Subaru XV Reigning Small SUV of the Year proves its mettle off-road

SUBARU XV 2.0 E-BOXER

Subaru’s smallest SUV is a rugged crossover that does everything well enough to compete all round – then pulls a rabbit out of the hat when the tarmac ends and the real fun begins

THE SUBARU XV BECAME A CLASS WINNER in our 4x4 of the Year awards when it was fi rst launched. Then last year it was facelifted – and it became a class winner all over again.

Here’s where we get the chance to explain in greater detail what impresses us about Subaru’s smallest SUV. It’s been six months or so since the brief experience on which our initial assessment of the newshape XV was made – but a week in the driver’s seat including plenty of running around in town, several lengthy sessions on fast roads and some dry, dusty green laning is a week of pretty much exactly what Subaru’s vehicles are all about.

This, the second generation XV, was the company’s fi rst SUV to be built on its Global Platform. It has since been followed by the Forester and Outback, but when it was new it could make a strong argument for being considered the safest family car on the market.

It became safer still when it was launched last year, thanks to a range of new high-tech measures including a Front View Monitor which constantly scans the blind spot just in front of the bonnet. The spring and shocks were revised, too, and the X-Mode and SI-Drive systems were tuned to let drivers trim the vehicle to suit the conditions both on and off-road.

What hasn’t changed is the 2.0-litre boxer engine, which continues to be part of a hybrid system driving all four wheels through a CVT automatic gearbox. It produces 150bhp and 194lbf.ft, in each case needing a decent whack of revs to get it there (5600 and 4000 respectively) and delivers a 0-62 time of 10.7 seconds and top speed of 120mph while returning 35.7mpg combined and 180g/km.

So, the fi gures probably don’t make the most exciting reading. But there’s a reason why the XV has become a serial class winner in 4x4 of the Year. Instead of hanging its hat on one single aspect of its performance, it manages to get 95% of the way there in every area there is – making it an exceptional all-rounder. Which is right at the heart of what makes a crossover what it is.

Actually, the XV does have something to hang its hat on. So many crossovers look rugged and are good at everything – but when you take them off-road, they wilt. The XV is the opposite: show it ruts, steep hills and slippery wet grass, and it roars with delight. Its ability to fi nd traction where there is none is little short of incredible, and even on road-going tyres it can plough through the sort of deep, wet mud you’d think twice about tackling in a Wrangler or Land Cruiser if you didn’t have a means of recovery on hand.

We know that of old, and while the improvements made to Subaru’s X-Mode programme are aimed more at treacherous road conditions they certainly won’t do its mud-plugging ability any harm. On this occasion, though, we were dealing with what for most people will be more of a real-world kind of off-roading – hard-packed, loose, stony tracks whose surface was baked hard by the summer sun.

This is where a vehicle’s traction gets another kind of test, because naturally the ground allows you to press on way more quickly than seriously uneven or deeply muddy terrain. It’s a test of suspension, in particular your shocks, and it requires the all-wheel drive set-up to keep on top of the slide you’re always on the verge of drifting into.

Subarus have a wonderful way of just taking it all in their stride, and that’s exactly what the XV did here. Obviously, as with every vehicle you

The XV’s cabin is tidy, well made and comfortable. It’s not the last word in excitement, but it makes up for that with its general practicality and ergonomics – in particular, the dash controls are very easy to fi nd your way around. Knee and head room in the rear are adequate but not amazing, however when the seats fold down they reveal a long and almost completely fl at cargo area akin to a small van

have to heed the laws of physics, but to be honest you can push it way further than you’d think possible and the XV will stay with you. Without getting too scientifi c, you get chuck it around the place to your heart’s content and even on loose, dusty trails covered in stones the size of marbles, the urge to go sideways will never get the better of it. There’s decades of knowledge and expertise in the way it’s set up, and every last bit of it shows.

The same prodigious grip is on your side on the road, where you can treat the XV like a wannabe rally car without it ever showing any sign of getting upset. It’s not staggeringly crisp in corners, but it has a balance of handling and ride that seems to put a huge margin of safety into every scenario. As those fi gures suggest, this is not a vastly quick vehicle, but the overwhelming competence of its chassis means it can be driven more quickly, more often, than a good many SUVs and crossovers whose stats make them sound hotter.

When you’re not doing that, you can enjoy just palming it around in town, where its suspension draws the sting from even the most hopelessly broken roads, or cruising quietly along on the motorway. Here, the engine’s refi nement is exemplary; it’s as smooth as silk at cruising speeds and almost completely silent, with a little swoosh of tyre noise but minimal wind buffeting and nothing of note from the suspension. You could drive all day in this vehicle, whether around town or across a continent (or indeed from one end to the other of the world’s most seek-outable B-road), and feel fresh as a daisy afterwards.

A generally relaxing cabin environment helps here. The seats are comfortable, supportive and trimmed in a decent grade of leather and you get a good view of the road ahead, and indeed all around. The dash has a nice simplicity that lets you concentrate on what you’re doing, too, and if you need to use the infotainment module its menus are intuitive – though the touchscreen doesn’t respond quickly enough to inputs, which can be distracting. Its display is bold and very clear, though, which is important, and so too are the controls on the dash, with big, clearly labelled buttons and switches that don’t require more than a glance away from the road.

The dash in general doesn’t look as if it’s trying to excite you. There’s nothing offensive about it, but it’s quite functional – and it’s made from plastics which are decent in quality but hardly a treat. The cabin looks fi ne all-round – not premium, but there’s an air of quality and robustness that comes through in everything you look at or touch.

In the back, knee and head room alike are adequate and no more. With the front seat adjusted for a six-foot driver, a passenger of the same height will sit with their knees pushed into the back of the seat ahead and their head brushing the roof lining just a little too hard. Those seat-backs and soft and sculpted, so it’s not the end of the world, but it doesn’t feel at all spacious for adults travelling in the rear.

It’s very good for carrying big loads of cargo, however. The seat backs drop down to lie as good as entirely fl at, creating a big, long and very usable cargo area that’s loaded through a low lip and on to a concomitantly low fl oor. Thus we’d say the XV is brilliant as a general family holdall, but the compromises will start to show when your kids get to the point where they’re taller than you.

As all-rounders go, then, this is a 4x4 with a whole lot going for it. It’s a fun, practical and super-safe family wagon, a great companion on the road and an unsung hero in the rough. It’s good value, too: the range starts at £33,195 for the SE model, while the SE Premium we drove adds leather, satnav, power seats and a sunroof for an even more impressive £35,195.

The only problem might be that there are other Subarus up ahead. The new Outback starts at £35,995 and the Forester at £37,895, and each will bring you a lot of the same qualities as the XV in bigger packages. You’re into the realms of personal choice there, though – and if you get what Subaru is all about, the good news is that this smallest crossover in its range punches as well above its weight as ever.