The name Levorg is a combination of the words Legacy, Revolution and Touring, which means the concept car might show what the next-generation Legacy Station Wagon will look like.
Subaru says the Levorg is a new type of sports tourer targeting the Japanese market which combines “an exquisite and stylish design with a sports car feel”, while offering the best in driveability, safety and environmental friendliness.
The car is powered by a newly-developed 1.6-liter Horizontally-Opposed direct injection turbo DIT engine which promises “superb driving pleasure and extraordinary environmental performance”. Other new technologies are the next-generation EyeSight with added safety functions and the newly launched steering support control.
In the company’s own words, the Levorg is “the car which carries on Subaru's great heritage while pioneering a new age of touring car with innovation”. The automaker has launched a special microsite in Japanese where teaser images and other information will be released.
Alongside the Levorg, Subaru’s Tokyo stand will include the Crossover 7 Concept, a seven-seater crossover also aimed at the domestic market. The study’s exterior combines an urban look with “rough-road driving capability”, while the cabin features smooth tan leather seats and a roomy space.
Subaru’s booth will also host the world premiere of the Cross Sport Design Concept and the Japanese premiere of the Viziv Evolution Concept.
By Dan Mihalascu
Instead, the exterior modifications of the BRZ S-based model are limited to the smaller 17-inch STI aluminum wheels finished in black, with the same shade applied to the top end of the mirror caps. The Premium Sport will be available in a number of colors.
On the other hand, Subaru kept most of the concept's interior goods, including the nifty looking two-tone sports seats and steering wheel in tan and black leather, and the use of black Alcantara with contrast tan stitching above the instrument panel, on the sides of the center console and the top section of the doors.
Furthermore, there's tan leather on the doors, black leather with tan stitching on the handbrake and the manual gearbox levers, plus satin silver accents throughout the cabin and carbon fiber trim on the dashboard. The STI made push engine button in red and the aluminum pedals round out the upgrades.
Mechanically, the BRZ Premium Sport Edition remains unchanged with Subaru offering customers the choice of a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. The special edition version of the rear-wheel drive coupe goes on sale in Japan at the end of December with prices starting from 3,034,500 Yen (roughly US$31,100 or €22,600).
Part of what made me stay until the end was their (British-biased) selection of candidates for the title: McLaren 12C GT Can-Am, Caterham Seven 620R, Radical RXC, BAC Mono, Litchfield Subaru BRZ Spec S (supercharged from 200 to 280 hp), Mini JCW GP, Ariel Atom 3.5 Supercharged and Porsche Cayman S.
The track chosen to try out the cars on was Blyton Park, which seems to be placed on very flat ground with no features (it’s marginally better as a setting than Top Gear’s airfield). Still, the typically British overcast day probably made for some nice beauty shots.
I won’t tell you which they chose as their favorite, but I will tell you that it’s not the Porsche – it was severely outnumbered by Brits, and it was much more of a usable road car than pretty much all the other models, except, perhaps the Mini.
By Andrei Nedelea
It has become so unappealing as of late in fact, that in the US, they only scraped a measly 1,247 sales of the model through September of this year, marking a 18.9 percent drop from 2012 – they sold 84,372 Foresters in the same time frame, along with 90,073 Outbacks and 38,019 XV Crosstreks.
Even the BRZ sports car outsold it five to one…
Now, Edmunds tells us that Subaru has finally received the message and will be pulling the plug on the Tribeca in January of 2014, after having been in production since 2005. It doesn’t mean the Japanese manufacturer is not returning to the segment, because it is - Subaru of America spokesman Michael McHale announced it: "We have confirmed we will return to the three-row segment in the future," he said in an email reply.
So, if you are one of the few who were looking to buy one of these Stateside, you can still do so for another few months. For the 2014 model-year, it only comes in Limited trim, priced at $35,745 plus destination.
By Andrei Nedelea
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