Great review but have to add, there is far too much negativity surrounding CVTs because in all honesty, people are expecting them to drive the same as a regular automatic box, which they don’t, and need to be approached very differently. Me personally, I dont like regular autos because of the stepping up and down of gears constantly, and often never in the correct gear for the speed or road condition. CVTs need to be driven in a way that allows the car to pick up speed in its own time, not force it to go faster than it can. You have to feel and listen to the transmission, engine note and revs and done correctly there is nothing to complain about. CVTs are designed so that you are always in the right gear, all the time. If people dont like that it doesnt seem as instant regarding acceleration then please buy something else. I am more than happy to have smooth progress with any CVT Subaru. Its not all about power.
Boomers hate cvts, in everyday driving its perfect. the only thing i didnt like about my 2016 outback was the programmed fake gears to calm said boomers.
Thanks for the great review! I appreciate that you have raised an important point that the electric motor was placed there to improve the performance. And I think this is a smart response from Subaru to those microscopic turbos of European manufacturers. Additionally, the e-boxer version improved the cornering of XV by adding active torque vectoring system and steering responsive headlights.
I own one of these and happen to like the noise the car makes in EV mode. Can’t exactly describe why, maybe because it’s a pleasant change from the drone of the engine at low Revs.
According to Subaru Australia Website: "Do the vehicles make any noise when in electric-only driving mode? For safety reasons e-Boxer vehicles emit an electronically produced sound to alert pedestrians and nearby vehicles of their proximity. This alert operates at speeds of up to 24km/h when in electric-only driving mode." Hope this helps.
Great review, really informative and nice to listen to. An extra 5k on the overall price for doing “our bit” for the environment and for not supporting the fossil fuel industry as much sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.
Thanks John. I think it’s pretty much inevitable that hybrids will be on the menu for reviewers and the greater public alike in coming months / years, so stay tuned. Cheers for watching.
Hi ! Let’s hope by 2022 that Subaru bring more suv hybrids to the market. I hear they are nice handling vehicles. I see in NZ they are taking off up to 10 000 bucks off the new PHEV 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander 5 seater. Perhaps the new model PHEV is coming out late this year. NZ
Great review! Similar as Mitsubishi where the combined output of the petrol/hybrid system is not listed, would it be fair to say that the XV now produces 262NMS of (combined) torque?
Hi TheHayabusa09. Thanks for your feedback and yes, your maths is bang on…260Nm of torque with both petrol and electric motors doing the mumbo. Cheers for watching. Blu.
Interesting review, in many parts of the world you get some Government assistance to purchase a new hybrid or electric, not so here of course but it would make the purchase decision more interesting. In light of the just published climate change roadmap if emissions testing was bought in and along the same parameters as Japan and Europe a third of Kiwi cars would be taken off the road!
Thanks very much for your comments NZ Restoration. And of course you’re dead right - people would really boost the uptake of EV (or part EV as with this XV) if some of the purchase price pain was dulled by some government incentive anesthetic. We can but wait and see. Cheers for watching. Blu. 👍
Want to know if hows the AWD with it and if its calibrated specifically for NZ road. Since you've mentioned it, do you have any idea if when 2021 range will arrive in NZ? To be honest I'm in dilemma at the moment if I should get the 2020 now or wait for 2021. But worrying that it will take a while for 2021 to arrive in NZ due to Covid too. Cheers
I've always found every Subaru I've driven well suited to NZ conditions, Chris.My main bugbear (as with so many other reviewers) is the CVT transmission. The electric motor in this version of the XV helps out a lot and it'll be the same for the Forester e-boxer hybrid. As far as future product arrivals go, I can't make any predictions on that. I know there's a new Outback coming early 21 and imagine all Subaru NZ's efforts will be going towards that vehicle. I do know that many manufacturers are finding it hard to make cars and then ship them. MINI told me the other day they've got 115,000 back orders for MINI electric hatches and NZ customers who put down deposits in April 20 might get their cars Feb 21. Hope that gives you something useful to think on. Blu.
@@CarNutvideos Thanks Blu! Appreciate this. I actually decided to get Forester instead. Main reason was the storage space. But to be honest I kinda like the XV appearance quite sporty look. Yea the main drawback is the CVT. Anyway, I reckon I've researched enough and there's not much difference with the 2021 model. Again, thanks for your time Blu.
The electric-only noise can be switched off using a dash-mounted button down by the right knee.
Great review but have to add, there is far too much negativity surrounding CVTs because in all honesty, people are expecting them to drive the same as a regular automatic box, which they don’t, and need to be approached very differently. Me personally, I dont like regular autos because of the stepping up and down of gears constantly, and often never in the correct gear for the speed or road condition. CVTs need to be driven in a way that allows the car to pick up speed in its own time, not force it to go faster than it can. You have to feel and listen to the transmission, engine note and revs and done correctly there is nothing to complain about. CVTs are designed so that you are always in the right gear, all the time. If people dont like that it doesnt seem as instant regarding acceleration then please buy something else. I am more than happy to have smooth progress with any CVT Subaru. Its not all about power.
Boomers hate cvts, in everyday driving its perfect. the only thing i didnt like about my 2016 outback was the programmed fake gears to calm said boomers.
Thanks for the great review! I appreciate that you have raised an important point that the electric motor was placed there to improve the performance.
And I think this is a smart response from Subaru to those microscopic turbos of European manufacturers.
Additionally, the e-boxer version improved the cornering of XV by adding active torque vectoring system and steering responsive headlights.
Thanks for watching Audrey.
The hybrid is great for the xv compared to the Forester .......it saves much more fuel
I own one of these and happen to like the noise the car makes in EV mode. Can’t exactly describe why, maybe because it’s a pleasant change from the drone of the engine at low Revs.
Glad to hear the XV hybrid has s doing the business for you Steven. And cheers for watching and your comment.
According to Subaru Australia Website:
"Do the vehicles make any noise when in electric-only driving mode?
For safety reasons e-Boxer vehicles emit an electronically produced sound to alert pedestrians and nearby vehicles of their proximity. This alert operates at speeds of up to 24km/h when in electric-only driving mode."
Hope this helps.
Great review, really informative and nice to listen to.
An extra 5k on the overall price for doing “our bit” for the environment and for not supporting the fossil fuel industry as much sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.
Thanks for your feedback Luca. And the bonus with the hybrid is it’s a more satisfying drive too. Cheers for watching. Blu.
Hope over time you can do a lot more reviews on SUV hybrids.
Regards Ak. NZ
Thanks John. I think it’s pretty much inevitable that hybrids will be on the menu for reviewers and the greater public alike in coming months / years, so stay tuned. Cheers for watching.
Hi ! Let’s hope by 2022 that Subaru bring more suv hybrids to the market. I hear they are nice handling vehicles. I see in NZ they are taking off up to 10 000 bucks off the new PHEV 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander 5 seater. Perhaps the new model PHEV is coming out late this year.
NZ
Excellent review. Thank you !
Thanks very much Stefan. Blu. 👍
Great review! Similar as Mitsubishi where the combined output of the petrol/hybrid system is not listed, would it be fair to say that the XV now produces 262NMS of (combined) torque?
Hi TheHayabusa09. Thanks for your feedback and yes, your maths is bang on…260Nm of torque with both petrol and electric motors doing the mumbo. Cheers for watching. Blu.
"Mild Hybrid" = "only" adds 600 Pounds -_-
Mildly adds 40 % to the MSRP
Mildly adds a 100 % to the future upkeep cost
Can you still drive this when the hybrid system konks out?
Interesting review, in many parts of the world you get some Government assistance to purchase a new hybrid or electric, not so here of course but it would make the purchase decision more interesting. In light of the just published climate change roadmap if emissions testing was bought in and along the same parameters as Japan and Europe a third of Kiwi cars would be taken off the road!
Thanks very much for your comments NZ Restoration. And of course you’re dead right - people would really boost the uptake of EV (or part EV as with this XV) if some of the purchase price pain was dulled by some government incentive anesthetic. We can but wait and see. Cheers for watching. Blu. 👍
Hello, any plans reviewing the Subaru Forester 2020 soon? Cheers
Hi Chris. Not planning a review but I have driven the current Forester quite extensively filming for Subaru NZ. Anything particular you want to know?
Want to know if hows the AWD with it and if its calibrated specifically for NZ road. Since you've mentioned it, do you have any idea if when 2021 range will arrive in NZ? To be honest I'm in dilemma at the moment if I should get the 2020 now or wait for 2021. But worrying that it will take a while for 2021 to arrive in NZ due to Covid too. Cheers
I've always found every Subaru I've driven well suited to NZ conditions, Chris.My main bugbear (as with so many other reviewers) is the CVT transmission. The electric motor in this version of the XV helps out a lot and it'll be the same for the Forester e-boxer hybrid.
As far as future product arrivals go, I can't make any predictions on that. I know there's a new Outback coming early 21 and imagine all Subaru NZ's efforts will be going towards that vehicle. I do know that many manufacturers are finding it hard to make cars and then ship them. MINI told me the other day they've got 115,000 back orders for MINI electric hatches and NZ customers who put down deposits in April 20 might get their cars Feb 21. Hope that gives you something useful to think on. Blu.
@@CarNutvideos Thanks Blu! Appreciate this. I actually decided to get Forester instead. Main reason was the storage space. But to be honest I kinda like the XV appearance quite sporty look. Yea the main drawback is the CVT. Anyway, I reckon I've researched enough and there's not much difference with the 2021 model. Again, thanks for your time Blu.