Subaru XV

I've been driving the XV for a year now and I love it! Great driving comfort, excellent handling (it's a heavy car, so stays planted on the road), spacious seats, good interiors.

Decided on it after checking out Vezel, Qashqai and test driving Mazda 3, Corolla, Vitara & Elantra. While Mazda 3 had the best drive, I felt the XV ticked many more boxes.

The overall drive is very engaging. The car feels very sturdy and stable on the road. I've taken bends at 70+ km/h without feeling any slip of control. The engine is sometimes slow to respond to sudden acceleration, but makes up for it quickly (I guess this is CVT at work and also due to the weight of the car).

Fuel efficiency is not the best, but not bad at all. I drive almost 1,500 km per month and manage about 12 km/l.

Interiors are quite good and all the buttons and knobs are easy to understand. It has all the standard features that most cars offer nowadays, except the electronic parking brake button and electric seats. Those are 'nice to have' for me, but that's a personal choice. Voice response system could be better.

The seats are spacious and comfortable. 3 people can sit very comfortably on the rear seat. Boot space is not very large, but can easily fit 2 big suitcases. The 60:40 rear seat split gives very flexible boot space management.

Overall, this car is a very good buy and you won't regret it. In my opnion, it's the best value for money in the CAT A SUV segment.

I was looking around for a compact SUV, shortlisted a few including the popular Honda vezel. Then I came across Subaru XV, decided to head down to the showroom as I was staying nearby. First impression was pretty impressive. When for a test drive and the handling was amazing.

Try out Honda Vezel, Nissan Qashqai and XV before i decide on XV.Test drive all of them. The difference as below;

Vezel = Godd FC, Good pickup but lost out on space and sound insulation.

Qashqai = premium look and feel, interior and style nice, lost out on turbo lag and ride comfort.

XV= nice interior, good ride comfort, noise insulation and handing compare to the other 2. But lost out on FC

if your like a comfort ride and good handing. XV is the one but not for FC.

No power hence need to rev engine up to 3500rpm to get it to overtake other cars or accelerate.

Backseat up straight hence may not be ideal for long rides

Unsuitable for drivers who use the ns highway.

Fc is very high as most drivers may rev it to high rpms,hope that there will be a turbocharged version comes out.

Was told that subaru parts are extremely expensive.

If you are looking some suvs like the xv, please seriously consider the mit asx for its reliability and amount of horses under the hood

A quick review of my XV after driving for 1 month and hitting 1000km...

Conclusion:

Was comparing Altis/Wish/Vezel/QQ before getting XV. No regret going with AWD. It's really "Confidence in motion", especially when it's raining or wet roads! :)

I have been evaluating many car brands to replace our 9+ years old car (Chevrolet Aveo)

Browsing cars during Jan 16 Motor show at Suntec, but I didnt even give a peep on Subaru due to its image on my mind as expensive and outdated car looks (except Subaru sport car).

In fact, I didn't even notice that XV exist. Finally shortlist Qashqai and plan to buy at the right time.

Until one day my friend introduced Subaru XV to me, and I was impressed by its macho looks, boxer engine, 4WD and features.

Then I start to study and compare this car with Qashqai.

My wife heart was still with Qashqai and my heart has started turning to XV.

I cannot deny that Qashqai Exterior and Interior might looks more expensive than XV in certain way.

However, the more I studied on XV, the more I fall in love with this car, and shared my finding on XV with my wife and she trusts me.

Then I decided to test drive both cars together with my wife on last Thursday.

First of all, I tested Qashqai and I felt that pickup was slow, and when I test-drive XV I can feel the different.

XV pickup more power and very smooth. Finally, I cannot tahan to booked XV yesterday.

Test drove the XV yesterday.

Exterior

First look did not impress. Checking the car in the showroom also did not inspire much urge to give my money to the SE. The car looks plasticky.

Interior

The interior is spacious though the headroom is less due to it being shorter than Qashqai or Vezel. The boot space is only 310L compare to Qashqai (430) and Vezel (435).

Drive

The pickup was slightly lacking which surprised me. Wasn't too bumpy over humps.

Overall, I like the XV but wife didn't like it.

I owned Toyota and Honda car (latest being Honda Fit). As my Toyota Altis is almost 10 years old, it is time to shop for a new one. Subaru was not in my initial list and I went to the popular Jap car showroom but was not impressed with them. My wife complained of front visibility for the new Toyota model which was our hot favourite and did not like another hot model for its front air-con layout. Went to see S-cross model but ruled it out due to interior feature/decoration. Finally visited the Toa Payoh showroom and was impressed with XV at first sight.

I've posted an in-depth review with pics here: http://www.Mycarforum.Com/topic/2672539-new-subaru-xv/page-24

But let me share a brief summary:

My wife and I originally shortlisted a few cars based on depreciation of ~10-100k/year.

I should point out that the XV was not on our original shortlist. We went through our shortlist as follows

1. Mazda 3: really nice looking when it was launched. But we didn't like the interior, especially the way the touchscreen system was mounted. It didn't help that we got used to the commanding view you get on our terios. So we eliminated this car early on.

2. Vezel: nice looking exterior. However, my friend drives one and complains about noise from engine and wheels. I saw same comments on sgcarmart reviews. The interior just didn't wow us - we really don't like the long passenger air con vent to the left. Concerns about after sales service from PI.

3. Nissan qashqai: I think we would go for this car for its small engine size to save on road tax. Closest contender to the XV. But my wife has heard of air con problems on other Nissan cars from her friends etc so I couldn't get her buy in. We also have concerns regarding the unconventional 1.2L turbo engine's reliability.

One day, I saw a Subaru XV and I told my wife we can go "See see". My wife HATES Subaru. To her is ugly ah Beng brand. But I say see is free, let's just go. Reluctantly she agreed. Guess what, she fell in love with the car design and test drive.

Test-driven it on December 2014, first feeling is comfort, maybe due to All Wheel Drive + CVT gearbox. Good visibility for driver, and the suspension are well-balanced (neither too soft or hard), which constitute to its good handling. The main reason for the purchase is its value for money, after comparing with another popular Japanese sedan car.

The main drawback is the lack of features and less powerful engine.

Fuel consumption depends on speed range and driving style, I mostly get around 8 to 9 L/100km, as displayed by the car system.

My wife loves it, no issue at all until now (3500+km mileage).

Got the XV 1.6 on 5th of April, 1 day after my baby boy came out. The mileage is 1700km now. Just got the 1st service done in the Motor Image Leng Kee, the service is good, friendly guy... The fuel efficiency is not impressive but is considered good for this big car. 6.4-8L/100km in routine working route (admiralty to buoana vista), 7.8L/100km on Malaysia Highway (Sg-Yong Peng, Johor). Good handling,nicely build, acceptable noise level, stable on high speed, no complain. I will consider this is a good buy~

Test drove the new XV 2.0 premium CVT version.

Exterior:

This new version XV, which is just a jacked up Impreza, looks miles better than previous model. Sloping fierce nose and windscreen.

Cars these days use softer exterior panels which is inevitable for any makes to save weight so, Subaru is no exception. Exterior panel are soft.

Interior:

It is miles, miles better than previous generation Impreza. The center console looks like previous generation VW golf, the looks is elegant and european. though not as stylish as some makes. Dashboard, upper door panels, armrests are all soft touches materials, which eludes quality feel and also scratch resist.

Rear door panels feels less rigid, as when pulling the door handle to close the door, those hard plastics which holds the entire interior door panel just doesn't feels solid.

Space:

Interior space is good. Front and rear legroom is adequate for average height locals around 170cm. Shoulder width is adequate too though not as roomy as most Koreans these days. The interior width is about the same as Altis. Boot space, as it is a 5 door, it is adequate for daily use.Glove box comes with damper opening, good size. Cupholders and door pockets are big enough. Center floor console storage space is small due to the square design and due to the intrusion of the higher center tunnel. Higher ground clearance makes entering and exiting the car very effortless.

The drive:

The driving route was a fairly long one which covers one section of a winding road to feel the handling of the car.

The CVT transmission is very responsive to throttle inputs, just feels as good as a geared automatic. There's not much of noise emitted from the CVT. Paddle shift is responsive too. The suspension absorbs bumps well but on poorly path tarmac, the suspension noise is abit thumpy, quite a surprise though given the fact that it uses bigger and higher profile tyres. Insulation against streaming wet roads not that good as the noise intrudes from underneath. Exterior noise insulation against traffic is good.

Handling is surprisingly stable despite the higher height. Overall a very good impression with the XV in terms of the looks, driving, handling and building quality. Although it features auto stop function to cut consumption at traffic lights, can't comment economy as it's just a test drive.