Subaru Liberty 2.5i Premium 2015 Review

The medium segment of the new car market might not represent exciting growth, but it has probably become more relevant with the approaching demise of the local (large) car industry.

Certainly there are some hopeful heavy hitters tasked with replacing the once-traditional family cars such as the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. Ford customers, for example, will be more or less expected to shift their gaze from the locally-built Falcon to the latest, well-credentialed Mondeo.

Despite its status in the new-car market, the medium segment has some classy contenders. Although Toyota reigns supreme with its Camry [Ed: at least in terms of sales], the competition is tough: Cars such as the Mazda 6, Volkswagen Passat, Hyundai i40, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima are not to be taken lightly.

And then there is the Subaru Liberty.

Now in its sixth generation, the medium-size Subaru has until recently been less a volume-sales competitor than an individualistic side-liner. In 2014, the Liberty barely registered a blip in full-year figures, its 1041 sales well below the Holden Malibu, Hyundai i40, Honda Accord, or even the Czech-made Skoda Octavia.

But with a major pricing restructure, and some impressive standard gear, the Liberty is doing a lot better in 2015. At the late-2014 launch of the new model, Subaru boss Nick Senior said that the company expected to sell about 150 Libertys a month – well up on the closing days of its predecessor.

So far, the local Subaru team has comfortably exceeded those predictions. At the end of April 2015, it had recorded a year-to-date sales figure of 1339 cars, elevating it to third in its segment position behind the Toyota Camry and the Mazda 6.

The added appeal of the new Liberty, plus a pricing strategy that sees some models 25 per cent cheaper than the outgoing model, seems to be working a treat.

And looking at the Premium version of the 2.5-litre four-cylinder Liberty, which is tagged at $35,490 (plus ORCs), there appears to be no reason why it shouldn't be kicking the odd goal.

It sits comfortably among its peers in terms of pricing, size and packaging, and is claimed to be among the most fuel efficient (more on that later) and environmentally cleanest.

And not only does it offer a traditional Subaru break from convention with its 2.5-litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine – it is the only car in its segment with constant all-wheel drive.

Even though the tactile and audible differences have been steadily ironed out of the Subaru's intrinsic character over the years, there are still some bragging rights available to Liberty owners. Certainly the new Liberty presents a new sense of refinement, as well as some impressive safety tech that is standard across all three variants.

At the top of the list is Subaru's EyeSight crash avoidance system that steps in to avoid nose-to-tail collisions and works in harmony with radar cruise control, brake-light recognition and lane-departure warning.

The Liberty has shifted up a gear in terms of quality and refinement too – particularly inside where soft-touch surfaces abound and there is plenty of standard equipment to keep passengers entertained and happy.

The front seats are cushy and well-shaped – although the rear bench is less so – and there is plenty of legroom and (despite the Premium-spec test car's standard sunroof) headroom in the back. One steps into the Liberty with a sense of space, quality and luxury that feels more than skin deep.

Passengers get to stretch out on leather seats, while rear centre vents assist hot-day comfort. There's also rear privacy glass, plus a decent six-speaker sound system to fill the cabin with plenty of audio stimulation.

The driver verges on being spoiled with heated, eight-way power seats (with electric lumbar support and dual memory on the driver's side), push-button start, electric parking brake, dual-zone climate control, auto headlights, a reversing camera, folding and heated side mirrors and a 7.0-inch touchscreen system that incorporates sat-nav and voice control.

All this is backed up on the road via the Liberty's competent, all-wheel drive handling and the CVT-assisted response of the 129kW/235Nm four-cylinder engine.

So subdued is the beat of the powerplant, and so smooth the transmission of power via the CVT that it's not always apparent that four cylinders, rather than six (as in the 3.6 R version of the Liberty) are at work under the bonnet.

The transmission is designed to mimic, to a certain extent, a conventional auto with noticeable steps as it moves upwards through the ratios. For the most part, it avoids the steady, high-rpm racket that once characterised most CVTs when under duress.

The Liberty therefore feels more responsive on the road than its official acceleration figures suggest (9.6sec from zero to 100km/h, which puts it among the slowest in its class).

The constant AWD obviously plays a part dulling the performance, and impacting fuel economy. Our fuel consumption figures averaged out to 9.0L/100km during a week of driving – well above the official 7.3L/100km claim – and a bit at odds with Subaru's claim of a 7.6 per cent improvement over the previous 2.5-litre model.

The steering felt in our test car as if it lacked a little sharpness, although it was relatively high geared (2.75 turns from lock to lock) and responsive enough to engender an overall feeling of competence. The Liberty is no WRX, but it feels solid and secure on the road – particularly in the wet – with no vices to be wary of.

The ride, appropriately for the Premium-spec Liberty, is smooth and quiet and there is little noise creeping into the cabin from other sources (wind rustle for example).

Downsides?

Well, apart from the disappointing fuel consumption, we found the Liberty's LED headlights are good enough on low-beam, but fade into a yellowish insignificance once the halogen high-beam is selected. And, even on this Premium version of the Liberty, there's no self-dipping internal rear-view mirror.

Otherwise the Liberty impresses with its levels of quality, standard equipment, safety credentials and all-round passenger space that defies any conception that the so-called medium-class car is a step below the once-supreme traditional full-size "family" sedan. At 493 litres, the Subaru's boot is nearly 30 litres bigger than the current Ford Falcon.

In a segment where just about all contenders seem to be aspiring towards a premium image, the Subaru Liberty is more credentialed than most.