Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

Vehicle test

NEEDTO KNOW

Manufacturer Subaru

Model XV1.6SEPremium

Class Compactcrossover

MPG 4 0.9(c o m b in e d)

0-62mph 13.9seconds

To ps p e e d 109mph

Enginesize 1,600cc

Weight(unladen) 1,408kg

Towing weight (kg) 1,400kg

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 51

yoursportingkit,shopping and
evena pushchair.
Itwastimetolookat the
bigmetallybit.Openingthe
bonnetwecouldactuallyseethe
metalstablefortinyhorses,not
obscuredbya plasticteatray.

Lineartronicgearbox
Theflat-four“boxer”engineis the
standardSubarupowerplant.It
poweredtheImprezatoallthose
rallywinsandastheoldsaying
goes,if it ain’tbroke,don’tfix it.
The style of engine makes them

quiterevvy,soyou do have to
pushthem.
Therearetwoengineoptions
fortheXV,bothpetrol,1.6or2.0.
Theonewehaveis the1.6.There
are 114 tinyhorsespoweringthe
engineandgallopingthrough
thecontinuouslyvariable
transmission(CVT)Lineartronic
autobox.Essentially,allfour
wheelsgetjusttherightamount
oftractionneededwithoutany
lossofmomentumthatyou
normallyfindwithanautomatic,
thoughthatdoesmeanyou can’t
manuallyshiftdown.
AlongwiththeX-Modeoff-road
setting,thingslookpromisingfor
theXV.Let’stakea peekinside.
InsidetheXVit wasvery
pleasant,andI havetosaySubaru
hassteppedthingsupa bit.The
half-leatherseats,contrasting
stitching with matching dash

THE BOTTOM LINE

THEFIRSTTIMEI pulledawayI becamevery

awarethatyoudohavetopushthisvehicle.

Thefirstcoupleof“gears”intheCVTbox

area bitlongandfortowingyou’dneedthe

two-litre,whichhasa fewmorehorses—155.

Thatsaid,onceyougetupto 30 or40mph

thingsdoimprove.It’snotlightningquick,

butenoughtocruisealongnicely.Theride

feelscomfortableand,afterfine-tuningthe

seatandcolumn,I feelreadyforanescapade,

thougha lumbarsupportadjustmentwould

benice.It feelsverystableandcar-like,

holdingtheroadwell.It tickstheboxesnicely.

Venturingoff-road,I putit inlowand

pushthatX-Modebutton.Drivinguphillon

a sandandgraveltrackI don’tnoticeI’m

ina crossover—it’seffortless.Coming

backdown,youcanfeeltheSAWDsystem

working,slowingindividualwheelsdown

andspeedingothersup;it’spureelectronic

witchcraft.If youturnedupata shootand

neededtodriveyourselfaroundordosome

picking-up,it wouldcertainlydothetrick.

TheXVfitsthebillperfectlyfora

crossover.Youcouldcomfortablyuseit

duringtheweekasa familycar,thengooff-

pisteattheweekendforsomecountryside

shenanigans.Intermsofprice,it startsat

justover£25,000forthebasemodel.The

Premiummodelwehadis£27,325onthe

road,andforthelevelofspecandusability,

I’dsayyougetyourmoney’sworth,though

I wouldprobablyspendtheextra£1,200 for

theextragruntofthe2.0-litre.

Insummary,it’sa truecrossoverthat

does what it says on the tin, and we like that.

certainlylookedthepart.The

wholeinteriorfeltmodern,but

notoverthetop.Thetouchscreen

didn’tlookoutofplaceandall

thebuttonswerewherethey

shouldbe.Setbackinthedash

therewasanotherlittlescreen

thatgaveusourdrivingangle,

anda displayforX-Modewhen

engaged— allveryslick.

Specificationwise,theSubaru

XVhasprettymucheverything

youneed.It’sfittedwithjustthe

rightamountofgadgets.DAB

and integrated media system,

shallwecallit.It’sallappbased,

soconnect your phone and away

yougo.

It hadlane-departurewarning

andecostart-stop.Thereversing

camerawasgood,andthe

designershaveputsomelightson

thewingmirrorsoif a pedestrian

popsout,anorangelightflashes

throughyourretinas.It does

work.It’sprettydecentoff-road,

withX-Mode’sHillDescent

Control.It hasheatedseatsand

Isofix points.Allweneed,really,

togoonanadventure— orpop

totheshopsforsomemilk.

TheXVis onlyavailableasan

autoandthecontrolsarepretty

standard.Park,neutral,reverse

andgo.Flickthelevertotheright

andyouhavelowrange.Pretty

simple,butthat’spartofthe

appeal.Therearenowhistles

for the sake of whistles.

Thecontrolsarewell

set out and not garish

“Allfourwheelsgetjusttheright

amountoftractionneeded without

any loss of momentum”