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By EWAN
KENNEDY
9 November 2009
In a fascinating move, Subaru has decided to import a people mover
version of its Liberty. Called the Liberty Exiga, it sits on a
similar platform to the Liberty but is taller and uses squarer
body lines to maximise occupant and luggage space. In the manner
of the popular Subaru Forester, the Exiga is a tall station wagon
rather than an SUV.
Exiga's compact body makes it simpler to drive and park than an
SUV and it will also use less fuel. Exiga's chief competitor is
likely to be Honda's long-running Odyssey, though buyers of
vehicles such as Ford Territory and Toyota Kluger may also be
interested.
In the people mover market it's all about seats. The 2010 Subaru
Liberty Exiga has six of them, not the seven that are the norm in
the compact people mover class. That's because the seven-seater
version sold in Japan doesn't have a lap-sash safety belt in the
centre position of the second row of seats. Subaru Australia is
proud of the fact that all its models have the maximum five-star
rating for occupant protection in Australian NCAP testing. Hence
the decision to bring only the six-seat Exiga here.
On the other hand, it's not unusual for upmarket variants of
people movers to have separate single seats in the centre row to
suit it to adult sized occupants who are looking for plenty of
space, as well as a plethora of luxury fittings.
Standard equipment in the Liberty Exiga is generous. All models
get alloy wheels, dual-zone air conditioning, six CD audio, a DVD
entertainment system with wireless headphones, and a leather
wrapped steering wheel with audio controls.
The upmarket Exiga Premium adds full leather trim, power operation
of both front seats, satellite navigation (but this pulls the
audio system back to a single CD unit), Bluetooth compatibility,
the alloy wheels are 17 inches in diameter instead of the 16
inches of the Exiga 2.5i.
Safety is looked after by all-wheel drive, ESP (Electronic
Stability Program), ABS brakes with Brake Assist and six airbags.
The centre row of seats in the Exiga gives occupants the choice of
an armrest, or a table with built-in drink holders between its
pair of seats. This seat folds flat in a 60/40 split, whereas the
rearmost seat has a 50/50 split. Thus there are plenty of ways of
configuring the seats according to the luggage area you require.
With all seats in use there's precious little luggage space, but
that's not an unusual complaint in vehicles of this size and type.
We managed to fit six moderately tall Australians into the Subaru
Exiga and all found they had enough legroom. However, the Subaru
designers have deliberately restricted the rearwards adjustment of
the front seats to make space for people sitting behind them. I
found the front legroom was just OK for my six-foot frame.
There is plenty of headroom in the front seats, with slightly
less, but still more than enough in the other two seating rows.
This changing headroom is due to the so-called ‘theatre-seat’
arrangement that places each row at a higher level than the one/s
in front to give good forward vision. The latter is an important
factor in keeping boredom at bay in the junior travellers.
Power comes from the same 2.5-litre ‘boxer’ petrol engine as
installed in the Subaru Liberty. With 123 kW of power, and 229
Newton metres of torque at 4000 rpm it's a sensible powerplant.
During the drive program in Canberra as part of the press launch
of the new Exiga, we found the engine gave the vehicle decent
performance without being in any way exciting. It pulls well up
hills and provides plenty of grunt for safe overtaking.
Transmission is by Subaru's new design of continuously variable
transmission; it has six preset ratios for conditions where
drivers feel they know better than the computer which ratio is
required. The latter are controlled by the central lever or large
paddles behind the steering wheel.
Handling suffers slightly because of the higher centre of gravity
compared with the standard Subaru Liberty wagon, but it holds on
well enough and answers your commands through the steering and
accelerator without any hesitation. Ride comfort is good as the
designers have deliberately leant in the comfort direction in the
eternal comfort/handling compromise. Some of the initial testing
of Liberty Exiga was done in Australia a year ago to help
engineers tailor the suspension to our local roads and driver
preferences.
Warranty is three years with no distance limit.
The
two Subaru Liberty Exiga models, with prices (excluding dealer and
government charges) is:
Liberty Exiga 2.5i: $37,490 (CVT)
Liberty Exiga 2.5i Premium: $41,990 (CVT)
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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