Its early afternoon, and Kingston is pretty much blanketed in haze and smoke, thanks to yet another blaze at the Riverton landfill. To further complicate matters (or make them more interesting), is the massive improvement project continuing apace at the head of the Mandela Highway, backing up traffic and degrading the conventional road surface. All of these conditions combine to produce a handy “stage“ on which to discover the virtues of the new
Subaru XV, offered by the folks at Kingston Industrial Garage. Our model is actually in the middle of the three trim levels available in this market, but whichever variant you pick, the trade mark Subaru attributes, particularly all-wheel drive, are still there. The XV is only available with AWD, and unlike the class-normal ondemand system, is a permanent symmetrical set-up that’s ‘always on’. It can easily handle basic trails, such as the lower section of the Plantation Heights roadway, passing the gargantuan Nestle installation, the bumps and ditches are minimized at
sensible speeds, of course – by this vehicle. We slowly traverse the highway and actually take the craggy access road
leading to the Plantation Heights housing development. Amid the various mansions completed and
under construction (sand and gravel piles are an almost routine feature of the uphill drive), the Mandela stretch,
the surrounding countryside and the smoke-churning landfill unfolds below.
As with its predecessor, this iteration of Subabru’s “muscle wagon” has comparatively little stylistic
differentiation from the Impreza hatchback with which it shares most components, with a slightly raised stance and a sleek polymer wheel arch inserts the give-away.
The XV is based on Subaru’s new modular architecture, but retains the brand’s staples of flat engines and symmetric AWD. The higher-level variants come with Subaru’s much-touted Eye-Sight camera-based active safety tech.
One thing that should be stated, the interior on this latest version of the XV is a huge step up, with really nice presentation and a big 8.0-inch touch screen monitor mounted high. All the surfaces, sections and switch points have that “well made” tactile feel and there are more than enough connectivity points. Another bit of good news is that the XV’s info-tainment system supports both Apple Car Play and Android Auto, so no matter which phone you carry, hooking up with the vehicle will be a breeze.
The heated leather seats are particularly comfortable as is the steering wheel. Driving position is high enough to aid visibility but not the “pedestal-like” stance of larger SUVs – eventually, you still sit up higher than in a regular hatch.
The XV 2.0i-S also gets extra active safety tech such as blind-spot monitoring, lane change assist rear cross-traffic alert, AEB in reverse, and automatic high-beam assist. The engine response and transmission lag are satisfactory. Are there “quicker” vehicles in this category? Sure, and the cargo space appears to be sub-par, from our quick inspection.
For regular driving both on and off-road or even a combination of both, the XV is more than capable and stress-free, definitely one of the very best crossover values around at its price-point.
The new Subaru XV is a highly impressive offering, an aspirational small crossover that’s cheaper to run, it rides and handles well and offers heaps of space (head and leg room) and tech.
Think of it as the “little cross-over that can”
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Its early afternoon, and Kingston is pretty much blanketed in haze and smoke, thanks to yet another blaze at the Riverton landfill. To further complicate matters (or make them more interesting), is the massive improvement project continuing apace at the head of the Mandela Highway, backing up traffic and degrading the conventional road surface. All of these conditions combine to produce a handy “stage“ on which to discover the virtues of the new
Subaru XV, offered by the folks at Kingston Industrial Garage. Our model is actually in the middle of the three trim levels available in this market, but whichever variant you pick, the trade mark Subaru attributes, particularly all-wheel drive, are still there. The XV is only available with AWD, and unlike the class-normal ondemand system, is a permanent symmetrical set-up that’s ‘always on’. It can easily handle basic trails, such as the lower section of the Plantation Heights roadway, passing the gargantuan Nestle installation, the bumps and ditches are minimized at
sensible speeds, of course – by this vehicle. We slowly traverse the highway and actually take the craggy access road
leading to the Plantation Heights housing development. Amid the various mansions completed and
under construction (sand and gravel piles are an almost routine feature of the uphill drive), the Mandela stretch,
the surrounding countryside and the smoke-churning landfill unfolds below.
As with its predecessor, this iteration of Subabru’s “muscle wagon” has comparatively little stylistic
differentiation from the Impreza hatchback with which it shares most components, with a slightly raised stance and a sleek polymer wheel arch inserts the give-away.
The XV is based on Subaru’s new modular architecture, but retains the brand’s staples of flat engines and symmetric AWD. The higher-level variants come with Subaru’s much-touted Eye-Sight camera-based active safety tech.
One thing that should be stated, the interior on this latest version of the XV is a huge step up, with really nice presentation and a big 8.0-inch touch screen monitor mounted high. All the surfaces, sections and switch points have that “well made” tactile feel and there are more than enough connectivity points. Another bit of good news is that the XV’s info-tainment system supports both Apple Car Play and Android Auto, so no matter which phone you carry, hooking up with the vehicle will be a breeze.
The heated leather seats are particularly comfortable as is the steering wheel. Driving position is high enough to aid visibility but not the “pedestal-like” stance of larger SUVs – eventually, you still sit up higher than in a regular hatch.
The XV 2.0i-S also gets extra active safety tech such as blind-spot monitoring, lane change assist rear cross-traffic alert, AEB in reverse, and automatic high-beam assist. The engine response and transmission lag are satisfactory. Are there “quicker” vehicles in this category? Sure, and the cargo space appears to be sub-par, from our quick inspection.
For regular driving both on and off-road or even a combination of both, the XV is more than capable and stress-free, definitely one of the very best crossover values around at its price-point.
The new Subaru XV is a highly impressive offering, an aspirational small crossover that’s cheaper to run, it rides and handles well and offers heaps of space (head and leg room) and tech.
Think of it as the “little cross-over that can”
Share this post: