Levorg / XV

[sider]

Passed by a Subaru dealer late on last week and spotted a lovely looking estate car outside.

Quick check on the website revealed it to be the Levorg. Very nice. Buy why no diesel???! Similar to Suzuki Kazashi - throw a diesel in it surely and sell 10x more??

Also, the Scooby XV - any owners on here?

[jonesof63]

Levorg is a nice car, diesel would be good, as would the 2.0 turbo option. Happy to assist with any XV questions if I can, we have a later model and had one of the first handful to come in the country previously, great cars lacking in boot space, later models are more refined with better soundproofing, thicker glass and reworked suspension /spring rates.

Edited by jonesof63 on Tuesday 16th February 00:13

[marcosal]

I have just traded my 62 plate XV diesel in for an Outback. what would you like to know?

[peter8171]

I saw pictures of the Levorg and also thought it looked great. As an Impreza Wagon owner, was very interested in it. Then I found out that it is only available in the UK as a 1.6 with a CVT and costs £27k! For that money, it really needs to be a manual with circa 280bhp to compete in the market.

[Konan]

jonesof63 said:

later models are more refined with better soundproofing, thicker glass and reworked suspension /spring rates.

Did the soften the back up? I had an early one as a courtesy car and I found just running over a speedbump felt like lumping it up a kerb!

[jonesof63]

Konan said:

jonesof63 said:

later models are more refined with better soundproofing, thicker glass and reworked suspension /spring rates.

Did the soften the back up? I had an early one as a courtesy car and I found just running over a speedbump felt like lumping it up a kerb!

Ride is much improved, new spring and damper rates change things dramatically, the handling seems better as well, modified steering rack has only 2.8 turns lock to lock. Finally, we put ours on Michelin cross climates for the winter which improve the ride and handling further over the factory Yokos.

[AmitG]

If there are any Levorg owners on here I would love to hear your thoughts on the car. I was looking at a top-end Honda HRV or Civic Tourer, then found that I could have one of these for about the same money. Compared to the (admittedly overpriced) Hondas it seems to be no contest, the Levorg seems to be much better.

It is quite pricey, but from what I can tell, it comes with pretty much everything including leather. (There is only one model.)

I guess the CVT is going to limit the appeal of what is already a niche car, but personally I would be fine with it.

I'm going to try and have a look at one this weekend.

[GravelBen]

I have heard the CVT is a lot better than earlier versions of CVT which most people think of. Be interesting to hear what you think of it.

[AmitG]

Had a look at a Levorg recently. I quite liked it.

Things I particularly liked:

• Looks really sharp. Quite a tight shape.
• Driving position is spot on. You sit quite low, and you can see the bonnet properly. I could see myself doing long journeys in it.
• Cabin ergonomics are good. Everything falls to hand easily. Seats are very comfy. Visibility is excellent. The armrest needs to be further forward, though.
• High build quality. The (standard) leather is lovely. The paintwork is noticeably better than on some other cars at the same price. Everything else feels like proper quality, not just nice textures. Feels like it will take a lot of abuse.
• Massive boot. I measured it at about 105cm wide, and about 190cm deep with the seats down and the front seats adjusted for my driving position. Seats fold down completely flat.
• There's one model with everything as standard. You don't have to dick about with an options list the size of a novel. (Volkswagen I'm looking at you.)

Concerns/issues:

• That bonnet scoop. It looks a bit Halfords, if you know what I mean. On a seriously fast car it might be OK, but on a car like this it just looks out of place. I was told it's functional (it feeds cold air to the turbo intercooler, or something) but surely it wasn't necessary.
• Performance, on paper at least, is acceptable but not great. 0-60 is something like 8.9 seconds. Citroen sell a C4 Picasso that goes faster than that. And it doesn't need a bonnet scoop.
• It has auto stop-start, which I hate, and you can't disable it. You have to turn it off every time. Mercifully, the button is easy to reach.
• Fuel economy is not that great.
• Road tax is quite high.

It struck me as a proper old school car. Solidly engineered, designed to last forever, no gimmicks, and no concession to fashion. It's the sort of car that Volvo would be making if they'd stayed true to their roots.

Dealer was lovely - really helpful, happy to chat, keen to get the business but not pushy. And very knowledgeable about the cars. He explained some of the little details on the car, like how the boxer engine is tilted slightly so that in an accident it goes underneath the cabin rather than into it. The steel bars in the rear doors that lock into the main bodyshell rather than just being part of the door. And the fact that the headlight washers are powered by water pressure - no electric motors or solenoids. I like that kind of stuff.

I also looked at the Outback, which appears to be a bigger version, but it's a bit too big for me, and it's actually slower than the Levorg.

There's only one spec apparently, and the only choice you get is the colour. There are 3 colours, 2 of which are blue The spirit of Henry Ford lives on...

It's on my shortlist. I may arrange a test drive soon.

[sawman]

AmitG said:

And the fact that the headlight washers are powered by water pressure - no electric motors or solenoids. I like that kind of stuff.

How do they do that then, header tank on the roof?

[DKL]

Any news on a cooking Levorg? I'd be interested in the 300bhp version if we could have it.

[Ved]

DKL said:

Any news on a cooking Levorg? I'd be interested in the 300bhp version if we could have it.

It'll never happen in the UK. Importing is your only option.

[Konan]

Ved said:

DKL said:

Any news on a cooking Levorg? I'd be interested in the 300bhp version if we could have it.

It'll never happen in the UK. Importing is your only option.

I've already seen one on Grey import get snapped up very quickly.

[DKL]

Ved said:

It'll never happen in the UK. Importing is your only option.

Any reason why not? I know we didn't get all the impreza versions but we got some.

[Ved]

DKL said:

Ved said:

It'll never happen in the UK. Importing is your only option.

Any reason why not? I know we didn't get all the impreza versions but we got some.

Subaru have no interest and the emissions may be a sticking point

[Mr Taxpayer]

Ved said:

DKL said:

Ved said:

It'll never happen in the UK. Importing is your only option.

Any reason why not? I know we didn't get all the impreza versions but we got some.

Subaru have no interest and the emissions may be a sticking point

I was in a Subaru dealer's and was stood next to a Levorg estate/wagon today and the salesman told me it's a WRX underneath but Subaru are trying to corporately distance themselves from the sort of folk who drive 300bhp Imprezas and hang out on PistonHeads. Subaru won't officially say that the Levorg is the new Impreza because they don't want to scare off the 45-70 year old demographic that do want to spend £30k on one.

[Konan]

Mr Taxpayer said:

Ved said:

DKL said:

Ved said:

It'll never happen in the UK. Importing is your only option.

Any reason why not? I know we didn't get all the impreza versions but we got some.

Subaru have no interest and the emissions may be a sticking point

I was in a Subaru dealer's and was stood next to a Levorg estate/wagon today and the salesman told me it's a WRX underneath but Subaru are trying to corporately distance themselves from the sort of folk who drive 300bhp Imprezas and hang out on PistonHeads. Subaru won't officially say that the Levorg is the new Impreza because they don't want to scare off the 45-70 year old demographic that do want to spend £30k on one.

Which screws over my demographic that want to buy one after it's done it's depreciation.