Been driving this new Subaru Exiga GT around. Design wise it’s pretty much identical to the Exiga Concept shown last autumn at the Tokyo Motorshow. The idea behind this car was simple, to create a practical and affordable 7-seater. After spending some time with this 2L turbo GT model, I have to say Subaru have more than achieved this goal. The Exiga is an honest car, it doesn’t try or pretend to be what it isn’t but does what it does very well indeed. Build quality is superb and this fully laden press car is packed with nice little touches like a massive panoramic roof, an HDD touch-screen navigation system which also plays DVD’s, AV inputs, dual-zone A/C, two 12V power outlets. The 7-seat layout is very impressive, I’m 189 cm and I fit snugly in the driver seat, the rear seats and even on the third row of seats if the seat in front is pushed forward a tad bit. The third row folds flat to get the most out of the trunk space, and if that isn’t enough the rear seats also fold flat (all 50-50 split). When all the seats are down you can probably fit a Kei car in there!
Power wise the 225PS 2L boxer-4 turbo delivers plenty of go for every day driving and a pretty impressive midrange for those overtaking maneuvers. SI drive allows you to choose between three modes of throttle response (Intelligent, sport or sport sharp) while the 5-speed automatic is the usual smooth-shifting transmission found in other Subaru models (only available on the GT). It’s a bit sluggish off the line however, plant your foot on the accelerator and its feels like a second passes before the car gets moving. Takes another while to get full boost and then it really picks up. Other than this it is rather softly sprung and more set up for comfortable cruising than outright cross-country pace but nonetheless feels very tight around corners despite the very long wheelbase.
I could comment on the hard and cheap looking/feeling plastics on the dash and interior, or the very tacky marble-look trim or even the unadventurous choice of seat fabric design but when you look at the price this car sells for you can’t hold any of this criticism against it. The Exiga starts off at 1.995.000 Yen for the 2WD 2.0i version with the top of the line 2.0GT model I drove selling for 2.782.500 Yen. And if you want to spice your Exiga up a little, STi already offers a body kit, wheels and other tune up parts!
Chinatown in Yokohama
