WRX-like power for the Subaru wagon, but minus the WRX-like option for a manual transmission.
The Subaru Levorg is due for Australian release pretty darn soon, but until that happens we reckoned we had to remain patient for the more exacting specifications for our market were made available.
In some telling documents passed to the Australian Government, enough tantalising details were revealed about the Aussie-spec Levorg to make us that little more excited.
The headliners are: it will offer performance to match the current WRX, meaning a 2.0-litre turbocharged flat-four engine producing a very welcome 197kW of power and 350Nm of torque.
Granted, in Subaru’s home market of Japan, the Levorg’s 2.0-litre engine chucks out an extra 24kW and 50Nm of torque, but even in the downtuned spec to arrive on our shores, the Levorg has plenty of poke.
That’s all great, and a fast Subaru wagon certainly does have substantial appeal, but the not-as-great news is that it will only come with one transmission option: Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT. But we already knew that, right?
In a way, yes we did, but only now has our strong suspicions been confirmed. In that sense, it isn’t quite the Liberty GT replacement some have been pining for, although leaving the transmission to one side, the Levorg should redeem itself by being a very competent sports tourer nonetheless.
Aussie buyers will have the offered two trim choices: the Levorg GT and the more expensive Levorg GT-S, both reported to share the same engine and tranmission. Info on the more minute variations between the two are still scant, but it is understood that the GT-S will get larger 18-inch wheels while the GT gets a set of 17-inchers.
The GT and GT-S tiers are mirrored in other markets too, and are known to be separatated by extras such as leather upholstery, power-adjustable front seats, alloy pedals, active cruise control, LED headlamps, and Subaru’s impressive EyeSight suite of collision avoidance technologies.
In Japan, however, the Levorg GT-S even gets more finely adjustable powered front seats, upgraded suspension and Bilstein sports dampers.
We’re not sure if Australian customers will be that lucky to receive all that, but we do have our hopes to cling to. We’ll have to wait until the Levorg’s mid-2016 local release draws closer to find out more.
