Subaru Vortex Reviews

Australia is missing out again on the best of the best in the Subaru garage.The stove-hot Legacy STi S402 will not be taking on Liberty badges or an Australian price, despite its popularity.The S402 arrives as the countdown begins to the next new Liberty, timed for the middle of next year.It is the work of chief engineer Hideharu Tatsumi, who has produced the best-handling Liberty yet.Tatsumi has recently moved from Subaru to STi after tuning every Liberty and Impreza as Subaru's chief test driver for the past 20 years. He is quick to admit certain budget restraints — on the design side — meant he could not play around with the sheet metal.“But even with those restrictions, we have a car that looks the business and delivers on the road,” he says.The unique mesh grille in the S402 is complemented by flared front fenders that were specially widened to take larger BBS rims and wider 235x40R18 Bridgestone Potenza RE050A rubber.He wanted to redesign the front bumper section to give the car an even sportier look, but a price about $600,000 for the special mould stopped that plan.“When you divide our limited run of only 402 units into $600,000, well, that adds an extra $1500 to each car. The bean counters would have none of that,” he laments.Other cosmetic touch-ups include a fake side air vent, a rear lip spoiler and special S402 emblems. But what was saved on the body upgrades was spent on the hardware.The car uses a 2.5-litre boxer unit with a twin-scroll turbo from STi, a tweaked engine control computer with increased boost and a sports muffler. Power and torque are up only slightly, but the objective was instant go and — by tweaking the gearing — maximum torque arrives from only 1800 revs with a strong pull all the way to 6000 revs.It's now possible to take second-gear corners in third, with huge response and plenty of grip.If a word could describe the S402's throttle, steering and braking responses, instant would have to be it. There's less play and greater rigidity in the throttle pedal than the current Liberty, and no understeer.Tatsumi has tweaked the steering rack from 15:1 to 13:1 for quicker turn in, and added STi-tuned dampers and springs. But it's the addition of three flexible performance bars — one across the front strut towers, one under the engine across the front suspension mounts and one across the trunk — that generates the S402's precision.It's a pity about the swanky soft leather seats, which unfortunately don't have the side support you need when pushing through fast bends.We don't have to forgive anything about the brakes, though. They are phenomenal, thanks to a monoblock six-piston Brembo package.First impressions lead to conclude this car is made to punish.The car is not coming to Australia until at least 2012, when the next STi Liberty is ready for the road. 

To create jobs in the hard-hit Eifel mountains during the Great Depression, and to give his flagship car companies somewhere to develop their products, the then-chancellor of Germany approved a massive construction program.It was the 28.265km course known today as the Nurburgring, or to race fans and car enthusiasts as the Nordschleife or North Loop.It is without any question the best and most testing track anywhere in the world, with more than 190 corners, an incredible combination of climbs and dips and curves and jumps. It tests and punishes anyone in any car — or on any motorcycle — who decides to pay the 20 euros ($A32) it costs for a lap.Triple world champion Jackie Stewart called it The Green Hell because of the death and injury toll at the Nurburgring during his time as a grand prix racer, yet he scored one of the track's most famous victories on a day of thick fog and driving rain. Formula One cars were banned from the Nordschleife after Niki Lauda crashed, burned and nearly died in his Ferrari in the 1970s.But a new-age track at the top end of the course has become home to the German Grand Prix and there are still some races on the full course. That is not strictly true because the full Nurburgring track — the Gesamtstrecke or Whole Course — originally included the Sudschleife or Southern Loop and the Zielschleife or Finish Loop, which were bulldozed. So today's Nordschleife is 22.810km and it has become mecca for the world's carmakers, who use it to test, develop and define their new high-performance models.GM Holden has just begun using the Nurburgring for testing, Porsche has been the pacesetter for decades, and Nissan is trumpeting the performance of its GT-R supercar which currently holds the car company course record.Even Cadillac uses the track. Disguised prototypes are often seen and pictured lapping the track as companies look to shortcut development work and get instant answers to their pressing questions.The upcoming Lexus LF-A supercar is being put through an intensive development program at the track, although it failed miserably last month in a 24-hour production car race that drew 220 starters, including 35 drivers from Australia.There was no surprise when the race was won by a Porsche 911, confirming the marque's reputation at the Nurburgring.The track's growing importance to carmakers is reflected in a growing industrial area just outside the course, which has become the test base for General Motors, Alfa Romeo, Ford, Jaguar, Porsche, BMW, Michelin tyres and Ohlins shock absorbers. There are impressive new buildings and lots of shiny company cars.Even Aston Martin, one of the world's smallest carmakers, has just spent more than $2 million to build a test base that will also become home to a Nurburgring drive “experience” for owners.“Aston Martins are for the public roads, not for the racetrack, but this is the only closed track that allows us to test like we are on public roads,” says Ulrich Bez, managing director of Aston Martin. “It offers everything the normal road delivers. It is everything, even weather conditions like rain.”Bez has driven thousands of laps at the Nurburgring and even won races and knows the attraction of the track. But was it a grand plan by Hitler and his team?“This was just luck. When they put it in no one knew what it would become,” he says.Mark Reuss is a veteran of the Nurburgring.The newly-installed managing director of GM Holden has done hundreds of laps on the Nordschleife and even set-up the General Motors test program in Germany, serving as `Test Dummy' for the corporation's licensing program. Reuss says manufacturers find out more in one lap there than in a week elsewhere.“I'm talking thermal performance of differentials and brakes,” he says.“It's a blast to calibrate stability control and traction control there. If you're going to break it, you will break it real soon.”The Nurburgring is still a killer, with casualties every year, but GM and the other carmakers take every precaution. Test cars often have race-style protection including roll cages and fire extinguishers.“We have a very extensive driver-training program leading up to going there,” Reuss says. “To qualify for your GM licence takes three days and 100 laps. You can race after that, no problem, because your car control skills are so good.”And while there's a fun element to driving the laps at the Nurburgring, he says the test drivers are always working.“We're paying engineers to develop cars there, and we're doing it efficiently and in a very cost effective way,” he says. “You reduce the cycle time on new models. You really do.“We're getting into taking most cars there. We've just taken Holden there for the first time. Opel was one of the first to test there and validates most of its cars there.”GM is so impressed it has re-created several corners at the Lutz Ring — the top-end test loop at its global test base at Milford near Detroit. 

Set to be officially unveiled by Subaru Japan on June 17, the sleek seven-seat wagon is initially slated for the domestic market but Subaru Australia is not going to let that interfere with an opportu

Odd to remember when the current generation Subaru Liberty was launched here in 2003 this moveable feast consisted only of the usual Japanese dishes and a Holden-badged European, which has now been 'replaced' — for want of a better word — by a re-badged Daewoo.To this satisfying fare add a Mexican-manufactured Volkswagen (the Jetta), a Czech-made version of the same (Skoda's Octavia), a garnishing of Swedes and even a few high-calorie but wholly unappetising Yanks. This segment is the most competitive and the richest in terms of choice of any in the passenger-vehicle market.The middle class offers family friendliness without causing Commodore- or Falcon-sized pains at the bowser, with no little styling and what marketing types call 'sophistication'.The best of them stand favourably with 'prestige' cars from BMW, Mercedes and Audi — but without being subject to the iniquity of the luxury car tax. The least of them are ignored - deservedly for some - but not so in the case of Hyundai's Sonata V6.We felt it high time to revisit the singular Soob. The Liberty has a bit over 12 months to run on its six-year cycle before the arrival of what Subaru Australia says is an all-new model.To the flock of front-wheel-drives it brings the marque's trademark symmetrical all-wheel-drive and its equally synonymous horizontally opposed boxer engine to a field of more conventional petrol (and, increasingly, turbo diesel) fours. It's largely for these that Subarus has a special cachet in a country where more are sold than in all of Europe. Owners tend to become devotees, and not readily lured by the newer and spicier items on the menu.And though it's approaching pensionable age, it isn't at all hard to see why this is so. Even back when most offerings were blandly functional in this realm of the auto lexicon, the Liberty always had something approaching personality, and an endearing one at that. The Soob's essential soundness, augmented by some smart upgrades, have seen age weary it very little. Some signs, though, can't be retrieved by cosmetic surgery.While people tend to shrink with age, the Liberty has been outgrown. To line it up with the latest Mazda6 is to line up cars that appear to belong to different classes. The Subaru is comparatively compact, oppressively so for any rear-seat passengers with bigger than the Japanese average foot size.Telescopic adjustment was added to the steering column during the mid-life upgrade, but not a lot of it. The driving position is a question of making do, though you have the consolation of interior materials that manage the feat of being both highly functional and rather pleasant.Unlike some others, the Liberty is one model line that's not had to be rushed in for an earlier-than-scheduled facelift. It's discreet but hardly anonymous, not so swept as the newer cars, but with lines that remain pleasing.Really, there are two active safety omissions but we were willing to forgo dynamic and traction controls simply to have the five-speed manual version of the 2.5i. These devices are listed with the auto, but so too is an old-world four-speeder. We just wanted to change gears for ourselves.Doing so in the Liberty is felt by some to be a chore, and it's true that the manual's action is some way from buttery in the Honda fashion. The gates are tightly sprung and the stick can need shoving into the old slot, but it's no chore and again less a fault than a personality trait.Even with AWD, the kerb weight is shy of 1400kg, making for what has always been one of the more agile handlers in the class and what remains the most rewarding. Its willingness to be thrown about is such that it takes time to trust it fully. The trade-off for the initial Soob-like understeer is the ability to launch out of corners with poise and power. Fun, you'd have to say. Though uneven surfaces can give the back end the skitters, ride is supremely competent in the main. Even my dear mum remarked on it.The distinctive thrum of the Boxer engine is best heard when accelerating firmly through low gears, something to which you'll have gratifyingly regular recourse with Liberty's comparative lack of low-down torque. And if the current Liberty's still a more-than-worthy competitor, becoming familiar with it makes the next generation model a prospect to positively savour.Verdict: 6.9/10The bottom line Liberty maintains equality with its fraternity … personality, poise and a large dose of fun in a medium-sized package. Snapshot Subaru Liberty 2.5i sedanPrice: from $32,490Engine: 2.5L/4-cylinder 127kw/226NmTransmission: 5-speed man; 4-speed autoEconomy: 8.2L/100km (manual tested) Rivals Honda Accord EuroPrice: TBA (due in June)Engine: 2.4L/4-cylinder 140kW/223NmTransmission: 6-speed man, 5-speed autoEconomy: 8.8L/100km claimed Mazda 6 classic sedanPrice: from $33,880Engine: 2.5L/4-cylinder; 125kW/226NmTransmission: 6-speed man; 5-speed autoEconomy: 8.4L/100km 

Pulling on a race suit is a transmogrifying experience, much as one imagines peeling on the blue lycra and red gumboots and underpants is for Superman.

Here’s a party trick: Name Subaru's biggest-selling model in Australia. Impreza? No. Liberty? Nope. It's the trusty and worthy Forester

The fully-pimped STi is revealed today exactly as it will look when it carries Subaru's new competition colours into the World Rally Championship at the end of the month.And Aussie Chris Atkinson will be at the wheel.The World Rally Car version of the regular roadgoing STi has been under development for more than a year at Subaru's competition skunkworks, Prodrive, in Britain and is being rushed into action at the Acropolis Rally in Greece from May 29-June 1.If the pumped-up shape looks familiar, it's because the latest Impreza WRC was used as inspiration for the regular showroom car.But that's about where the similarities end.The WRC competition car has a fully-tweaked turbo boxer with 225 kiloWatts of power, a figure choked down for safety, but a stonking 500 Newton-metres of torque.The body panels are carbon fibre, there is a massive safety rollcage and the fully-active all-wheel drive system and competition dampers are all unique and created just for the WRC attack.The first appearance of the new Impreza has been brought forward several months after a disastrous two-year run with the old car, which was seriously outpaced by both the Citroen C4 and Ford Focus in the world title fight.Subaru's rally boss, David Richards - who also controls Ford Performance Vehicles and the Ford Performance Racing in Australia - has promised the car will be ready to fight at the front from its first start in Greece, which is good news for Atkinson and his team-mate, former world champion Petter Solberg. 

The Subaru Technical Department has introduced a diagnostic test produced by the factory to identify cars with symptoms and the procedure was rolled out nationwide last week. After investigating, Subaru determined the engine noise was due to engine wear. Subaru Australia spokesman David Rowley says priority is being given to vehicles already with customers and customer vehicles awaiting delivery. “Our customer relations department has proactively reacted to this issue,” he says. Subaru is this week phoning and writing to owners of the 178 vehicles potentially affected. Their cars are being booked into dealerships for a precautionary check at Subaru Australia's expense. Any customers whose vehicle produces engine-knocking noise will be offered a loan car until their vehicles can be checked and fixed where necessary.  

The Australian ace had his first test in Subaru's new Impreza WRC2008 recently in Italy.It is due to make its rally debut this year and will hold the key to Atkinson's world title hopes.Despite sitting third in the championship, seven points behind leader Mikko Hirvonen, Atkinson is worried about his chances.The team's current Impreza WRC2007 is outdated and off the pace of the Ford Focus and Citroen C4, meaning the new car needs a big step forward in performance.Speaking after finishing a distant third in Rally Jordan, Atkinson admitted his concerns.“OK, we're third and that's great, but I'm not sure how this has happened,” he says. “We're five minutes behind the winner. We still have work to do.”Atkinson was joined by teammate Petter Solberg in Italy to take over from test driver Markko Martin in the new car, Subaru's first WRC hatchback.The pair had two days running on the gravel roads of Sardinia, but details of the test are limited.“It was always in the plan that they (Solberg and Atkinson) would drive the car for the first time this week,” team manager Richard Taylor says. “The test was part of the development process. I have no comment to make on the technical aspect of the test, but we are pleased with this stage of the program.”Subaru has not won a WRC round since 2005. Team boss David Richards said earlier this year that the new car would be a clean sheet design, to get the team back into winning contention.The team still hasn't revealed a date for the car's debut, saying only that it will be mid-season.Atkinson will be hoping it is sooner rather than later. 

I've driven this car both on and off the track. There's no doubting it goes hard and the smoother ride is a godsend, but at the end of the day I find myself drawn back to the same question. That is, does the STI cut it as a hatchback?The answer, in an Australian context, perhaps not.That's because hot hatches, as nice as they may be, are really training wheels before you have the money for a real car.Personally, I miss how raw the STI was, the glitzy gold wheels and outrageous rear wing, even if it did block rear vision.Subaru argues the new, more refined STI will appeal to a different buyer, to well-heeled young execs who don't want to be tagged boy racers.The company could be right, but it might have also inadvertently abdicated its throne to arch rival the Mitsubishi Evo a sedan.The point is Subaru buyers have proved notoriously fickle in the past when it comes to style.STI has only been on the market since February, so it's early days yet, but Impreza sales are down 21 per cent this year, maybe because the standard Impreza is available only as a hatch.Priced from $59,990, the STI finds itself under siege from a host of competitors, more so now that it's a hot hatch.In Spec R form, it's an even bigger ask at $64,990.The competition even VW's V6 all-wheel drive Golf R32 is cheaper.There's no word yet on prices for the Evo X, which was to have been launched last month but here's something to consider. For the same money you could buy a full-sized, fully-blown Falcon GT and have spare change.Questions of styling aside this third generation STI is tangibly more refined than its predecessor.The greatest step forward is undoubtedly the smoother ride.It's also more livable and much easier to drive. You no longer need to be a body builder to operate the clutch and the six-speed manual transmission is a snack to use.Having said that, it still takes some finessing to get off the line cleanly and things don't really start to happen until the top end of second gear, or about 4000rpm.Sixth gear is for freeway use only and the car makes some odd pops and whistles as the turbo does it stuff.The 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine kicks out 221kW of power and 407Nm of torque (up from 206kW and 392Nm).Weighing in at 1505kg (just 10kg more in Spec R form), the STI blasts from 0-100km/h in 5.2 seconds (0.2 seconds quicker than before).Fuel consumption is lower at 10.3 litres/100km but it takes 98 strength unleaded, which can be difficult to find.For the enthusiasts there's intelligent drive, switchable traction and more centre diff settings to play with.However, for most of the time the defaults will do.Our test car was the top of the line Spec R, which adds leather and lightweight BBS alloys.It's a bit plastic inside and for the price, we expected to see Bluetooth and an auto-dimming mirror.Finally, it would be nice to see larger Recaro seats fitted for the fuller Aussie figure, and it's unfortunate that the spare is a space saver.