All-new Subaru Exiga launches in Japan

The all-new Subaru Exiga has a bit of an identity problem. Being caught somewhere between an estate and MPV, it also bears some uncanny minivan properties. Whatever this seven-seater is, there’s one thing it definitely isn’t. And that’s heading to Europe any time soon. Which is a shame.

Bad news for those who opt to go through the normal car buying cycle will indeed be great news for purveyors of grey imports however. You know. The sort who complete their paperwork from ring-fenced portakabins topped with Samurai-symbolic bunting. The sort that advertise ‘carefully sourced’ authentic Japanese cars that bear window tints, gargantuan bonnet scoops, quadruple exhausts, twin-superchargers and, over 50% of the time, bear a tailgate.

Well, for them – and ultimately you - there’s now another piece of 220bhp+ shopping/domestic pet-friendly automotive kit on the horizon.

Although that’s exactly where it’s set to remain for the time being, on a very, very distant horizon. The exact spot where the sun comes up in fact, the bit that’s called Japan.

A station-wagon-cum-MPV might be another confusing automotive pill to swallow in a rapidly expanding European motoring medicine cabinet, but in the Far East anything that’s four-wheeled and staggeringly quirky, the better. With cube-like vehicles and minivans currently prescribed to anyone looking to stand out from the crowd, the Subaru Exiga will probably do brisk business now that it’s starting to appear on forecourts which aren’t trying nearly as hard to be authentically, er Japanese.

Like a Subaru Legacy or Outback estate that’s been hitting the weights and creatine powder in equal doses, the new seven-seater Exiga is larger in every department, and shares much of its DNA with the current Subaru Forester and Impreza.

The Exiga runs to Subaru’s typical Boxer-engined beat, taking the form of a 2.0-litre petrol unit kitted out in two guises trims - the naturally-aspirated 146bhp and the turbo-unleashed 222bhp - topped-off with the flying GT colours. The manufacturer’s famed four-wheel-drive is an optional extra on both models. Word on a STi version - with the new Impreza’s 295bhp 2.5-litre boxer engine strapped to the underside of the bonnet - remain conspicuous by its absence. Go on Subaru – you know you want to.....want to bring a whole new meaning to the word fast food.

The model that’s odds on to creep aboard cargo ships, cross many an ocean, be unloaded dockside and wing its way to a Jap importers premises near you in 18 months or so is bound to be the GT station-wagon.

All-new Subaru Exiga facts and figures

Here’s the lowdown anyway. A large panoramic sunroof is optional, but the so-called ‘theatre’ seating isn’t. The second and third row of rear occupant chairs being progressively higher than the front. And the rear door swings open some 90-degrees which affords folk greater access to the luggage space. And the outer-most seats in the middle row slides backwards and forwards and the third row seats recline.

There’s airbags a’ plenty through the model range, air-con in all but entry-level spec models, CD/MP-3/WMA-compatibility, sat nav, rear-view cameras and keyless entry and ignition buttons prominent.

But it’s the Exiga GT that’ll make guest appearances in Europe, with its metal-mesh grille design, blue-tinted headlamp lenses and unique monster rims. Oh, and its variable torque distribution system and five-speed Sportshift sequential transmission. Sadly no acceleration figures to report on yet though.

America isn’t going to get an official Subaru Exiga look in either, as the manufacturer reckons it looks too similar to the Tribeca, and Europe would want a diesel model before its more general interest was pricked.