Friday, September 13, 1991 - North Shore News - 25'

Subaru SVX

extremely comfortable and quiet,

THE SVX is Subaru’s first luxury/performance coupe
and one of a number of new luxury coupes to come from

Japan in the last couple of years. As with the Acura

Legend Coupe and Nissan 300ZX 2+2, the SVX is a
well-equipped, high-performance tourer. But unlike others
in its class, the SVX is unconventional in its styling and
engineering, not unlike other Subarus.

While it doesn’t look as odd as
the wedge-shaped Subaru XT
coupe which preceded it, the
SVX’s styling is definitely some-
thing that either grows un you,
or it doesn’t. The ‘‘window within
a window” concept was developed
to allow smooth airflow while
travelling with the windows down,
and to allow larger door openings
for easier entry and exit.

During my test drive, 1
discovered that it is possible to
travel at 100 km/h with the win-
dow rolled down without air buf-
feting in the cabin. The big doors,
unimpeded by the necessity to
wind down the entire window,
curve up into the roof, creating a
Jarger door opening.

From inside the cabin, the
border of the smaller window is
distracting at first, but disappears
from the driver's peripheral vision
after driving for a day or so.

The most impressive aspect of
the SVX, like other Subarus, is its
innovative engineering. Equipped
with a new 230-horsepowe: 3.3
fitter horizontally-opposed | six-
cylinder engine with dual overhead
cams add four valves per cylinder
basically a modified version of
the Lesaey’s 2.2 liter engine with
two omore cylinders), full-time

touted for its traction, safety and
control are its real benefits.

Some credit must be given to
the superb Bridgstone Potenza
225/50 VR 16-inch radials with a
uni-directional tread pattern which
disperses water from the
underneath the tires.

&4& A well-balanced chassis and
suspension, powerful, responsive
engine, and all-wheel-drive makes the
SVX coupe easy and safe to drive,
even in appalling weather conditions. 9¥

four-wheel-drive, and an elec-
tronically-controlled four-speed
automatic transmission, the SVX
is a car that inspires confidence in
its driver. Its combination of a
well-balanced chassis and suspen-
sion, powerful, responsive engine,
and alt-wheel-drive traction make
this car easy and safe to drive,
even in appalling weather condi-
tions.

On dry pavement. the. all-
wheel-drive system allocates 60%
of the torque to the front wheels
ard 40% to the rear, but in slip-
pery conditions, power is transfer-
red to the wheels that have trac-
tion, During a high-speed test in
the pouring rain (under controlled
conditions), the SVX was excep-
tionally stable, exhibiting — phe-
nomenal traction and control,
Though all-wheel-drive is often

With a curb weight of 1599
kilograms, the SVX weighs more
than some Cadillacs. Even so, it is
easy to drive and manoeuvres
quickly through city traffic. The
speed-variable power-assisted
steering works well, though lack-
ing in road feel. Highway ride is

Price as tested $36,995

Type two-door, four-passenger
coupe

Layout transverse
engine/all-wheel drive
Engine 3.3 [ horizon-
tally-opposed six cylinder,

front

except for a curious wind whistle
emanating from the rear antenna.

Disc brakes on all four wheels
with an anti-lock braking system
offered excellent pedal feel and
stopping power, The suspension,
by the way, is a MacPherson
strut, coil spring independent
system at all four wheels.

A four-speed automatic
transmission responds to the
driver’s wishes by adjusting shift
points depending on how hard the
accelerator is depressed. However,
the transmission has a tendency to
drop into fourth gear in order to
save fuel, depriving the engine of
some revs. Some drivers may find
it better to leave the gear selector
in third gear when driving around
town. The transmission also has a
feature that allows the car to start
in second gear on slippery sur-
faces.

By the way, a manual transmis-
sion is not available on the SVX.
Subaru’s marketing experts claitn
there are not enough people who

DOKRC. 24) valves, electronic
sequential fuel injection
Horsepower 230 @ 5400 rpm
‘Torque 224 ft-lbs @ 4400 rpm
Transmission 4-specd
automatic, electronically — con-
trolled

Tires P225/50 VR
all-season radials
Curb weight $599 ke/3525 Ibs

16 Potenza

Photo submitted

want a manual transmission. Pity,
since a manual transmission would
make driving the SVX even more
fun.

The interior is well laid-out and

See SVX page 28

Greg
Wilson

TEST DRIVE

Wheelbase 2586 mm/101.8 in.
Length 4582 mm/180.4 in.
Height 1289 mm/50.7 in.
Trunk space 232 1/8.2 cu. ft,
Fuel economy City 11.3 t/ 160
km. 25 mpg, liwy 9.3 1/100
km, 20 mpg

Warranty Basic 3 ¥rs/'60,000
km. Major components $ yrs/
100,000 km ,