SUBARU XV 2,0I-ES LINEARTRONIC CVT

AS I mentioned in the previous short update, the XV undertook its second long-haul stint with a round trip to East London transporting photographer Duwyne Aspeling on an assignment at the Volkswagen plant in Uitenhage. Given his experience with Subaru’s more hard-edged wares, including his own thoroughly worked-on WRX, Duwyne’s feedback on what is essentially a raisedheight Impreza hatch would be particularly pertinent. I was expecting the XV’S performance to be a sticking point with our fleet-footed photographer, but thanks to the engine’s smoothness, willingness to rev and characterful boxer soundtrack, there were few complaints levelled at the powerplant. The anticipated complaints regarding the XV’S fuel consumption also failed to materialise, as openroad driving saw the average drop from its thirsty-round-town 9,21 L/100 km to an entirely more palatable 7,60 L/100 km.

Jacking up the suspension usually doesn’t lend itself well to a car’s handling characteristics, but the consensus was that the XV felt surefooted and had just enough weight and response from its steering to prove reasonably engaging on the twistier sections of the route. Long, level stints behind the wheel also revealed the XV’S adaptive cruise control to be one of the better ones we’ve experienced, being more progressive and natural in its actions than those in some of the high-end European cars that we’ve sampled.

The only complaint that was registered regarded driver’s seat comfort. The short cushion provides little in the way of underthigh support, leaving some of us rather creaky-limbed after longer stints behind the wheel.