News and Rumors: New SVX after all?

BoxerFanatic · #1 10-13-2009, 02:55 PM

Autoblog.com: Rumormill: Subaru planning to revive SVX with coupe version of Sports Tourer

Original source:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/au...reaks_out.html

Quote:

Might Subaru's Hybrid Tourer concept point the way forward to a revival of the iconoclastic SVX from the Nineties? According to AutoExpress, that's a definite maybe. The British motoring mag suggests that the conceptual Hybrid Tourer that's just about to get its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show is a harbinger for a range-topping luxury performance coupe from the Japanese automaker.

If true (and we're not exactly holding our breath), the new coupe would slot well above the expected rear-wheel drive coupe that will share its underpinnings with the upcoming Toyota FT-86, possibly selling for twice the price of its lesser sibling. A turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder engine would provide motivation, though a hybrid model may also be possible.

K_Dub · #2 10-13-2009, 03:15 PM

Also leaked today are some spy pics of a camo-subee mule on the 'Ring! The padding and contouring leaves much up to the imagination, but I will say that this is a beltline that I'd love to see on a Subaru again.

http://speedlux.com/subaru-coupe-pro...ubaru-coupe-5/

Low hood and tall greenhouse FTW! About time they trimmed some fat.

BoxerFanatic · #3 10-13-2009, 03:28 PM

just to clarify...

That mule is for the FT-86 Subaru/Toyota compact RWD coupe drivetrain. And being a completely chopped up mule, is probably not indicative of any final styling. Even the glass is pieced together, and not in an SVX sort of way...

Most likely not the rumor of a new premium coupe SVX replacement. The SVX is rumored to be coming out of the Hybrid Tourer Concept.

K_Dub · #4 10-13-2009, 03:47 PM

From what I've read that mule is a Subaru development car based on the FT-86 platform for a Subaru release. As is the case with mules you can't judge anything about styling, but with the Toyota variant debuting next week and Subaru hitting the track my guess (along with many other speculators of the internets) is that they're testing a Subaru drivetrain for said coupe. This thing is a lot closer to an actual car than the Hybrid Tourer Concept despite the fact that it's held together with duct tape.

Maybe this is similar to the SVX development going on during the release of the XT. Take the car that's going to the street in the next year, and start working on it's successor.

My only hope is that they keep proportions sane, and don't try to build another godzilla. KEEP THE BELTLINE DOWN SUBARU! (you think they heard me?)

AyeJaye · #5 10-13-2009, 03:50 PM

If it doesn't have the window-within-a-window, you cant even begin to compare it to the SVX. Don't get me wrong, looks like a nice car for sure, but I don't understand the comparison...

BoxerFanatic · #6 10-13-2009, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K_Dub

From what I've read that mule is a Subaru development car based on the FT-86 platform for a Subaru release. As is the case with mules you can't judge anything about styling, but with the Toyota variant debuting next week and Subaru hitting the track my guess (along with many other speculators of the internets) is that they're testing a Subaru drivetrain for said coupe. This thing is a lot closer to an actual car than the Hybrid Tourer Concept despite the fact that it's held together with duct tape.

Maybe this is similar to the SVX development going on during the release of the XT. Take the car that's going to the street in the next year, and start working on it's successor.

My only hope is that they keep proportions sane, and don't try to build another godzilla. KEEP THE BELTLINE DOWN SUBARU! (you think they heard me?)

Agreed. It likely is Subaru's development mule for their half of the FT86 project... but I am not sure that with the wheels hacked so far forward, that it will be AWD... or much different than Toyota's FT86 coupe... unless Subaru is developing a divorced front differential.

and WHOLLY AGREED with you about the belt-line. That is one reason I keep asking that an SVX be based on a bit larger version of Impreza, rather than '10 Legacy, which is chunk-tastically huge, with a high belt-line, high nose, and high roof, and is otherwise needlessly huge.

No thanks.

And W-in-a-W... would be a natural addition to overhead-opening doors. And if they are less than double-length, I wish they would go with McLaren-esque dihedral doors, butterfly, or beetle-wing, or however people like to refer to them, that open forward, and rotate up, rather than gull-wing.

gull wing makes more sense on hybrid tourer, since the door is basically double-long, equivalent to a 4-door without a B-pillar, longer than even a coupe's door.

K_Dub · #7 10-13-2009, 04:15 PM

I was just discussing this with a coworker. He looked at the spy pics and said "that'll be what $20-25 Thousand?"

I answered "You haven't priced Subarus in the last 10 years have you?"

TheKoP · #8 10-13-2009, 04:15 PM

I don't post here much but do lurk often... Anyway, I saw the article and was looking to post it here if no one else had. Glad the word got out.

Here's to hoping it actually does make it to production, maybe we'll even get fun windows again. Let's just pray that a manual shift is available.

yt · #9 10-13-2009, 04:36 PM

It will not be called an SVX ( Subaru Vehicle X"ten")

They might however have the stones to call it an Alcyone, which would be cool

Tom

SoCal LS-L · #10 10-13-2009, 04:41 PM

I dont understand why they would shove the old 2.5L turbo into such a new premium coupe.....

IMHO I never enjoyed the way the larger Subaru 4 cylinders ran, my moms '98 outback that was purchased brand new felt coarse when revved, as did my ex's older GL, and at the risk of upsetting some, both ran pretty bad in comparison to my 250,000 mile old Honda 2.2 liter.

What would be the reason not to make standard the H6 found in our cars or the larger one in the newer Tribeca for this "new" style? Turbocharged H6 as an option? I mean if Subaru is going to be asking probably upwards of 35-40K for this, they need to put in a smooth engine to match the lines on the outside, and leave the rumbling 2.5T to the STI crowd.

yt · #11 10-13-2009, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCal LS-L

I dont understand why they would shove the old 2.5L turbo into such a new premium coupe.....

IMHO I never enjoyed the way the larger Subaru 4 cylinders ran, my moms '98 outback that was purchased brand new felt coarse when revved, as did my ex's older GL, and at the risk of upsetting some, both ran pretty bad in comparison to my 250,000 mile old Honda 2.2 liter.

What would be the reason not to make standard the H6 found in our cars or the larger one in the newer Tribeca for this "new" style? Turbocharged H6 as an option? I mean if Subaru is going to be asking probably upwards of 35-40K for this, they need to put in a smooth engine to match the lines on the outside, and leave the rumbling 2.5T to the STI crowd.

No one wants power anymore, well at least not the masses of increasingly boring American people, so they are going with a fuel efficient 2.5 sohc hybrid. The newer 2.5l sohc motors run very smooth, I hate the older 2.5 DOHC engines, shakes the **** out of me every morning on my way to work in the Forester, thats why I am going to put an EG33 into it

Tom

SomethingElse · #12 10-13-2009, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yt

No one wants power anymore, well at least not the masses of increasingly boring American people, so they are going with a fuel efficient 2.5 sohc hybrid. The newer 2.5l sohc motors run very smooth, I hate the older 2.5 DOHC engines, shakes the **** out of me every morning on my way to work in the Forester, thats why I am going to put an EG33 into it

Tom

dont you need a good motor for that?

yt · #13 10-13-2009, 05:01 PM

one of these days i will make a good core out of all the bad ones

Tom

K_Dub · #14 10-13-2009, 05:08 PM

After reading BoxerFanatic's comments on the link I've realized that he and I are after two very different things. I would love to see this turn into a refreshed XT type sports coupe, versus a GT. No car has come close to the excitement in my XT Turbo 4WD of old. I know it was cramped. The motor was clunky, and turbo laggy. But were it not for the terrible reliability I might still be driving it today. These are two very different markets with different cars to fill them. The likelyhood of 2 coupes on the showroom floor at the same time isn't very high, so it's up to them to decide which (if any) we will end up with.

Keep on preaching the GT gospel BoxerFanatic. I'll keep on dreaming of a small car with 35mpg that can turn like a kayak and run up a jeep trail. Hopefully they won't disappoint us both.

BoxerFanatic · #15 10-13-2009, 11:19 PM

The FT86 is supposed to be a small car, more like the XT and the later Impreza GC body coupe. Whether it gets AWD in Subaru guise remains to be seen, as it might be relegated to RWD only... it is unknown. Turbocharging might be more likely, or at least more feasible, though. Tokyo Motor Show should show more, and it is pretty highly confirmed to be produced. It might actually turn some good mileage numbers, too. The jeep trail bit... not sure, and depends on AWD or not. That might be more Impreza-based Outback Sport, or Forester XT territory.

This SVX rumor is supposedly something larger, and is just sheer rumor at this point... but here's hoping.

I want a sport coupe that I can drive back and forth to work, and ENJOY the drive a bit...
-that is comfortable without being overly plush and floaty,
-cruises well, but can turn up the wick with a down shift, and upping the throttle input.
-dead stone stable at speed, but turns well with good steering feedback.
-modest to moderate cargo room with a hatch back, folding seats, but not being overly huge in the bodywork, or more than appropriate curb weight.
-Reliable as the day is long, but not soul-less like an appliance.
-Practical, but not boring.
-sporty but not limited to sunny weather.
-rear-biased AWD with a stick shift, and a boxer engine... like SVX was, plus a manual gearbox, and thus being the only thing short of a Porsche Carrera 4 to have that particular combo...

Basically my SVX updated with the good features of a 2009 Spec B Legacy and a few STI bits, with an H6 and 6-speed stick together at last, if one so chooses.

But sadly... I have this sinking feeling at the back of my mind... that Subaru may be following the pack... and thinking of a GT Coupe as something more in the vein of the Accord Crosstour, Acura VDX, BMW 5-series GT or X6.

If they pull a 5-door tall sedan as a "personal grand touring coupe"... the way Honda and BMW are doing...

I will be very disappointed. Like Gary Oldman in Fifth Element disappointed.