Subaru XV News

Subaru has shared the platform behind its latest Impreza with the second-gen XV compact SUV.

The hype surrounding the new Subaru XV has started with a smoky teaser image of the second-generation compact SUV revealed ahead of its debut at this years' Geneva motor show on March 7.

Supercars stole the limelight this year but the surge of small SUVs was the news behind the hype.

Flares have never gone out of fashion in Japan and the annual Tokyo Auto Salon shows why.

Subaru has announced a limited Sunshine Yellow special edition of their XV small SUV, priced from $30,740.Based on the entry-level XV 2.0i CVT variant, the Special Edition represents a $1750 premium over the regular model’s $28,990 list price.The Special Edition retains the 110kW/196Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer petrol engine, but will only be available with the CVT automatic transmission.Additional Special Edition features include heated front seats, leather appointed seats with Special Edition stitching, leather steering wheel and shifter as well as carbon fibre-look interior panels.Limited to just 200 units, the Sunshine Yellow XV Special Edition will, unsurprisingly, come with a bright yellow paint scheme unavailable elsewhere in the XV lineup.

Subaru has dropped the prices of its XV small SUV by $1250 for 2015, after already reducing prices of the previous model by $750 in January.These reductions follow the recent arrival of stiff competition like the Mazda CX-3, Honda HR-V and Renault Captur in the booming small SUV segment.This brings a new XV starting price of $26,490 for the entry-level 2.0i. The mid-level 2.0i-L is now priced from $29,990, while the top-spec 2.0i-S starts at $32,490.The 2015 update also brings updated trim to the cabin, as well as new touchscreen multimedia system.The entry-level 2.0i model now features a 6.2-inch touchscreen, while the 2.0i-L and 2.0i-S receive a 7-inch unit and an updated information display for the driver.The 2015 Subaru XV retains its 110kW/196Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer petrol engine, as well the choice of six-speed manual or CVT automatic transmissions powering all four wheels.

None of us wants to crash our shiny new car but, if we do, we want to know we're safe. That's where the Australian New Car Assessment Program's standardised crash-testing analysis is invaluable, providing comparable ratings for vehicles of all types.The ANCAP site notes that a one-star car is twice as likely to kill you as a five-star model. Carsguide examines ANCAP's results to find the best of breed in each segment. It's worth noting the advanced software in some cars that readies the vehicle if a crash is imminent are disabled during the official tests. Cars are scored out of 37 points after the following tests.FRONTAL OFFSET TEST: The subject vehicle is accelerated to 64km/h and rammed into a deformable alloy barrier to simulate a head-on crash. To increase the severity and reproduce real-world conditions only 40 per cent of the car hits the wall - equating to a driver swerving to avoid an oncoming vehicle.SIDE IMPACT TEST: The T-bone hit rams a 950kg trolley into the side of the car at 50km/h. The sled has an alloy face to simulate the front of another vehicle, which deforms and absorbs some of the impact.PEDESTRIAN TEST: Simulates the results of hitting a pedestrian at 40km/h. The test assesses adult and child impacts, given their heads and limbs strike different areas of the car.POLE TEST: This is the most demanding test in the ANCAP repertoire. Trees and poles don't deform, so all the crash energy is transferred to the vehicle. The car is put on a sled and propelled towards a fixed steel pole at 29km/h.SAFEST SMALL CARSAUDI A3 36.41 See reviews of this carOfficially the best small car to occupy in an accident. Impressively, the windscreen pillar didn't move after a 64km/h hit with the concrete block.  HONDA INSIGHT 36.39 See reviews of this carIts score reflects a 3mm movement of the pillar in the frontal offset test and "slight risk" of serious leg injury for driver and passenger.   BMW 1 SERIES HATCH 36.33 See reviews of this carThere's a slight risk of serious chest injury for the driver in the frontal and side crash test and a slight risk of serious leg injury for the passenger in the frontal crash.   SAFEST MEDIUM CARSMERCEDES B-CLASS 36.78 See reviews of this carTops the charts with the highest score of any car in ANCAP database. Technically there's a 4mm movement of the front pillar and a slight risk of injury to the passenger leg closest the door.  BMW 3 SERIES 36.76 See reviews of this carBarely behind. It showed a 1mm movement of the pillar and there was a slight risk of serious injury to the driver's and passenger's legs.VOLVO V40 36.67 See reviews of this carThe only loss of points occurred during the frontal crash test, with a slight risk of serious injury to the front occupants' legs closest the door and the driver's chest.SAFEST LARGE CARSTOYOTA AURION 36.59 See reviews of this carFirst place in this class makes it the only locally built vehicle in any top-three line-up. There's a slight risk of lower leg injury for driver and passenger.   BMW 5 Series 36.53 See reviews of this carNot a bad place to be in the event of an accident either. It blitzed the side impact tests and only lost fractions of points in the head-on hit.    VOLVO S60 36.34 See reviews of this carSweden maintains its safety credentials. The passenger compartment stayed intact with only a 1mm movement of the front pillar.    SAFEST COMPACT SUVS SUBARU XV 35.53 See reviews of this carLike the slightly lower-riding Impreza, the XV scored highly in all crashes, with a slight risk of injury to the front occupants' chests and legs.    HOLDEN TRAX 35.18 See reviews of this carThe surprise packet. One of the smaller cars in the class has only a slight risk of serious leg injury for those in the front in a head-on crash.   Skoda Yeti 34.67 See reviews of this carDepite being one of the older examples in this segment, the Yeti still rates well for safety, with only a slight risk of serious leg injury for those in the front in a head-on crash.    SAFEST MEDIUM SUVSVOLVO XC60 36.53 See reviews of this carANCAP says the cabin 'held its shape extremely well" in the frontal test, with the pillar shifting just 3mm. There was a slight risk of serious chest and leg injuries to the driver.  FORD KUGA 36.33 See reviews of this carA solid second, posing a slight risk of serious chest injury for both front seat occupants. The front pillar moved 15mm.   HONDA CR-V 35.91 See reviews of this carPlaced well despite being penalised for the foot-operated park brake moving upwards and back. Structurally there was only a 2mm movement of the pillar.  SUBARU FORESTER 35.64 See reviews of this carTested this year, it scored highly in all crashes, with a slight risk of injury to the front occupants' chests and legs.   SUBARU OUTBACK 35.52 See reviews of this carFills the brand's quinella. Crashed in 2008 and at the time topped the charts as the safest vehicle ANCAP had tested. SAFEST LARGE SUVSMERCEDES-BENZ ML 36.34 See reviews of this car Luxury SUV has a slight risk of serious chest injury for driver and passenger in the head-on hit and a slight risk of serious leg injury for the passenger. The pillar moved 2mm. RANGE ROVER 36.19 See reviews of this carBig Brit has a slight risk of serious chest injury for the driver and the pillar shifted by 15mm.   NISSAN PATHFINDER 35.73 See reviews of this carSlight risk of serious leg injury for the driver. Unlike the other two, it applies to the upper leg as well as the expected lower-leg hits. Docked points for a marginal pedestrian impact result.

Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior says “it's the way of the future” and says within a few years, the company's six-cylinder models will also be fitted with continuously-variable transmissions (CVTs).“We have only one automatic left - the five-speed automatic in the six-cylinder cars - but within a few years they'll also move to CVT,” he says at the launch of the CVT automatic diesel Outback in Wagga Wagga.Senior says that Subaru Australia “pushed and pushed to get this (Outback diesel auto) car. We've had it for 14 months in Australia for tuning and testing and even Europe used us as the test bed.”But it also led to Subaru fixing the engine at 2-litres. “The 2-litre size is governed by issues including the tax benefits of sub-2 litre cars in Europe,” Senior says.“So that's the size that was chosen for the engine and I don't know of any changes to that.” Not all models will get the combination of a CVT gearbox and the sole 2-litre turbo-diesel engine.Senior says that a Forester diesel automatic “is not a priority”. “Buyers of smaller cars don't have a priority for a diesel like the medium and larger vehicles,” he says.“The demand for a diesel Forester isn't huge and introducing an automatic version isn't seen as making a big difference to sales. “So we'll concentrate on segments where there is demand, such as the Outback segment.”He says that the diesel engine-auto combination will also not be offered in the Liberty. “We see the volume in the Outback, not the Liberty,” Senior says.“CVT is important because it's able to give big improvements in fuel economy. Of the Forester's 25 per cent improvement in petrol economy compared with the previous model, 15 per cent of that is due to the CVT.”Subaru's move to CVTs has nothing to do with a similar move by its major shareholder, Toyota that recently introduced CVT in the new Corolla and one RAV4 model. “Toyota's involvement was nonexistent in our decision,” Senior says.“CVT was signed, sealed and locked away before Subaru's tie-up with Toyota. CVT for us goes back to the 1980s in our Justy small car.” 

But not in the disastrous manner of 2011, when the  brand's production was stalled by natural disasters. The Australian arm of the Japanese car maker may struggle to get enough of its two new models, the Impreza and the XV, until production capacity is improved later this year. Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior says sales targets are around 700 per month. "Last year was 11,000 with 2000 WRX - our biggest problem will be supply for Impreza and XV - adding the XV we have another model without increasing production capacity, that's later this year," he says. The introduction of the rear-wheel drive BRZ (a shared development with Toyota) has given Subaru a boost as it continues to overcome its 2011 performance that was marred  by natural disasters. "It has already started doing things for us, there's a focus on Subaru since the announcement, with all the coverage and the unveiling - we've never seen so much coverage for the brand. "When it goes on sale there will be a potentially new audience for us," he says. While the rear-wheel drive model has been seen by some in the industry as a dilution of the Subaru All Wheel Drive mantra, Mr Senior says there were no plans to go front-wheel drive with its new Impreza to provide a cut-price contender in the small car market."The short answer is no - we've been able to demonstrate that the changes we've made to the Impreza, in terms of weight reduction and transmission technology, has put us towards the top of the pack."In terms of fuel efficient and low emissions, a competitive price, the strategy we have adopted is the correct strategy and there's not a lot of benefit to gain from trying to compete at the bottom end with a front wheel drive car in that category," he says. Sales targets for 2011 were set above the brand's 2010 record of around 40,000, numbers. Mr Senior is aiming to see in the year-to-date total column at the end of December, but without resorting to a front-wheel drive model. "We at the moment have a point of difference in the small car class, we've demonstrated it doesn't have to add weight and in fuel consumption we are ahead, we've addressed a whole lot of issues - there's not going to be a huge saving going FWD any way, our system is simple and we do it efficiently," he says. Four new Subarus will grace local showrooms over the next 12 months - XV, Impreza, BRZ and Forester - but the wait for new WRX and STI models (now a line-up divorced from the Impreza) will be a little longer. "WRX and STI is now it's own model in its own right, the business model is being done at the moment, it will not be here this year - we've seen the strongest WRX sales we've seen in the last 5 years on the changes made, that will continue for a couple of years," Mr Senior says.

In fact, it was hard to even narrow the entries down to a shortlist. Just about every story was amazing, and we were in awe of all of you.  A special mention to all those selfless volunteers who have worked so hard for charity; all those who lent somebody else a helping hand; all those incredible acts of bravery; those people who have had the courage to leave abusive relationships; and those who mentioned special adventures they’d been on - or special love they’ve been given. We salute you all.  In the end, we narrowed it to down to two finalist entries - and then (in tandem with Subaru) had an even tougher time deciding between those two. But after all that, the prize goes to Rose Powell of Queensland, who wrote: “The best thing would be my partner teaching me to read and write again after having a stroke.”  The judges were won over by Rose having cited her partner’s effort to teach her to read and write, and also by what we know would have been a huge effort on her part to regain those skills. Congratulations, Rose.