Subaru Stella test drive since 2006 hatchback

Test drive a/m Subaru Stella Custom RS

Technical characteristics of the car Subaru Stella Custom RS:
Length 3395 mm x width 1475 mm x height 1645 mm.
Wheel base: 2360 mm.
Machine weight: 890 kg.
Drive: on the front wheels
Engine: a working volume of 0.66 liters, a 4-cylinder with a vertically in order of cylinders, two distribution shafts and a 16-valve gas distribution mechanism, forced intake of the Super Charger type with an intermediate air cooler, developed power 47 KW (64 hp) at 6000 rpm, the largest torque 93 NM (9.5 kg/m) at 4000 rpm.
Transmission: West variator
The price of a new car: 1 million 396.5 thousand yen. (~ 13,000 $ US)
 
Without a high body, a micro -lining is impossible now.
Recently, the demand for micro -liths cars, no matter what happens there, has been kept at a very high level. Moreover, a year does not pass so that the new sales leader does not light up in the market. Do you know how many micro -lighting machines were sold throughout Japan last year? 1 million 950 thousand units! What is the secret of such a stable interest in citizens in the machine systems? Well, firstly, this interest has a very serious economic background in the form of tax benefits and the most favorable insurance conditions. But only this cannot be explained! No less important, as it seems to me, was that micro -listers have become more practical, and, also important, more speedy. And here, each company that produces such cars is not striving for universality, but, on the contrary, for strict specialization of its cars. The rule here is quite simple: if you managed to make a successful Micro class machine, do not make it suitable for all occasions. It will be better if one two special versions appear on the same platform. Let them buy what they like! It is interesting to note that at present practically no one dares to say that the micro -lighting machine should be the cheaper, the better. You just look: sometimes for a micro -lunch machine the most expensive configuration is asked as much as for a car higher for the car (that is, compact class), and even more. And nothing - they take, and how!
Recently, a new fashion has arisen in the micro -litrae market, all rushed to buy cars that have the shape of a high station wagon. I will call only some of these models: Suzuki Wagon R, Daihatsu Move and Daihatsu Tanto, Honda Life and Honda Zest. The Subaru engineers tried not to believe this universal hobby, they released at their own peril and risk a good, in general, Subaru R1 car, which has a pronounced personality. And what? It ended in a failure, they do not want to take it, and that's it! And what is interesting: I ask my acquaintances of journalists all unanimously say that this car is just a class, and a mass buyer, however, is zero attention.
However, the buyer is always right. Subaru, meanwhile, conducted marketing studies, the result of which irrefutably confirmed that in order for their micro -lighting brainchild to be in demand, it must sharply improve its consumer qualities. That is, to become more convenient and practical. And how can this be achieved from micro -lines, except by increasing its height so that the roof of the cabin is higher? So the new Subaru Stella model appeared on the market, the growth of which was as much as 1645 mm. I said whole, because with my, for example, 170 cm tall, this is still not so much. However, everything is known in comparison with competitors. And there the alignment is this: the unconditional king of the mini -Suzuki Wagon R. class has the same height, and, say, Zest or Move cars, and even lower than 1630 mm. As you can see, there is every reason to believe that the chances of the Subaru Stella car are good.
Subaru grace?
How would you convey my very first impression of acquaintance with the new Subaru family in a nutshell? Perhaps this: against the background of all that has recently been produced under the Subaru brand, this car, of course, does not look, but by ordinary standards the car is damn sweet! So, two key concepts are ordinary and cute. And in fact, because of the rhomboid front headlights, which are usually compared with the eyes, the gaze of this machine seems embarrassedly lowered down. A CUSTOM high car, moreover, has fog lights in front, which so much resemble dimples on the cheeks. And there are frivolous spheres that make the eyes even more expressive. No, a really attractive face!
It should be noted that on the day when the testing trip was scheduled, I was mistakenly at the place ahead of time for thirty minutes. So what! But I, being for some time alone, was able to stake behind me the car of the most popular, as it seems to me, configuration. So, I go to the hottest modification of Stella Custom RS, I sit inside and, affected, freeze for a moment. The organization of the driver’s place was made purely for men - I immediately think. Indeed, the front panel is similar to two aircraft wings, which are divorced on a smooth arc, then there and there the metal details of the cladding, right in front of the driver, the tachometer dial, which is divided into divisions up to promising 7,000 rpm. And it doesn’t matter that the front row seats are similar to the sofa, the main thing is that they hold the body in the right position quite firmly. It's just not a car, but a plane! Yes, yes, - involuntarily flashed in me, - Eco dismantled them!.
Okay, I take the transmission handle. By the way, it is a new development of a reinforced variator of the I CVT type, which, they say, has increased K.P.D. I rearrange the pen to position D, - and on the road, away from the car parking in front of the Odaiba Nikko Hotel hotel. At a fairly high speed, I describe the curve along the Yurikamome embankment. In this area, you can allow the engine to show yourself at all power. This engine has a working volume of 660 cubic meters. See, but, despite such a small cubic membrane, it can develop a power of up to 64 hp, and give out a torque of 9.4 kg/m. So the air intake that is visible on the hood is placed there for a reason, I now know that for sure. Super charger type turbocharger - that's what is the matter! Shiokaze Koen Park fly into two accounts, then - to the rise. The engine was quite vigorously added to gas and, as if inhaled fresh air. Having gained full speed, I go to the OEDOONSEN turn. I try to make a turn as energetically as possible, carefully following the behavior of the car. I feel that the clutch of the wheels with the road to the limit, but at the same time, the steering wheel tightly controls the work of the front suspension. Therefore, despite all the tension of the situation, to say that at that moment I was restless, it means to lie. Of course, a micro -lunch car has certain constructive restrictions, who argues. But even these restrictions did not prevent Subaru engineers from making a pretty decent, one might say, worthy car. Otherwise, it would not have a subaru!
The STELLA LX model is cheaper.
And here is another car standing in the Subaru Stella lineup Stella LX, which, for certain reasons (that is, low price), promises to become the most massive. On it I also made a trial race. For this purpose, I was provided with a car, the body of which was painted in pale coral color, and the interior of the salon had a dim whitishly beige coloring. If you evaluate the car in a nutshell, then it seemed to me too much, so to speak, sugary, although on the other hand, we are all so educated that pale shades are associated with a high category of machine, right? For this reason, I think the car will be quite favorably accepted by adults, experienced drivers who can completely digest this sugar. Inside the cabin, my attention was primarily attracted by the front panel, which does not look at all like in the Custom RS salon. The fact is that it is made of matte plastic, the surface of which is treated with a embossed method. Seats and door armrests are trimmed with material carefully selected in color. This creates an attractive atmosphere in the salon in its own way. In fact, not an absurd claim to a kind of luxury, which sometimes leads to a clumsy result in a micro -luxury, and increased attention to the materials used, which, although they themselves have no high price, but, being carefully selected, give the impression of a decent cheapness.
At some point, the route of the trial race led me to the ascent, which goes to the rainbow bridge (Rainbow Bridge). On this rise, I decided to truly test the engine, the power of which, as you know, does not exceed 54 hp. As a result, I found out that this power in such conditions is clearly not enough. Of course, I compare with how Custom RS was acting on the same rise before. By the way, the work of brakes in the first and second car also had its own characteristics. In particular, the RS car brake grabs the wheels at once, while in the Stella LX car the same operation is slightly softer, which is why I even shook my heart several times.
But, I repeat, all these impressions are comparative, since it turned out that I was driving Stella LX immediately after I made a race on the RS car, which is designed to drive more active, and therefore seems more convenient to drive. I believe that in order to make an objective assessment of a new machine, some time before that you can’t get behind the wheel at all. And even more so, you should not jump from one car to another at once! My colleagues have repeatedly warned me about this, I myself understand it very well

Who is the last, and the winnings.
We have long been accustomed to the fact that if a new model of the Subaru brand appears, then there are reasons for that, so to speak, of a technological nature. So, - we habitually believe, - Subaru engineers have something to say again. And suddenly, the Subaru machine should be easy to operate, it should be convenient and the like! Somehow unusual. However, the results of marketing research are stubborn, they had to take them into account. So, I repeat, a new Subaru STELLA micro -line model appeared on the market. The bet in it is made the former only for utilitarianism, that is, on consumer, and not for technical qualities. Want the evidence? Please, I can name a number of devices and devices that are provided in the new Subaru machine, and which have the goal of making the machine more convenient in practice. So, the rear seats can separately (separately the left and right parts) move along the cabin to a distance of up to 200 mm. As a result, the rear seat can be brought closer to the front so close that if in the back seat a child sitting in a children's chair, a driver (or rather, a driver), can reach him with his hands. Further, in the luggage compartment, due to the low -located body of the body, you can easily put in an upright position a children's car car car category B. This, in particular, suggests that the cargo capacity of the Stella trunk, frankly, is considerable. This is an undoubted plus, if we talk about the competitiveness of a new machine. But this plus, after all, it became possible after a comprehensive study of all the flaws that competitors made by releasing their cars were the first.
Undoubtedly, before releasing their new car, the designers seriously worked on the platform and the engine, which, as you know, were borrowed from the R1 / R2 lineup. This work was mainly reduced to the cost of cost, in order to ultimately make the car cheaper, and, therefore, more affordable. Is this profitable to the buyer? Undoubtedly! And the results, I must say, were not long in coming. Look, in the first week, the implementation of the new STELLA model car has already been accepted for more than 5,000 applications for the purchase, while for the entire vulgar month the number of all the sold micro -lines manufactured under the Subaru brand has hardly exceeded 8,000 units. Impressive, isn't it?
In terms of technical improvements, which, I repeat, is so rich in every new Subaru model, this car may seem very insignificant. But if you look closely, then some of the technique can be found here. For example, you only have to open the door, and its edge suddenly turns out to be marked with blue light. This is the LED so that the door that went beyond the dimensions of the car is a noticeable drivers moving in the same direction. Or take a newly developed transmission system I CVT. It provides a compact hydraulic pump, which is installed on the primary shaft and serves to optimize the speed of rotation of its revolutions. Due to this, the locking of the hydraulic fluid occurs at an earlier stage, which means that the machine consumes less fuel. In a word, the technical potential of Subaru, although not to such an extent, is involved here, just here, it just is not striking.
 
 
 
 

 
 

Source: CarView.co.jp