5 Things you need to know about the new 2018 Subaru XV
Decluttered interior has been rated one of the best
The new XV’s interior has been rated by Wards as one of the 10 best interiors for 2017… The dashboard features an uncluttered design that’s easy to use on the fly. The infotainment unit on the car’s we drove for our preview of the new XV were for the Japanese market and are quite different to the ones we’ll get here in June; XV will use the same 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment unit as Impreza which is a pretty easy to use with enough features to make it useful. It also offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
Continuing with the decluttering of the interior the manual handbrake has been replaced by an electric unit that offers auto-off, meaning you only need to press the accelerator pedal when the handbrake is on (once in D for Drive and with your seatbelt fastened) to get it to release. And the cup holders, thanks to the slightly wider cabin, now sit side by side, rather than one behind the other.
Isaac, can you release the handbrake manually without restriction from the electronics?
Yes, you can. It’s just that if you don’t and try and drive off without your seatbelt on it will stop you.
Cheers
Isaac, You do great work, but unfortunately some of the dimensions for the existing and the updated XV are not quite right. Not sure where “…current car’s 1550mm height…” has come from. 🙁
From the Subura Aust site, for the current XV;
length 4,450mm, width 1,780mm, height 1,615mm, wheel base 2,635mm.
From Subaru’s press release for the updated XV;
length 4,465mm, width 1,800mm, height 1,615mm, wheel base 2,665 mm.
Subaru Aust’ will be hoping that sales of the XV will improve greatly with the update.
In regards to space efficiently the new Skoda Karoq does extremely well. Although it’s length of 4,382 mm is shorter than the XV, it’s luggage capacity is 521 litres.
Isaac is suffering lysdexia, and swapped a few digits it seems in the length.
The update looks insipid and Subaru are kidding themselves it’ll make much difference. Poor engine choices or should I say lack of choices. The only positive, it’s looks reasonably good.
Sure, it’s been a softly-softly update and the Skoda Karoq will throw a cat amongst the pigeons in this segment, but the XV is clearly the most rugged of all the compact SUVs. Yes, it could probably do with a diesel engine but there’s not one available here and the engine it’s got isn’t that bad. Talk to people who’ve bought the new Impreza and they’ll tell you they don’t know what all the fuss is about. Cheers Isaac.
PS. I addressed the numbers issue in another comment reply.
Thanks McF1, yes, it looks like I was out by a few mm here and there… Reason being, I took my numbers from a display panel at the Japanese presentation and so things like height for our car are different than theres because we get bigger/taller tyres for more ground clearance. In Japan the XV offers 200mm and here it offers 220mm. I’m not sure where you found the wheelbase measurement of 2665mm, because the one that I got in Japan and all of my colleagues are running with too (I’ve done a quick check on the other outlets this morning) is 2670mm. I’ll be attending the local launch next month and will double-check them then. Subaru hasn’t released, as far as I’m aware, updated specs for the new car… if you’ve seen them, can you share the link with me. Thanks Isaac.
Hi Issac, thanks for the reply.
In the article 4,645mm is shown for the length for the updated XV, rather than 4,465mm.
The measurements that I have used for the updated XV are those from Subaru’s press release PDF for Geneva (it will be interesting to see the measurements from the local launch next month);
www dot subaru-global dot com/news/ March 7, 2017.
The following is from the PDF;
Body size
(Overall length / width / height)
4,465 x 1,800 x 1,615*6
mm
Wheelbase 2,665 mm
Minimum ground clearance 220 mm
Engine FB20 type 2.0-liter, DOHC, Horizontally-Opposed, 4-cylinder,
Direct injection, NA
Displacement 1,995cc
Bore, Stroke 84 x 90mm
Maximum output 115kW (156ps)
Maximum torque 196Nm (20.0kgfm)
Transmission Lineartronic*7
Drive train Symmetrical AWD
Tire size 225/55 R18
Seating capacity 5
*6: Without roof rail: 1,595 mm
Cheers.