Subaru has kept things very simple with the Levorg. There is one body style, one engine option, one trim level and one gearbox.
Actually now there are 2 engine options, but we’ll come to that.
The body style is estate car, the trim level is GT, the engine is a 2.0 L petrol boxer engine which produces 147bhp and 198Nm torque and the gearbox is a lineartronic CVT (constantly variable transmission). This is basically an automatic gearbox but doesn’t have set gear ratios like a conventional automatic gearbox.
With the Levorg, Subaru seems to have had a keen eye on active and passive safety. This is a very safe car with a 5 start Ncap rating.
Literature and advertising around the Levorg point towards the active and passive safety features of the Levorg. To that end, it has just about every safety aid that you can find on modern cars. For example, it has Subaru’s EyeSight which is a form of driver-assist technology, a vision system working through a pair of cameras at the top of the windscreen monitoring the outside world, which feeds into the safety aides in the car adaptive cruise, pre-collision braking, pre-collision throttle management and lane keep assist with saw warning.
This is a lovely car to drive, very smooth and the suspension is on the comfortable side of sporty. It’s not softly sprung which would bounce you around, but it’s not to stiff so doesn’t jar you or crash over potholes.
Although the 2.0L boxer engine produces 147bhp, maybe it’s the CVT gearbox, but it isn’t fast. It’s fine around town, with plenty of initial acceleration, but when the road opens up and you want to press on, there’s not a great deal there. Then again, that’s not what the Levorg is about.
Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive is standard. On the Levorg it is a road-biased system which means it doesn’t have the off-road electronics like x-mode. Symmetrical all-wheel drive means that the drive shafts are all equal lengths and the engine and gearbox are placed further back for better weight distribution. This means power is transferred to all of the wheels equally, resulting in better road holding. The boxer engine also sits low, keeping the weight low, reducing body roll. It works well and holds the road very well.
It doesn’t have a great deal of ground clearance, and there is a subtle body kit on the car, so I wouldn’t be keen to take it off-road like the Forrester for example.
The interior is excellent. Our test car had covered something like 11k miles and was like new. No rattles or squeaks and nothing broken, it really is a quality interior. The seats are full leather front and rear and are electrically adjusted and heated. They really hug you and are quite sporty but are nicely shapes and very comfortable. When you climb in, it feels great.
You will find leather on the seats as mentioned, on the doors and centre console and some on the dash. Where there isn’t leather, the plastics are a high-quality soft touch.
Our test car came in dark blue pearl, which I felt really suited the car. Exterior styling is sleek and sporty, but if I had one criticism I would say it’s a little anonymous.
In summary, the Levorg drives well, is well priced, looks good, it’s not quick and handles well, in fact, it could easily handle more power I’d say. Maybe one day we’ll see an STi version.
Subaru Levorg prices start at £34,770
