Subaru Reviews

Subaru BRZ is a small rear-drive Japanese sports coupe selling for a pretty reasonable price, particularly when compared with the cost of the typical European equivalents.

The Subaru XV is more closely related to the Impreza than it is to the Forester. The second gen car doesn't stray far from the template, but it's what's underneath that makes all the difference.

Riding on the Impreza's new platform, the new XV is still, to be kind, challenging to look at. But if it's got the new and improved Subaru platform underneath, it's probably a better car. Right?

After decades of building small and mid-sized crossover all-wheel-drives, Subaru introduced the Tribeca SUV to compete at the big end of town in the 4WD market.

One of the quiet achievers of Subaru's range, the small XV has grown over the years to be a vital third cog in the brand's SUV range behind the Forester and the Outback.

The 2.0i Premium sits on the third rung up in the second-generation MY18 XV range and lists for $32,140.Standard features include an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav, Bluetooth connectivity, a six-speaker sound system with CD player, cruise control, dual-zone climate control, engine stop start system, X-Mode traction system, tinted rear glass, rear spoiler, 17-inch alloy wheels, two 12 volt power jacks, two USB ports, push-button ignition, premium cloth seats and an electric sun roof.The new generation Australian XV doesn’t come with a manual gear box, instead buyers will have to go with the CVT automatic now on all cars.  All XVs also have the same engine – it’s a four-cylinder petrol which is an overhauled version of the previous one which makes five more kW than the model for a total of 115kW and the same 196Nm of torque as before.The XV scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating. The 2.0i Premium also comes standard with Subaru’s Eyesight package which includes AEB.

The 2.0i-L sits on the second rung up in the second-generation MY18 XV range and lists for $30,340.Standard features include an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth connectivity, a six-speaker sound system with CD player, cruise control, dual-zone climate control, engine stop start system, X-Mode traction system, tinted rear glass, rear spoiler, 17-inch alloy wheels, two 12 volt power jacks, two USB ports, push-button ignition and premium cloth seats.The new generation Australian XV doesn’t come with a manual gear box, instead buyers will have to go with the CVT automatic now on all cars.  All XVs also have the same engine – it’s a four-cylinder petrol which is an overhauled version of the previous one which makes 5kW more than the old model for a total of 115kW and the same 196Nm of torque as before.The XV scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating and all grades from the 2.0i-L up come standard with Subaru’s Eyesight package which includes AEB.

The 2.0i is the entry point into the second-generation MY18 XV range and lists for $27,990.Standard features include a 6.5-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth connectivity, a six-speaker sound system with CD player, cruise control, climate control, engine stop-start system, X-Mode traction system, tinted rear glass, rear spoiler, 17-inch alloy wheels, two 12 volt power jacks, two USB ports, push-button ignition, cloth seats and black carpet trim.The new generation Australian XV doesn’t come with a manual gear box, instead buyers will have to go with the CVT automatic now on all cars. All XVs also have the same engine – it’s a four-cylinder petrol which is an overhauled version of the previous one which makes 5kW more than the old model for a total of 115kW and the same 196Nm of torque as before.The new XV scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating, but buyers should be aware that this base-spec car doesn’t come with AEB offered in Subaru’s Eyesight package which is standard on the grades above it.

The Subaru XV is a compact SUV from the Japanese company that has featured AWD in virtually ever model sold in Australia for the last 25 years.

Subaru's new Impreza is one of a rash of small car newcomers to drop in the last 12 months. And one of a trio to land on all-new platforms - along with the Honda Civic and Hyundai i30/Elantra.