Test Drive Subaru Justy since 2008 Hatchback

All-wheeling output

Subaru Justy 4WD. On his concise appearance it is pleasant to stop the gaze. Design of quiet lines and incomplete solutions. About Justy It is difficult to say that he is recognizable in the stream. Although, in truth, the Russians are just a few Russians. Subaru Justy 4WD can not be called a car with a constant full-wheel drive. It is rather a front-wheel drive car with a plug-in. Machine for connoisse. The one who Justy bought, perfectly understands why he chose this particular model and when he may need four-wheel drive. True, the car is quite hardy and continuous operation in the full drive mode will endure - in exchange for increased fuel consumption. But for a constant all-wheel drive mode, a machine with different characteristics is suitable.

 

And the owner of Justy every day will ride on it, as on the usual little city car, using only the front actuator. But it comes time to visit the cottage or edge of the forest in search of snowdrops, or a seasonal dishthele threatens to destroy the dream of a long-forgotten hunting house, the sauna on the shore of a clean lake or about the field tests of the setter + 175-millimeter clien Subaru Justy will allow you to successfully force the puddle and overcome a small brush . A complete drive included in a difficult minute implements all other advantages of the original design. Little urban car will be a small SUV.

 

On the test we took two models. The first is the 5-door hatchback Subaru Justy 4WD 1.2 GL II with a 5-speed manual gearbox.

 

Designers showed great care for passengers. Optimal door opening angle. Opened, and on the door of the door sticker: what size should be the tires, which is permissible in them. Inside on the same door, several stickers are about full drive - how and what to turn on. On each of the four doors there is a lock lock button, and along the entire length large pockets. On the torpedo - an extensive shelf, a glitter of acceptable capacity, on a tunnel between the front seats, numerous containers for a variety of trifles. The crushers are very comfortable. Front - with headrests. At the rear even more solid side support than the front. The back of the rear sofa is divided in half and in the folded state forms a smooth and convenient cargo platform. Places for sitting front abuse. The feeling of space creates the absence of a familiar beard for the receiver and other additional equipment.

 

The transmission is located so deeply that the floor turned out to be almost even and the gear shift lever looks like a single one. From above on the lever head. Red 4wd button. Drowned it with a light movement - all-wheel drive turned on. At the same time, it is not necessary to stop or choose some kind of movement mode. It took - pressed. After a couple of seconds the drive will work.

 

The design of the devices is very good worked. Speedometer, tachometer, coolant temperature pointer and fuel level indicator visual and read well. In the middle of the dashboard - the Pictogram of the full drive. When it is turned on, on the machine diagram (top view), four wheels and 4WD inscription are highlighted in green. And no block of control lamps. The steering is informative and despite the lack of an amplifier, very easy. The reversal radius is only 4.9 m. The three-spoke steering wheel has the optimal diameter, nice to the touch and does not cover the devices. The left handicraft lever controls the light right - wipers.

 

Pedals are very convenient. The effort on them is minimal.

 

Good stove. Warm air begins to enter the salon for a minute later in a half. Five minutes - and becomes frankly hot. In addition, how to control the heater, pictograms are very intelligible.

 

The mirror in the cabin is normal, both outer - spherical.

 

The luggage compartment of Justy opens with a handle from the cabin or the key outside. There is still comfortable, always a clean handle in the deepening over the number sign. Trunk minor size. He is wide, but shallow: here under the floor is waiting for a small-sized spare wheel (s) and there is an independent rear suspension with a rigidly fixed gearbox and swinging semi-axes. All this is collected on a powerful subframe.

 

The front suspension is also attached to the subframe on which the engine is also protected from below with a small pallet. The longitudinal beam additionally protects the engine. Connecting light body and two massive subframes, the designers received the best balance of weight and strength. In the front suspension, a traditional MacPherson system was applied with an original transverse stability stabilizer. The car does not stick out from the bottom, everything is cleaned and protected.

 

Subaru Justy is equipped with a very interesting engine. At first glance, its working volume is small - 1.2 liters. But due to the small size of the engine compartment, the constructors were limited to 3 cylinders, for which this volume seems huge. Any 3-cylinder motor is subject to severe vibration, so I had to install the balance shaft. To increase power and torque, the engine is equipped with 3 valves per cylinder, but they are activated only one camshaft. The carburetor has the usual older generation driver in the float chamber. The engine is designed for high-octane gasoline, not lower than AI-95. This once again confirms that Subaru Justy is a city resident, and not a rural worker.

 

Justy 1.2 GL II leaving a very pleasant impression. The suspension is short-terrestrial, hard-rigid. A good power and weight ratio and successfully selected gear ratios of transmissions give a car enviable incidence, not always characteristic of small-class cars. But a special pleasure delivered high course stability: on a slippery road you turn on 4x4 - and as if the cat claws released. In addition, Subaru was wound into the Michelin 165/65 R13 MXL suitable tires.

 

The second participant of the test was Subaru Justy 4 WD 1.2 S II with a 3-door body. The angle of opening the doors is somewhat less. There is a front headlight washer. There is a modest block of control lamps on the instrument panel. The power button is also on the lever, but a little shifted with such a calculation to turn it on it with a thumb. Front seats with electric heating. Special praise deserves the penetration scheme for the back seat. Opening the door, you need to click on the large key, and the seat will move forward, opening access back. The rear passenger to get out of the car, you need to press a conveniently located pedal - the seat back will be easily thrown back. Despite the small sizes, behind Justy can be quite comfortable to settle. The seats themselves are good, there is a space above your head, a little place for the feet, finally, there is an ashtray. And that is very rarely found in 3 letter cars of a small class - rear side windows open. True, Neshiroko, but the influx of fresh air is guaranteed.

 

The main difference between two models - transmission. Instead of mechanical gearbox, this Subaru Justy 1.2 S II has ECVT - Electro Continuosly Variable Transmission, which in Russian is called transmission with a continuous change in torque. The presence of ECVT testify inscriptions on all doors and abbreviation on the lever. In such a small and inexpensive car, such a complex system is rare.

 

Acceleration occurs in the maximum use of torque in the range up to 3500 rpm. Without receiving gas from the pedal, the team for further increase in speed, electronics reduces turnover up to 2000 rpm. - Moves the engine to the smallest fuel consumption mode. At the same time there are no jerks, only smooth movement forward. Feedback on pressing the gas is instant, there is no thoughtfulness inherent in some machines. If it is necessary to accelerate rapidly, a sharp pressing on the pedal gives the command not to reset the turnover after 3500 rpm., And the engine goes into the speed of maximum power. Overclocking happens just as smoothly, only more intense. The feeling is very unusual, since the car remains as compliant and pliable. The engine works quietly, without darling and does not hint that it is time to let go of the pedal. 5000 rpm. Justy dials instantly and demonstrates full willingness to move in this mode and further.

 

Unlike the machine with a conventional machine, the car, equipped with ECVT, in position D is not necessary to keep the brake - it is calm in place. The instruction insists that the control of the gear selector is the same as a conventional machine. For example, you can turn on the engine only in position P or N. But the experiment showed that this can be done at any position of the lever, including during the forbidden D.

 

If you do not demand from Justy sports victories, then, regardless of the type of transmission, you will get driving pleasure driving driving, and enjoy the benefits of a full drive, and save on operating expenses, and in a conversation with friends you will be proud to throw: when I'm on my Subaru +.

 

Strange box

Variator ECVT.

Recall what was the most difficult when you first got behind the wheel? Of course, learn how to handle the gearbox. It is not enough to steer, so also switch the speeds, and the clutch each time squeeze. Over time, of course, automatism appears, but for many, especially for women, still riddled, why this box is needed.

 

Unfortunately, it is impossible to do without it. The engine provides the necessary power only in a rather narrow range of rotational frequencies, and to transmit torque, depending on the velocity of the vehicle, it is necessary to include this or that combination of gears.

 

For those who have not worked out with the mechanical box lever, or it does not want to be tricked by feet, they came up with an automatic box, in which the gears choose not the driver, and the automatic - the torque converter. The design is quite massive and complicated, but comfort provides. The automatic boxes in the United States and Japan are especially popular, they prefer mechanical in Europe. The disadvantage and those and others is that switching is stepped, and the engine capacity is not perfectly used.

 

Meanwhile, for more than 100 years ago, the car experienced a fundamentally different design of the torque transmission device. The idea is extremely simple: leading and slave shafts are connected by a belt. The trees are conical, the peaks of the cones are directed in opposite sides. When the belt is moving along the shafts, the transfer ratio changes smoothly. Practical application This idea did not find up to the 80s, while Van Doorn, with Fiat, could not create a working transmission design with a smooth transmission of torque - CVT (CONTINUUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION).

 

Such a transmission applied to the Subaru Justy 4WD 1.2 S II car. The creators have added the word electro - ECVT to its name, since it uses electromagnetic clutches. In transmissions 2 pulley - the lead and slave, each of which is rigidly fixed on its shaft. The pulleys are connected by a belt, and their side parts are made movable. When the sidewalls are shifted, the belt is squeezed up, on a larger diameter, when they are moving down - it goes down, smaller. The transfer ratio changes smoothly in a very wide range, which is almost 30% more than in a 5-speed mechanical gearbox.

 

The main secret of the transmission is in the design of the drive belt. It is 2 steel flexible guide tapes, between which several hundred parts of the trapezoidal shape are trapes, individually selected for each belt. The composition of the steel Van Doorn holds in the secret and the license for the belt does not sell.
 
 

 

A source: Magazine Motor [№1 / 1996]