The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Performs on and off road
Subaru’s XV crossover model is much improved in second generation form, featuring an all-new platform, a smarter interior, a retuned chassis and extra refinement. And it’s still more capable off road than you might expect a car in the family-sized Qashqai segment to be.
Subaru claims that this improved XV is a more dynamic steer than before, its engineers having focused on improving the car in terms of steering and pedal feedback, vehicle response, refinement and off road capability. They’ve been aided in that by this enhanced model’s adoption of a new platform said to be as much as 70-100% more rigid than the previous chassis.
Substantial improvements to the suspension system have also been made, which help achieve a lower centre of gravity that allows more precise steering control, superior straight line stability and more stable cornering performance.
As before, the car uses Subaru’s unique Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system, but now it also gets the X-MODE system we’ve seen on some of the brand’s larger models. X-MODE is designed to increase drivability by optimising integrated control of the engine, the all-wheel drive system and the brakes to provide additional control when tyres slip and lose traction on a slippery road surface, including when descending hills. As before, two ‘Boxer’ 2.0-litre engines are being offered, most customers likely to continue to opt for the 170bhp diesel unit.
Prices haven’t changed too much, so the line-up continues to be pitched into much the same £24,000 to £28,000 bracket. Some Qashqai-class rivals initially look cheaper but that’s because they don’t offer 4WD on affordable variants and because they offer feeble entry-level engines that the XV range doesn’t bother with.
Subaru can draw upon a long tradition of rugged, multi-purpose all-wheel drive cars. The issue, though, in this segment is all about packaging and presenting this clever engineering in a way that’s accessible and appealing to mainstream customers. With this second generation XV, most of this is now sorted. It looks good, it’s a reasonable size, it drives well and it will undoubtedly be very reliable.