Wheels Australia — August 2016

42 W heelsMag.com.au

WRX engine produces a grand tourer for SUV-haters

Subaru Levorg

IT’S amusing how things

come around. Back in

2014, Subaru was busy

defending its decision

to kill the Liberty wagon,

saying buyers were more

interested in SUVs like the closely

related, higher-riding Outback.

Today, though, Subaru is

chasing the same people it once

spurned. It has discovered a class

of buyers it calls “SUV rejectors”,

and is wooing them with the

Levorg: an Impreza/WRX-based

wagon with a made-up name

and a WRX heart. Indeed,

wheelbase length, track widths

and dashboard are all identical

to a WRX’s. Subaru claims this

makes the Levorg small enough

to attract women, yet still beefy

enough for blokes.

Every Levorg in the three-tier

line-up – an entry-level GT

($42,990); a GT-S $48,890 that

scores leather and sunroof; and

a range-topping GT-S Spec B

($52,890), a plastic pig wearing

STi aero – is powered by the

turbocharged 197kW/350Nm

2.0-litre flat-four from the WRX.

Unlike its sedan relative,

though, Levorg won’t have a

manual option. It’s CVT only.

Don’t expect a WRX in sheep’s

clothing, either. The Levorg’s

taller, longer roofline adds about

60kg, and its 0-100km/h sprint of

6.6sec is three-tenths slower than

the WRX’s.

What makes Levorg special is

its Aussie-honed suspension.

The base GT wears KYB dampers

up front, while both GT-S variants

score more expensive Bilsteins.

Every model shares the same

double-wishbone rear with

stiffened rebound damping for

improved bump absorption.

Those factors translate to

some very different things – a

low-speed ride that’s fussy and

bordering on uncomfortable, and

a high-speed ride that absorbs

everything but short, sharp hits

with aplomb (on a run along

NSW’s Oxley Highway, we hit the

bump stops on both the front and

rear suspensions), accompanied

by extreme tyre roar on coarse-

chip surfaces.

The Levorg’s grip is tenacious,

regardless of the damper set-up.

You can comfortably fire it into

a corner, washing off speed via

ventilated discs and a nicely

progressive brake pedal, as the

well-bolstered seats hug tight.

Turn-in is good, there’s solid

feedback through the steering,

and the rear-biased AWD system

shows no sign of understeer,

though ample bodyroll borders

on excessive.

If you can pick the difference

between the Bilsteins and the

KYBs you’re someone special.

Corner exit is where the Levorg

is a little disappointing. CVTs

generally don’t like large changes

in speed, taking time to sort out

ratios. In the Levorg, with the

engine tune in Sport# mode, this

amounts to hesitation as you lift

off the brake pedal and roll on

throttle, giving a sense the car is

launching rather than driving out

of a corner. Once on it, there’s no

hint of that boxer thrum for which

the WRX was once renowned.

Even in ‘manual’ mode, forced

ratio changes snap like an elastic

band, and the CVT howls like a

banshee, giving a sense you might

be driving an electric car, not a

conventionally engined one.

Where the Levorg excels

is between the corners. It

lopes along lazily, overtaki

manoeuvres are effortless

apart from a little wind no

around the mirrors and the

constant tyre roar, comfort

the pointy end of the class

So Levorg makes sense a

grand tourer. It’s comfortab

powerful, sharp like a Zeg

suit, and with buckets of r

behind the back seat it’s id

weekend escape. But it’s no

however close the relation

BAR

FIRST
AUSSIE
DRIVE

PLUS &

MINUS

Bodyroll; low-speed ride; tyre roar; no aural excitement; doddering CVT Performance; grip; high-speed ride and handling; big load capacity

Mode

Engin

Max powe

Max torqu

Transmissio

Weigh

0-100km/

Economy

Pric

On sal

el

e r e n t h y e e

Subaru Levorg GT

1998cc flat 4, dohc, 16v, turbo

197kW @ 5600rpm

350Nm @ 2400-5200rpm

CVT automatic

1538kg

6.6sec (claimed)

8.7L/100km

$42,990

Now

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tis at

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