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Subaru is making great strides in the region, and with the launch of its 2018 XV, dubbed ‘one of the safest vehicles ever made’, the Japanese marque could have a winner on its hands, writes Kristian Harrison.
The much-anticipated crossover, which combines a compact body with SUV capability, was launched with a media gathering and presentation last week at Motorcity’s Subaru showroom in Sitra.
The new XV is based on Subaru’s distinctive Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system and rugged yet sporty design, offering versatility in both urban areas and the countryside. For the first re-design since launch in 2012, the XV was built on Subaru’s completely revamped Subaru Global Platform architecture, significantly enhancing the body and chassis rigidity and strength.
Enhanced all-around safety, upgraded interior space, packaging and driving dynamics and improved torsional rigidity make the XV a force to be reckoned with. It carries a new direct fuel-injection two-litre Boxer horizontally opposed engine that is 12kg lighter than the previous unit and now capable of 115kW at 6000rpm and 196Nm at 4200rpm.
The second-generation XV also comes with a new X-Mode, a push-button system said to enhance off-road ability and, a suite of world-class safety and hazard-avoidance features that includes Subaru’s EyeSight driving assistance system.
EyeSight acts as a ‘second pair of eyes’ for drivers by employing stereo colour camera technology to monitor the road and traffic ahead for potential hazards. EyeSight’s two colour cameras are located on either side of the rear view mirror to detect the presence of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and other hazards up to 110 metres in front.
Subaru analysed a range of traffic accident data involving the company’s vehicles from 2010 to 2014, and found that vehicles equipped with EyeSight had 84 per cent fewer rear-end collisions than those without, when measured in terms of accidents per 10,000 vehicles. The adoption of EyeSight resulted in 62 per cent fewer vehicle-to-vehicle collisions and a 49 per cent reduction in vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes.
EyeSight features five technologies to maximise safety: Pre-collision Braking, Pre-collision Throttle Management, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure & Sway Warning and Lead Vehicle Start Alert.
The new XV has also been dubbed ‘a testament to the significant improvement in Subaru interior styling’ after winning the brand a place in the Wards Auto Top 10 Best Interior Design awards for the first time. The interior panels are finished in mixes of black and silver, as are switches, steering-wheel and door inserts,. Orange stitching runs throughout the cabin from the seats to the steering-wheel, gear-shifter, and centre stack.
l The Subaru XV is available from BD6,999 at the Motorcity Subaru showroom in Sitra. For more information, call 17736222.
During the launch, GulfWeekly was given a demonstration of EyeSight by assistant sales manager Manaf Kassem.
An area in front of the showroom was set up with cones, plus a cardboard cut-out of another car, to trick the EyeSight cameras into thinking a real car was in front.
Manaf then drove at 50km/h at the cut-out, taking both feet off the pedals … and the car did the rest.
Kristian’s verdict:
Even the pre-warning to ‘brace myself’ didn’t prepare me for how quickly the XV slammed on the emergency brake as we hurtled towards what would be a heavy smash on a real road. I was certainly impressed, and I can say with some confidence that if I drove this car around the kingdom with the stop-start nature of traffic, I’d feel much safer.
