Anybody ever have experience with the Subaru SVX?

[Ottobon]

About a year ago i was looking for a backup car so i could rescue my MR2s frame, now i'm not so sure how rescue-able the MR2 is as i've seen the extent of the rust, but thats another story. Probably the best suprise, and arguably one of the best cars ive ever had the chance to drive was a pristine Black 1995 Subaru SVX LSi with tan interior. I was rather unsure about the car because it was heavy and only ever came with a automatic, which are two things i usually dispise, but everything i read about it was good, it seemed to be a car that had no real rivals. Japanese reliability (well 1995+ models anyways), Italian design, rediculously great road-feel but somehow coupled with probably the best ride quality i've ever experienced, let alone on a car with 115 thousand miles on the clock, this car had to have been loved.

Anyways as it turned out it was a wealthy laywers car, he had passed away and his wife and son had to sell it, that somehow made the car more interesting to me, just because i knew that the previous owner respectfully loved his car, and if his family was anything to go by he had to have been a pretty nice guy. He apparantly had always had some sort of exciting car, at one time a Fiat 124 for example, and this was his last before he died.

Anyways enough about old dead guys, the truth was simple in that it made Telegraph road seem smooth, and trust me ITS NOT. I remember getting back in the MR2, which doesn't have bad ride quality, and being shaken to death on the same damn road. Furthermore the SVX had some sense of purpose and occasion that i simply have not found in any other Japanese car, especially any Subaru (not saying i don't like subarus) It somehow made me relaxed, but not in the way that Buicks do, instead of wanting to fall asleep behind the wheel i wanted to drive, but it wasn't at all punishing like it is in most sports cars, albiet probably slower


Of course all is not good, i also drove a white one with a horrible dreary grey interior, it had the typical transmission problems and the struts seemed blown dispite it being of the same milage, i can see why SVXs like that one sell for 2 grand, it was awful.


anyways anybody else have any experience with them, i really can't imagine recommending any other 2 door grand tourer in its price range, and it saddens me that subaru probably will never make any successor to it, it was simply awesome, well atleast they are with good working parts and tan interiors

[Hidden_Hunter]

I had a friend looking at them, about the only black spot is the servicing cost

[kaBOOMn]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

Furthermore the SVX had some sense of purpose and occasion that i simply have not found in any other Japanese car, especially any Subaru (not saying i don't like subarus) It somehow made me relaxed, but not in the way that Buicks do, instead of wanting to fall asleep behind the wheel i wanted to drive, but it wasn't at all punishing like it is in most sports cars, albiet probably slower

It was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro. An Italian. Enough said. The nearest rival from Italy is the older Alfa Romeo GTV (the FWD one). On balance I'd take the GTV over the SVX, but when I do see them I can't help but be impressed by the SVX's wonderful lines. Windows within windows and that wonderful rear end.

I'm ashamed to admit that the SVX was part of the inspiration for my current....uh....automotive project.....

One day Alfa Romeo or Lancia will be purchased off Fiat by a Japanese company......I fear the juggernaut that will be produced by a company that has reliability AND soul!

[zenkidori]

the only good SVX is the turbo manual one Japan got. I dunno if it's the same everywhere, but the US only got a shitty auto version. Most scooby owners here make fun of SVX owners.

[No Boss]

I have first hand experience with the SVX. Yes it had a rather heavy and dimwitted H6 and it ONLY came in an auto, but I still contend it was one of the most comfortable cars Subaru has put out in the last 17 years.

All of my friends, and I do mean ALL of them, have owned one model Subaru or another at one point in time. I'm the only one that hasn't. So I've gotten the chance many-a-time to ride in everything from a Baja to a '92 Legacy. And the SVX was just unlike all of them. I told the story in another topic of how I drank a bit too much on my 19th birthday during which I was camping. I ended up being sick all night and spent the night in the passenger seat of the SVX. It was the first time I ever woke up in a car and had absolutely no ache in any part of my body. The ride was so smooth that the trip home (45 minutes - highway and back road driving) was incredibly comfortable and not nauseating in the least.

It is, however, not a car for auto-xing and racing. As you and others have said it is just too heavy for that. But when it comes to being a fantastic looking, clever, comfortable cruiser; it tackles that in spades.

If the automatic box bothers you, and you are or know someone who is mechanically inclined, the 5-speed from the 2nd gen Legacy 2.5 GT's will fit in the SVX. My friend was planning on doing this but could find a GT with the right stuff.

That's just my two cents, I feel it's a great car with a cult following and impeccable styling. Good luck with your decision.

[Ottobon]

the automatic in the black one i drove was brilliant, so personally i don't see the problem with it

although you can't race it, as i said whats more important is that its interesting to drive, relatively well balanced, and strangely communicative for such a large car. Its easy to expect a car like a 1st gen GTi, a CRX, or a old MR2 to be communicative, their light and have no power-steering, it just seems as though the mechanical bits would work better, but somehow the SVX still had good communication, and thats one of the things that shocked me about it, it in all respects is probably better in overall feel then any other subaru, as all i ever hear most subaru owners talking about is how crap their steering is

Originally Posted by zenkidori

the only good SVX is the turbo manual one Japan got. I dunno if it's the same everywhere, but the US only got a shitty auto version. Most scooby owners here make fun of SVX owners.

thats because their too full of themselves to realize that theirs more to they dynamics of a car then if its won a world rally championship

[zenkidori]

or that they suck.

a lot of the drivers are girls as well.

[Ottobon]

Originally Posted by zenkidori

a lot of the drivers are girls as well.

and your a troll

if you want to have a opinion, back it up, any moron with 1/2 a brain can state "it sucks"

[zenkidori]

look, you don't need to get all butt hurt about it you pansy, I'm just saying what the scooby guys I know say, they know a lot more about subarus than I do, and I'm willing to bet, more than you do as well. Also, most of the people I see driving SVXs are girls. Get over it.

the only person I know who drives an SVX and likes it, is a complete queer. take that as you may, but don't post a thread asking for opinions and experiences unless you're willing to take the bad with the good. if you want a thread where all people do is go, "OMFG SVX RULE GET ONE!" then just post, "SVXs rule and I want one".

[thedguy]

Zenki: the only thing you've done is managed to troll the thread. It's one thing to state an opinion, but at least back it up with something a bit more supstantial then "my wrx buddies says it sucks because it's not a turbo manual like the JDM tyte one."

Of course it sucks to them, it's not exactly a high performance race car, it's a cruiser. Evidence to that is the automatic likes to destroy itself, most owners swap to a WRX manual when it goes. And I've seen plenty of normal men driving them... on the rare occasion I see one.

Search up the SVX yahoo group and you'll see a lot of people with trans problems, even those who treat them right.

[Ottobon]

ive had extensive experience with pretty much all of the Subaru products of the last decade and a half, and i can say that although the Imprezas and even Legacys (when stripped) can be fun track toys, they actually don't give you the same sort of sense of a satisfaction when driven hard, they resist the inputs with their rediculious lock to lock steering ratios and the suspension geometry is all wrong in feel (particularly the aggressive anti-dive/anti squat settings)

as i mentioned before, i drove a poorly maintained white SVX with terrible grey and silver interior and it sucked the big one, but i also drove a well pampered one with the proper Giugiaro designated tan interior, and it was absolutely brilliant, i can honestly say that with they exception of maybe the FD RX7 i haven't experienced a japanese car of the 1990s that was as purposeful. Most Japanese cars feel like they want to be 12 different things, and end up doing maybe 2-3 of those things well enough to be acceptable, that wasn't at all a issue with the SVX,