Subaru Liberty GT 2006 Review

7-day Test

For many patched-on Subaru owners, the current Liberty range has not changed enough in feel or looks over three generations since the first Liberty RX 2.5 arrived in 1996. The old style boot hinges, lack of fold down back seat, conservative cabin layout and general profile are all starting to look a little too familiar. Drive the new GT around the block, and apart from the improved low-speed ride, you could very easily hand back the keys and wonder what all the fuss was about considering the big ask of $60,000 on the road.

After the first four days of this test, I could easily have handed back the Liberty GT and written: "Offers only incremental changes over a 2001 Liberty RX that I once drove daily. It even has the same low speed power steering pulsing and bland engine note at low revs. The tyres don't twang as much as they used to when falling into a pot hole. The same driving experience and appointments are on offer with a good used MY02 Liberty Heritage for around $20,000."

I have known several potential buyers who have come to that conclusion. For them, the Liberty GT is a total waste of money and so be it. But if you are prepared to sneak out of bed at 3am as I did on the fifth day and go for a long hard drive on your own when the roads are deserted, you will be breaking open the kid's piggy banks on your return to find the pennies to get into one. This is one amazing machine when you poke it in the eye.

The secret is SI-Drive or Subaru Intelligent Drive. The fact that Subaru calls the least powerful, most frugal mode "Intelligent" tells you it is aiming at those drivers who take their caps off before they get behind the wheel yet still have a closet twitch in the right foot. This save the planet geek focus dominates the presentation when I lost track of the number of gauges and facilities to monitor fuel consumption. In a performance car?

As you move it out of Intelligent into Sport or Sport# (as in musical Sport Sharp), the inference is that you are leaving an "Intelligent" world of documentaries and restraint and entering a primal plain wrapper X-rated world. The Liberty GT is one of the few devices outside science fiction where a simple twist of a knob will take you into a slightly demented dimension. By altering engine, throttle and transmission characteristics, you enter a hyper plane that bumps power and torque from 148kW/275Nm to 184kW/339Nm. The S mode delivers this extra grunt with vanilla custard, the S# mode delivers it with hot chillis, a blood curdling roar and abrupt gear shifts that force you to do it better each time.  You can shortcut your way straight into Sport Sharp by an override button on the steering wheel.

It's not new of course. The concept was introduced with the wild Corvette ZR-1 which had a lockable "valet" mode that allowed the driver to shut down its prodigious performance for those who wouldn't respect it. Pontiac had an earlier version which allowed you to lock out the lower gears in the auto. I have lost track of the number of friends and acquaintances left with valuable high performance cars damaged or written-off by well-meaning third parties who promised not to thrash them.

If SI-Drive allowed the driver to bar access to both "Sport" modes from other drivers, it would qualify as one of the year's best safety features when this car in "Intelligent" mode could be used safely by any member of the family. In S# mode, not only does the Liberty GT turn ballistic, it does so with such little drama that even experienced drivers need to be wary. Its normally docile nature hides a vicious bite that is so sharp that you could easily miss it as it ripped your arm off with surgical precision. Without such a lock-out function, SI-Drive would normally fall into the useless gimmick category except it does make the Liberty GT much less demanding to drive when commuting and it slashes fuel consumption by up to 2 litres/100km each time you slot back from Sport# to Sport to Intelligent. In "Intelligent" mode, the Liberty GT is quite capable of matching the fuel economy of your normal cooking Liberty sedan which is staggering given the performance on offer.

That it works superbly as a commuter is quickly and easily established yet is it satisfying enough to qualify as an enthusiast's car? The short answer is a heavily qualified yes and only if you go looking for it. In tight, mountainous conditions, you can't escape the fact that the engine hangs forward of the front axle and there is not enough grunt going to the rear axle to point then squirt it out of a tight corner. The neatest way of tackling tight corners is to take the load off the front wheels at the last instant, steer around the corner then boot the engine back onto boost on the way out. There is no tyre squeal and it's all very dignified but with the steering feeling like an elastic band and with little or no throttle adjustability, it's just a bit bland.

Wind it up on the open road through long sweepers and this car will blow you away. A little tardy off the mark, its mid-range performance is awesome and there is enough to bring the tail around in a decreasing radius curve for a delightfully neutral stance while you are pouring on the coals for a slingshot exit.

The exit speeds that this neutral cornering stance allows are staggering and very, very safe. It's just as well that the brakes are up to the mark when the ground between corners is covered so quickly.  It is at this point that you realise that the self-levelling bi-Xenon headlights are as good or better than daylight on both low and high beam, unlike some Japanese rivals that provide Xenon light on low beam then switch back to normal globes on high beam. It has been too long since you could trust Subaru headlights at night on a performance model.

It is a pity then that Subaru can't access Delphi's Magneride adjustable shock absorbers as fitted to local HSV models when the shocks that provide such a good ride at city speeds can be caught out at high speeds. Subaru has been clever in the way it provides a softer and smoother automatic Liberty GT and a harder-edged Spec B manual. It is a range that HSV could well adopt and better with its GTS range when it has the adjustable suspension to complete the transition.

The test car came as the SatNav model which brings a multi-function touch screen and a neat twin trip computer which I found myself using all the time. At almost $2500 extra, you would really need the sat-nav function to justify it but the high-mounted screen is ideally placed for quick reference and easy driver input. The only drawback is that the high screen location forces the dash vents so far across that you can't avoid freezing or cooking your left hand while steering.

The automatic features a centre sequential shift and paddle shifts that look like two viking horns surrounding the steering wheel. Backed with soft rubber grips, they are outstanding and make a nonsense of the conflicting operating direction of just about every sequential shift that has come our way lately. Their only shortfall is at night when you are forced to make a choice between shifting gear or dipping the blinding headlights when the upshift paddle competes for the same attention and action from your right hand as low beam.

The finish throughout the car is admirable but you would need to be a serious Subaru fan to decipher the GT styling tweaks when there are no badges. I liked the twin monster exhausts, rear bumper slots, chrome grille and bonnet scoop but overall it was too subtle for a model that costs almost double the standard Liberty's entry fee.

Although the boot lid operation is showing its age, it's beautfully trimmed and the hinges are shielded from the luggage. Also neat is a little joey pouch velcroed to the rear seat back inside the boot containing oil for top-ups. At last, a manufacturer that acknowleges that some high performance engines do need extra oil between today's extremely long service intervals.  Save yourself a bundle by buying the recommended oil in large containers and decanting it into the bottle supplied as you need it.

A full-size spare is supplied. As Subaru is inclined to do, the alloy rim is jam-packed with a foam liner containing tools and other bits and pieces.

For the record, in Sport Sharp mode with the engine absolutely screaming and the auto transmission's manual mode pushed to the max, fuel consumption increased to 16.4 litres/100km. A small penalty for such fun!  In the softer Sport mode, this could be pulled back to 12.6 litres/100km while still accessing full power but not so brutally. Tooling around town in Intelligent mode delivered a best of 9.6litres/100km.

That sums up the Subaru Liberty GT: a surprisingly competent triathlete. It is just a pity that Subaru insists on covering it with a grey overcoat when it is not strutting its stuff. You could own this car for a long time and still miss what it has to offer.