A niche proposition as ever, but then Subaru revels in its uniqueness. This would be a significantly improved car with a conventional automatic or manual transmission Different - but then you’d expect that from Subaru. The Levorg is something of a reprise, Subaru admitting that it didn’t look at the previous Legacy wagon as a starting point - customers found it too big and ungainly - but the popular fourth-generation model before it. A greatest hits tourer, then, with the benefit of some of Subaru’s latest technology.That includes a new aluminium 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine, which delivers 167bhp and 184lb ft. Of course there’s asymmetrical four-wheel drive with a drive split of 60/40 front to rear here, and Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT automatic transmission, too.All of which makes the Levorg a niche proposition, as ever, but Subaru admits to aiming the car at buyers who might otherwise have bought a Mazda 6 Tourer or a Volvo V60. That, and its hardcore of customers who simply wouldn’t drive anything else.Japanese domestic market customers get a 2.0-litre turbocharged model with 296bhp, but they’ll not be rolling on the freighter ships and sailing West anytime soon - officially at least. That’s despite Subaru Europe saying that, when surveyed, people still associate the firm with its smokin’ gold-wheeled blue cars. Subaru is still trying to kick that habit, so the asymmetrical four-wheel drive here is for safety, pragmatism instead coming to the fore.
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