Subaru Liberty Exiga Review
November 3, 2009 by Alborz Fallah
The new Subaru Liberty Exiga (pronounced x-e-ga in Australia) has made its way to our shores and is on sale now from a starting price of just $37,490. Subaru’s first people mover has a lot to offer with an impressive feature list the kids would be proud of.
Referred to as the Exiga in Japan, Australia buyers are the first outside the homeland to have the opportunity to taste Subaru’s latest offering. Although the Exiga is a seven-seater in its domestic market, Australian requirements for a five-star safety rating meant the seventh seat could not get away with simply a lap-belt, which is how it’s configured, so Subaru Australia decided to import the car as a six-seater and maintain its five-star reputation.
As a people mover the Exiga is a brilliant car, it will happily seat a family of six in comfort and entertain the kids with its rear DVD entertainment system (nine-inch wide screen setup comes standard). For the first look of the Exiga Subaru took Australia’s motoring press to Canberra for a long journey through rural NSW.
Before getting into one, the most notable feature of the Exiga is of course its styling. It’s hard to say how it will go down with the buyers but it’s worth noting that despite the current Liberty, Outback and Impreza being regarded by some as not-the-prettiest-of-cars, all three models are selling better than ever.
According to Subaru Australia boss Nick Senior, Subaru is not just another Japanese car company, a reason why the Fuju Heavy Industry owned manufacturer has stuck with its boxer engines and symmetrical all-wheel drive, it may also explain the different approach to styling we’ve seen from the company recently.
The 2+2+2 seat configuration may look impractical at first and if you’ve been burnt by useless third rows found in some other cars, you’d be glad to know the Exiga’s third row is not a compromise, rather an actual usable row that can even house adults.
Thanks to 60/40 split fold second row seats and 50/50 split fold third row seats, a range of passenger and cargo carrying options are available. As the second row seats are separate you can easily slide your seat up to 320mm independently of the adjacent seat. Rear doors also open nearly 90 degrees making entry to both second and third row a very simple task.
A storage tray between the seats is offered instead of a third seat in the second row, during our drive program my co-driver and I found the storage tray to be making its share of unnecessary noise on bumpy roads, once stored away the level of internal squeaks is practically non-existent.
Based on the Liberty platform, the Exiga is 125mm higher than the Liberty wagon which means 40mm more headroom as well.
Subaru believes Exiga buyers will fall into three categories; those looking for a second car that offers more versatility for the family on the weekends, traditional Subaru buyers with an expanding family but keen to stay with the brand and those who may not have considered Subaru in the past. Nick Senior believes the Exiga will give the brand more opportunity to retain current buyers who may have had to look elsewhere for lack of choice.
The Exiga is powered by the same 2.5-litre SOHC normally aspirated boxer engine found in the Liberty range. It offers 123kW and 229Nm of torque. For a car which weighs nearly 1,600kg (tare weight) it may not seem like a lot but it does get the job done. In Japan a turbo-charged version of the Exiga is also available but you may be waiting indefinitely for it to come here.
Coupled to the engine is Subaru’s new Lineartronic CVT transmission first introduced in the Liberty range. To put it into a brief sentence, it only has one gear which adjusts with engine speed, however it has been designed to act and behave much like a conventional automatic. The difference is better fuel economy and drivability. You can read more about the new transmission in the Subaru Liberty Review.
Official fuel economy figures rate the Exiga at 8.6L/100km of 90-98 RON fuel and with a 65L tank you should expect around 750km per tank. Although real world driving may bring that figure to around the 700km mark, which is still a commendable feat.
Driving dynamics are typical Subaru, doesn’t seem to matter what surface you’re on, it grips, powers out of corners, never complains and simply gets the job done in a way only an All-Wheel drive can.
Perhaps here then is Subaru’s greatest strength with the Exiga (and arguably all other models as well). Given how high safety is on the priority list for a people mover, Subaru has it one over the competition thanks to its all-wheel drive system which delivers power to all four wheels, unlike the competition which is primarily driven via the front wheels.
Helped along with Australian specific suspension setup, what all-wheel drive means in real-world terms is no torque steer, much better grip in corners, safer driving dynamics on wet surfaces and an overall greater feel of confidence. The only downside to the Exiga is its aerodynamics, given how high the car sits, it does have a tendency to catch a lot of wind and feel slightly floaty at high speeds.
Exiga safety is typical Subaru, five-star ANCAP rated, with six airbags standard. Servicing is conducted every 12,500km or six months.
There are two variants of the Exiga, the Exiga 2.5i ($37,490) and Exiga Premium ($41,990). The extra $4,500 will get you leather trim, power driver and front passenger seats, bluetooth enabled with voice recognition, reversing camera, satellite navigation and 17-inch alloy wheels. Subaru believes 60 per cent of buyers will opt out for the Premium variant.
With the new Exiga Subaru can now offer buyers everything from the Impreza to the Tribeca and most things in between. The Japanese company expects to sell around 50-75 Exiga units per month.
CarAdvice will bring you a complete road test of the Subaru Liberty Exiga in the near future.
Liberty Exiga model specifications at a glance:
Safety
- ABS anti-lock brakes with four-wheel discs and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
- Brake Assist
- Child seat anchor points
- Curtain airbags
- Dual front airbags
- Dual front side airbags
- Fog lights – front
- Front seatbelts with pretensioners and load limiters. Double pretensioners on driver’s seatbelt
- Rear door child lock
- Side intrusion bars
- Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive
- Vehicle Dynamics Control electronic stability program
Interior
- Climate control dual zone air conditioning
- Cargo area light
- Cup holders
- DVD entertainment system
- Height and reach adjustable steering column
- Height adjustable driver’s seat
- Immobiliser security system
- Lineartronic CVT transmission
- Map lights (2)
- Leather steering wheel with audio and cruise control buttons
- Multi-function trip computer
- Paddle shift gear change
- Power steering, mirrors and windows
- Rear illumination LED instrument display
- Rear seats recline function
- Remote central locking
- Remote fuel lid release
- Six-stacker in-dash CD player with six speakers (non SatNav models)
- Steering wheel audio controls
- Two remote central locking keys
- Vanity mirror
- 60/40 split/fold second row seat; 50/50 split/fold third row
Exterior
- 16-inch alloy wheels – space saver spare
- Chrome-surround grille
- Colour-coded mirrors and door handles
- Headlights auto off
- Privacy glass (rear)
- Rear roof spoiler
- Rear wiper
Other features
- DataDot security technology
- Electronic throttle control
- Auto unlock tailgate
- Three-year unlimited kilometre warranty
- 2.5 litre SOHC horizontally opposed boxer engine – 123 Kilowatts of power at 5600 rpm and 229 Newtonmetres of torque at 4000 rpm.
Liberty Exiga Premium adds:
- Leather trim
- Power driver and front passenger seats – eight-way adjustable
- Bluetooth enabled with voice recognition
- Reversing camera
- Satellite navigation** – factory fitted
- 17-inch alloy wheels – space saver spare
** (Fitment of SatNav replaces six-stack with single disc CD)
MY10 Liberty Exiga Manufacturer’s List Pricing*
- Liberty Exiga 2.5i (from $37,490)
- Liberty Exiga 2.5i Premium (from $41,990)
| MY10 Liberty Exiga engine specifications | |
| Type Cylinders Displacement Bore x stroke Compression ratio Cam-train system Fuel system Maximum power Maximum torque | Horizontally opposed
Four 2457 cc 99.5 mm x 79.0 mm 10.0 SOHC Multi Point Sequential Injection 123 kW/5600 rpm 229 Nm/4000 rpm |
| Liberty Exiga dimensions | |
| Overall length mm | 4740 |
| Overall width mm | 1775 |
| Overall height mm | 1660 |
| Wheelbase mm | 2750 |
| Tread – front mm | 1525 |
| Tread – rear mm | 1530 |
| Min. ground clearance mm | 150 |
| Tare weight kg | 2.5i – 1562
2.5i Premium – 1568 |
| Fuel consumption and emissions (L/100km / CO2 g/km): Combined | 8.6/202 |
| Fuel tank capacity (litres) | 65 |
| Recommended fuel requirement | 90-98 RON |
| Steering | Engine speed sensitive power assisted rack and pinion |
| Turning circle | 11.0 metres, kerb to kerb diameter |
| Suspension: Front Rear | Coil MacPherson strut-type
Double wishbone type independent |
| Brakes Front Rear | Vacuum assisted ventilated discs
Vacuum assisted discs |
| Tyres/rim | Liberty Exiga – 16×6 1/2JJ 205/60R16 Bridgestone
Liberty Exiga Premium 17×7JJ 215/50R17 Yokohama |
| Towing capacity kg: With/without brakes | 1400 750 |
Print it: 
good value, well specced, well laid out car for a family of 3 or 4 kids..with good safety, fuel economy, reliability, handling..
My God, it looks HORRID! It belongs in 1989 not 2009…
Certainly is a unique looking vehicle. It is good to see a people mover which isn’t the size of a small bus for once I must admit. AWD and boxer engine is a pretty good point of difference from the rest of the competition too. I think I’d buy and Odyssey over this though.
I can never understand why AWD systems add so much desirability to a car in Australia. In a country locked in drought, and a market where most cars are now offered with ESP as standard the extra expense can’t really be justified. Now if I lived in Europe and I had snow to deal with for 3 months of the year i’d probably take a different view.
looks better in person than in photos, and is cheaper and better specced and has awd over the odyssey!! people movers are not really designed to win beuaty awards anyway they are a functional family device!
I would gladly trade the DVD entertainment unit for the 7th center seat + a 3pointed seat belt…
Oddsey, Tarago, Corolla, Yaris, Mazda 2, and countless other cars in the Japanese market have center 2 pointed seat belt… and all they do is just to add 3pointed ones afterward for overseas market…
WHY can’t Subaru a big car manufacture do the same?? Even Protons managed with their Satria thing…
Agreed Jon, I would consider looking past the funny looks if it had 3 seats in the middle row.
I agree.
I want 7 seats with the option to remove the centre or either of the rear seats.
On top of that, how about a diesel option?
Just one question – WHY? Predict that model life will be 2 years tops.
Well its back to the future 1980’s style , what is the point of this car , reminds me of a rexton .
What is happening in subaru , i loved the look of the superceded models , smooth style, if a little plastic inside .
New liberty ugly , outback no ruggedness ,looks too much like a city car , and now this a van .
I’d take an odyssey over this. Inside and out, Odyssey beats it for style and quality imo.
I’m gobsmacked at the attitude of Subaru Australia.
They don’t want to compromise on “5 star safety across the range”.
Rather than bother with getting the engineering done to put a 3 point harness in the middle – what the hey, let’s just rip the seat out!
That isn’t clever, it’s lazy and will rightly cost them sales.
-1 for Subaru Oz.
Simon, Subaru Australia is little more than an importer. Not only do they not have the resources to re-engineer the middle seat restraint, the volume of potential sales would never justify it.
In actual fact being a 6 seater actually puts it in a unique marketing poition which will be quite positive.
I hear you DE but am not convinced. Anyway, time will tell how successful this is.
My god that is ugly
Looks like a Stagea, i like it. Second best people mover ive ever seen, and it’s cooler than an Odyssey so it puts it to number one on my list.
Now wheres that turbo…
P.S. why do you NEED that extra one seat?
P.S.S. You people keep asking why?… what a stupid question. Why do any manufacturers come out with any new cars that are at all different from the other ones?….
its as gumby looking as every other subaru.
it looks awkward and retarded?
extra seat needed as this is a PEOPLE MOVER. more seats…… u know….
and u think this is cooler than an odyssey…. seriously?
Looks good on the inside. I with most here, should have made the 2nd row 3 seats.
Why could they not based this on an extended Outback platform? The Outback looks good.
Ugly as a hatful…With a gutless 2.5 litre they probably didn’t go with the 7th seat as it would have the speed of a barge fully loaded!
Anyway probably being a little harsh, after all it’s just another utilitarian people mover.
Slot in the 3.6L 6 cylinder boxer in and I’ll seriously consider it…
As far as I can see, you’d be mad to buy one of these over a C4 Picasso. For a start, the Citroen has proved itself reliable. I buy a lot of car magazines and many of them have done long term tests on the C4 Picasso. I think only one of them had a problem and it was something like a broken switch on the dashboard. It was fixed quickly within warranty, so no problems. The C4 gets good user reviews too.
Add in the fact that you can get a nice strong diesel engine, an extra seat, a nicer looking interior, a much better looking and much classier exterior and some quirks to keep you interested and you’ve got an excellent family car. It doesn’t really cost any more either. The only plusses I can see with the Exiga is the AWD system, but the pros of the Citroen far out-do the pros of the Subaru.
You’d have to really want that AWD system and really hate French cars.
But Alex it will still be a Citroen regardless how you talk it up, and in Aus that could be social suicide – even you Mum wouldn’t talk to you. Now if it was just the Mother-in-law then maybe the Citroen might just have a case.
What? Why would having a Citroen be social suicide? They’re hardly embarrassing and they look excellent. They’re much better than many things that do well here (such as Subarus), so why would they have a bad image?
Because its a citroen Alex. There reputation in Aust is of being weird,
querky,with poor resale value and well…..it’s French
No opinions on the Interior CarAdvice? What did you think of the qualify and finish of the interior dash etc. looks like a cross betweeen the liberty an Impreza parts
Nice specs and interior, but it’s a shame that it only has 6 seats – Subaru you have just lost one customer.
I will go for a Peugeot 308 wagon than the Exiga which I had very high expectation of when I first heard of the car at the start of the year with the spec it has.
My opinion will be that 7-seater will be a better option than going with a 6-seater. I agree with some of the people here that Subaru is really slack in bringing this 6-seater in now. My thought is that they want to bring the car in to suck the first lot of buyers in to buy the car (not sure 50-75 is a big ask or not), and then a year or so later when they could finally bring the 7-seater to Oz, then all the people who bought the 6-seater will feel they simply got cheated which they could of bought a 7-seater instead, and the 2nd hand market on such ridiculous 6-seater will be pretty low valued.
What is the real use to buy a car with +1 seat more than a Liberty (then again Liberty look sucks, and all recent Subaru designs). For buyers who are buying the brand then, may as well buy Liberty with just standard 5 seats.
Come’on Subaru, you are not aiming the niche market like BMW do with their X6 series. You are aiming at small to medium family that wanted a 7-seater that is alot slimmer.
Subaru Oz, you lost me too who are after a 7-seater.
For guy’s down on the missing 7th seat, there’s gotta be an aftermarket possibility to redo the middle seat right? A workmate was able to add extra seatbelts legally to an old toyota camry, why not for the exiga as well? (granted you need to find a way to pad the base of the middle seat).
Any experts in the industry know if the aftermarket option is possible?
In order to legally add seat belts, you have to go though federal government as the metal plate issued by the Vehicles importers/manufacturer under the motor vehicle standard act 1989 (or whatever its called)inside the engine bay with the VIN no. clearly stats the No. of seats on the car.
Therefore you must get some sort of workshop or some one who can reissue another plate on behalf of the Government.
If you have an accident and have more passenger then the plate allows, your insurance company will not pay out, and you will be in deep trouble.
How did they get away with using a ripoff of Lotus’s model name?
There’s so much overlap anyway, especially with the brands which use letters and numbers. There’s probably not going to be much, if any confusion between the Lotus Exige and Subaru Liberty Exiga. If this was the name of the new Subaru sportscar, it might be different.
Exiga sounds like a very useful car…price is reasonable. It won’t be that bad for a family car.
For a 5 person family its useless, as you would put the third child in the 3rd row and lose half your luggage space. It may suit 4 person families though who need the occasional extra 2 seats.
We have current model Honda Odyssey and very happy (only downside is anchor points in ceiling for middle row child seats).
When we saw Exiga at the Melbourne motor show before buying Odyssey, seriously considered buying instead of Odyssey – AWD and Subaru safety reputation, however once it was announced it would only be imported to Aust as a 6 seater, bought the Odyssey.
Why does Subaru continue to make ugly big cars, I wish they would revisit a FORESTER similar to 2000 version but perhaps 70-100mm wider, not higher.