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Subaru shoehorns the WRX engine under the bonnet of an Impreza/WRX-based wagon called Levorg, creating a grand tourer for SUV haters.
WHAT IS IT? After ditching the Liberty wagon (and its turbocharged GT flagship) in 2014 because everyone was switching to SUVs, Subaru has revived the concept with this slightly smaller and sportier wagon, flexing a WRX-honed engine and an entirely new name.
WHY WE’RE TESTING IT Subaru reckons there’s a subset of about 200 buyers a month out there who don’t want SUVs in their lives, and are hankering for a spiritual replacement to the Mk4 Liberty GT wagon of 2003-09. Instead of a Liberty, they get this.
THE WHEELS VERDICT The Levorg is an engaging, fun addition to Subaru’s range, but only if you don’t think of it as a WRX with a bigger boot.
PLUS: Performance in spades; prodigious grip; excellent high-speed ride and handling; big load capacity MINUS: Too much body roll through corners; low-speed ride; tyre roar; no aural excitement; doddering CVT
THE WHEELS REVIEW IT’S amusing how things come around. Turn the calendar back to 2014, and Subaru was busy defending the untimely death of its Liberty wagon; saying buyers were more interested in kicking tyres on SUVs such as the closely related, higher-riding Outback.
It is chasing them with the Subaru 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 the Levorg is small enough to attract women, yet beefy enough to prevent blokes from getting too in touch with their feminine side.
At the heart of the three-model Levorg line-up — an entry-level $42,990 2.0GT; a leather and sunroof adorned $48,890 2.0GT-S; and a range-topping $52,890 2.0GT-S Spec B (a plastic pig wearing STi aero) — is the turbocharged 197kW/350Nm 2.0-litre flat four from the WRX. Unlike its sedan relative, though, Levorg won’t have a manual option. Instead, it will stick with a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
What makes Levorg special is the Aussie-honed suspension set-up. The base GT wears KYB dampers up front, with its spring rate stiffened by 40 percent. Step up to the GT-S and the KYBs swap for more expensive inverted-strut Bilsteins, with 60 percent stiffer spring rates. At the double-wishbone rear, both models share the same set-up, with rebound damping increased by 20 percent and 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 suspension), accompanied by extreme tyre roar on coarse-chip surfaces.
Corner exit is where the Levorg gets a little disappointing. CVTs generally don’t like large changes in speed, taking time to sort out ratios. In the Levorg, with the engine’s calibration tune in Sport# mode, this amounts to hesitation as you lift off the brake pedal and roll on throttle, giving a sense that the car is launching rather than driving out of a corner. Once on it, too, there’s no hint of that boxer thrum for which the WRX was once renowned.
Where the Levorg excels is in between the corners. It lopes along lazily, overtaking manoeuvres are effortless, and apart from a little bit of wind noise around the mirrors and the constant tyre roar, comfort is at the pointy end of the class.
Levorg makes sense as a grand tourer. Comfortable, powerful, sharp like a Zegna suit and with buckets of room behind the back seat, it’s ideal for a weekend escape. But it’s no WRX, however close to relationship.
SPECS Model: Subaru Levorg 2.0GT Engine: 1998cc flat 4, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power: 197kW@ 5600rpm Max torque: 350Nm @ 2400-5200rpm Transmission: CVT automatic Weight: 1538kg 0-100km/h: 6.6sec (claimed) Fuel economy: 8.7L/100km Price: $42,990 On sale: Now
