''Wild body kit''

[NikFu S.]

I just think it is silly they were trying to reinvent a car they had released only a year prior.

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

Wazzat on the back there... does that say XT? I wonder what that's about.

jeez, the front end looks like a Ford Probe
-Bill

[WestCoastSVX]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

I just think it is silly they were trying to reinvent a car they had released only a year prior.

But they knew it wasn't going to hit the market a year after the initial release of the XT. From initial design phase to final product takes years.

If they wanted a major redesign/replacement for the XT in the average 5 year timeframe, they had to get started right away.

And as mentioned, it may have started as just designing the next gen XT, but as the design and overall idea of the car evolved (and Subaru got the idea of changing their image), eventually it made more sense to rename the car and replace the XT with the SVX.

This might be detailed more definitively in the R&T Guide, not sure.

[Mephis]

Originally Posted by BoxerFanatic

BTW, original 80s concepts weren't too far off of that..

I want that car so bad...

[Alcyone Lunacy]

Read more Here:
http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6322

And a plethora of other EARLY RARE ALCYONE INFO here> http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic....st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Just thought you guys may find these links a bit interesting; and if you put all the info above together it kind of paints a picture of what was happening with subaru leading up to SVX production and how the SVX actually transpired. Enjoy!

[crazyhorse]

IMHO the original plan was for the SVX to be heavily based on the Legacy. If you look at the proportions of the early "Probeish" designs, you'll see 1st gen Legacy. From there it grew into the gorgeous car we all love.

As for the prototype...I liked it better in silver. Oh yeah & it needs WAAAAY more tire!

[NikFu S.]

Wouldn't the "original plan" have been a few years before the Legacy's debut?

[BoxerFanatic]

I almost wish it were, or that Legacy had been based on SVX's hardpoints and hardware, as a Coupe and Sedan pair. A sleek, flush-glass sporty sedan would have been quite cool, too.

Maybe then the car would have amortized it's costs a bit better, and not been so uniquely expensive to produce, and the engine and the car may have gotten more development.

In a more hypothetical sense, I badly wish I could combine my SVX with my 2005 Legacy... and make one car with the best qualities of both...

Maybe if they had paired the SVX and Legacy sedan together, platform wise, they would still have been doing so for the BL chassis.

[NiftySVX]

I was shocked that they didn't base the tribeca on the SVX platform. When rumors of what was to become the tribeca first surfaced, I figured this is what was going to happen, but I remember rumors as early as 2002 or 2003. With some re engineering of the EG33 it would have been a much better choice than the EZ30 that they put in it at first as far as performance and would have been more suited to the heavy vehicle, but it is large and bulky compared to the weight concious newer motors. I always call the EG the subaru "big block" in the family of subaru motors. The SVX platform was much larger than the legacy/outback obviously as the EG33 is too big to mount in either. I bet they decided that it was more cost effective to share the parts with the Legacy chassis as they could more easily convert the plant to a platform still in production. I think if the SVX chassis had still been in production in some form we would have seen more use of its components as the move to larger vehicles escalated in the late 90s and early 2000s. I have always been of the opinion that a sedan based on the SVX would have been quite a product, something more comparable to the maxima or avalon where as the legacy competes in the accord/camry/altima class. Unfortunatly, the chassis is old and outdated at this point and basing anything on it wouldn't be practical anymore, which is sad because it rules out any small glimmer of hope for a revival of the SVX in any form like it is, not that there was much to begin with.

[BoxerFanatic]

The SVX is a tad bit longer, and a tad bit wider, but much lower than my 2005 Legacy GT... but not that drastically different.

The '10 Legacy/Outback is much closer to the Tribeca. (and the face-lifted 2008+ Tribeca is better looking than the '10 Outback, also...) and the '10 Legacy is thus MUCH larger than the 2005-2009. Even by just looking at the two vehicles.

Maybe if SVX had spawned a big sedan, bigger than the 90s-era Legacy, one or the other could have kept the name Loyale, or gotten a new name. The smaller of the two would have re-defined what we now know as the Legacy and Impreza lines.

The '10 Legacy is probably quite bigger than the SVX, in length and width, too, and make both the 2005 Legacy, and the SVX look low in height, as the new Legacy is taller in height than any other car in it's class, including the new bigger Mazda 6, and Camry/Accord.

Personally, if SVX were to be re-introduced, I would rather it be based on BL Legacy, or a re-enlarged GR Impreza (GR Impreza is BL Legacy + 5-link rear suspension, and shorter rear overhang... under an uglier skin.) Not the larger '10 Legacy, Outback, and Tribeca.

With advances in packaging, and increasing interior room in relation to exterior dimensions... one could perhaps get similar interior room, and slightly more lithe exterior dimensions, compared to the 92-97 SVX in a modified, slightly up-sized GR Impreza chassis, with just a couple of changes... especially the GR Impreza sedan, which is a bit longer aft of the rear wheels. And be lighter than SVX, and most other coupes like Genesis and G37. I have a feeling that the Subaru/Toyota joint coupe is going to be a down-sized, down-market variation of the GR chassis.

The EZ engine should fit under the hood of a GR-based car, since it fits in the BL Legacy and outback. The EZ36R and 30R are the same outside dimensions, IIRC.

I SO wish they had kept the EG33 up, and pushed it to 3.6-3.7 liters with the tech that the EJ255/257 has now, including AVCS and AVLS, even if the engine is higher compression, but not turbocharged.

But for a non-turbo engine, the EZ does pretty well in a smaller space, due to shorter cylinder pitch. It just doesn't seem as robust for turbocharging, as EJ20,22, and 25 are. A rumored FJ20 engine for the new Subaru/Toyota coupe might be EZ-based, again with the shorter cylinder pitch, and less space, but being less "over-built."

A NA EZ36R that is tuned to it's potential (it is said to be de-tuned so not to blow up the 5EAT gearbox that Subaru continues to use in Tribeca, Legacy, and Outback) with a new 6EAT, and STI/2009 Legacy Spec B's big 6MT gearboxes as options would be a nice drivetrain, especially if the EJ255/257 turbocharged engine, with the new front-mount turbo, is also an option.

The GR and BL chassis both have a nice low cowl, and the BL Legacy especially has a nice low, sloping hood-line, and more streamlined shape than the GR Impreza's bull-nose. The '10 Legacy, Outback, and Tribeca all have a much higher cowl, and a much higher hood line. A coupe revival shouldn't have such a bulky front end.

If they were to scrap the body off of the GR Impreza sedan, and put a real coupe body on that chassis, that is a mix between what would have been a 2nd-gen 98+ SVX, and a slight revision on the 2005-2007 Legacy GT from the firewall forward, with a flush-glass lift-back like the 93-97 Ford Probe, with more of an SVX rear deck treatment aft of the glass, they would have their coupe.

With SVX's flush glass, WIAW, and even an option for a Scion tC-like dual-panel glass roof, with the SVX's black over body-color roof and trunk/spoiler treatment to go with it, of course.

Suspension wise, The 2006-2009 Legacy Spec B's aluminum control arm, inverted-bilstein strut suspension, with properly vetted damping rates, spring rates, and anti-roll resistance, would be a good place to start, with WRX STI's Subaru-monobloc, or Brembo brakes, depending on trim level... with 5x114.3 wheel fitment (35-45mm offset would be fantastic for wheel fitment, and with BBS wheels optional from the factory...), and maybe throw WRX STI's DCCD system in with the 6MT, sport-shift with the automatic gearbox, or dual-clutch PDK-like gearbox, and SI-drive engine mapping control.

I'd also use the BL Legacy's Electroluminescent dash, with more LCD or OLED display elements, with a new Tribeca-like sweeping center console, and a cross between Legacy and STI's seats... perhaps even leather-optional recaros. Use Alcantara throughout the interior, like the SVX did, and the Legacy Spec B had on the seats... with a black interior with black, dark red, or dark blue alcantara, keyed to the exterior color of the car, or just black alcantara and leather with select red stitching.

I'd bring back a lot of the tech, like the speed sensitive steering and wipers, and all sorts of driver-convenience aids.

I think they could build a VERY nice car that is just slightly more lithe in exterior size than the 92-97 SVX, and sportier for that loss of bulk and weight, with negligible loss of interior room, and even more "toys" on the inside of the car, and more replacement-part commonality with other performance-oriented Subarus, from both Legacy GT, and WRX/STI, rather than the expensively unique nature of the 92-97 SVX's service replacement parts. Make the body and the glass unique, not things like the dampers and roll bars, wheels, etc...