru Exiga almost immediately thanks to the quick response of Singaporean Subaru importers and distributors Motor Image.

I don’t know how long the Exiga project has been in existence but I can’t help but feel the Exiga is the result of some Toyota DNA injected onto FHI – it seems somewhat like a quick and efficient fix to a problem. The Exiga is built on the Legacy’s platform, taking the D-segment sedan and stationwagon (Outback)’s body and increasing its size to fit 7 people. However the problem with being somewhat based on the Legacy is that it somehow automatically looks dated despite being a new model.

It seems like Subaru went a little adventurous and tried to develop a new styling language with the likes of the Version 9 Impreza and the pre-facelift Tribeca but with these new batch of models quickly rolled back to the old design language before brand perception got worse, resulting in dated looking new models.

Anyway, the result of the Exiga project is a people carrier that is rather fit to be called a Subaru. It has the two key things you’d expect from a Subaru – a horizontally opposed boxer engine and all-wheel drive. There is even a turbocharged version.

After a short drive with the normally aspirated Exiga 2.0i, I found it to handle reasonably well for such a large vehicle. It did not feel large at all and was easy to maneuver. I was immediately reminded of the current generation Honda Odyssey. Nice, an MPV that drives like a 5-seater car! I’m sure the low center gravity of the boxer engine helps alot in this department. The Exiga also has a double wishbone suspension at the rear.

The interior is a class above the likes of the Mazda5, Toyota Wish and Honda Stream in terms of space but falls short of the interior space offered by the Honda Odyssey. The windscreen in front of the driver’s point of view is wide and tall. As evident from the exterior of the car with its taller roof, the interior had plenty of headroom.

Getting into the third row via folding down and sliding forward the second row seat is an easy one-handed affair. I had no problems sitting in the third row (I cannot fit in the Stream’s third row without making the second row unusable) though.

But we’re just talking about fitting without threatening to cut off blood supply to my legs from the pressure against the back of the second row seats like AirAsia planes. The seating position was not exactly comfortable as the distance from the seat to the floor is too close so the third row is still best left to children.

My head was quite close to the ceiling (did not touch it), but apparently this is intentional. According to Subaru, the second row and third row increase in height in steps so that all three rows get a good clear vision of the view in front. But with the third row in use, there is really not much luggage room left. Perhaps enough for 2 suitcases, definitely not 7!

And despite only having air cond blowers at the front, Subaru surprisingly managed to design the airflow to hit the passengers all the way at the back through vents at the front which point to the top, which is quite commendable. This may turn off some people who expect more blowers because of the car’s near-Odyssey (which has blowers for all 3 rows) price tag regardless of whether the front blowers do their job or not.

However, the 2.0 liter normally aspirated engine with 148 PS at 6,000rpm and 191Nm of torque at 3,200rpm can only manage the weight of the Exiga with only 4 people in the car. Add three more plus luggage and it’s going to feel pretty sluggy. The lack of power is reflected in the spec sheets which indicate a top speed of 160km/h and 12.7 seconds from stand still to the 100km/h mark. The 4-speed SPORTSHIFT automatic has nothing sporty about it and is quite sluggy to downshift when power is needed.

The higher spec and more powerful turbocharged Exiga 2.0GT with the turbocharged 2.0 liter boxer engine was not available for test drive, but I reckon that would be a much more suitable powertrain for the car thanks to its 225 PS at 5,600rpm and 326Nm of torque at 4,400rpm. Being turbocharged, it would be much more tuner-friendly too. Its gearbox also has one extra cog, making a 5-speed unit. It also adds a panoramic moonroof and a black interior instead of being extremely light and beige like in the normally aspirated version.

Sadly the turbocharged model is JDM-spec and is speed limited to 180km/h – this would not be a problem in Singapore but if you want to go a little more crazy with the throttle when you travel up to Malaysia on the North-South Highway you may want to research if there’s a work-around for this on your own at a JDM accessory shop.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Subaru Exiga.

Click here to read the rest of Subaru Exiga 7-Seater MPV Test Drive Review

Subaru’s new 2.0 liter boxer turbodiesel engine has been slotted into the Impreza hatchback and the Forester SUV. Both cars will be displayed at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, with the engine mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

The turbodiesel engine is tuned to produce 147 PS in the Forester and 150 PS in the Impreza, both at 3,600rpm. Peak torque for both states of tune is rated at 350Nm at a low 1,800rpm. This should allow Subaru to make headway in the European markets as they’re all diesel-crazy over there.

The production version of the Subaru Exiga was just announced in May this year, but Subaru has already unveiled full details and photos of the new 7-seater wagon-like vehicle which will most likely form the base for the next generation Subaru Legacy in sedan form.

There are four models offered, with three having more sedate normally aspirated engines (2.0i, 2.0i-L and 2.0i-S models), and one more with a 211hp turbocharged engine called the 2.0GT. The normally aspirated engine features Active Valve Control System (AVCS) and is mated to a 4-speed SPORTSHIFT automatic transmission, a fancy name for a regular auto with manual override of gear sleection. The 2.0GT gets a 5-speed SPORTSHIFT auto with auto throttle blipping on downshift.

All of the models have 4WD, but two different systems are offered. The normally aspirated models get the Active Torque Split AWD system while the 2.0GT gets the more advanced Variable Torque Distribution (VTD) system. The 2.0GT also gets SI-Drive, which offers three different driving modes: Intelligent; Sport; and Sport Sharp.

The interior has a large panoramic glass roof (all models except 2.0i) which covers the front and second row of seats. Sadly there are no rear air cond blowers for the second and third row, so you will have to rely on air cond vents on the dashboard that are designed to “throw” the air all the way to the third row. The second row’s chairs can be slid back and forth independently by 180mm.

Look for more images after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Subaru Exiga 7-seater wagon