Subaru Vivio – Driving impression – From the old box

If you mainly want to be able to move around the city, you don’t need much. A roof over your head, an economical engine and preferably a little space to take some groceries with you. Over the years, numerous car manufacturers have tried to develop the car that could perfectly meet these wishes. It resulted in beloved and sometimes downright iconic little ones such as the Fiat 500, the primal Mini and the Renault Twingo. The Japanese could (and can) also do something about it and brought success numbers such as the Suzuki Alto and Daihatsu Cuore. The quirky Subaru contributed with the Mini Jumbo and presented us with its successor in 1992: the Vivio. He took it slightly different from the competitors, but managed to convince in his own way.

The Fiat Cinquecento and Renault Twingo were small by European standards, but in Japan they had Kei cars and they were even more compact. Subaru developed the Vivio according to Kei car rules that were adjusted in 1990, and with its length of almost 3.3 meters and width of just under 1.40 meters, it remained just within the limits. Furthermore, the engine was not allowed to have more than 660 cc stroke volume and the Vivio with its 658 cc remained neatly below that. The Vivio was therefore smaller and less well endowed than the cars it had to compete with here in Europe, but Subaru decided to give it a try.

Subaru Vivio.

AutoWeek was of course very curious how it drove, such a Vivio. After all, with the Mini Jumbo Subaru had shown that it had an answer to the competitors, on paper the Vivio would have a harder time in that regard. The first impression was anything but disappointing. That it would go fine in city traffic was no surprise, but even on the country roads the Vivio did not disappoint: “Just like the Mini Jumbo and its competitors, the Vivio also feels very at home on the country road. Of course you notice from the spring reactions and the steering behavior that you are not on the road with a large car, but it is still remarkable how mature such a small box comes across.”

The smaller engine then? Well, in any case, it was not a step back from the Mini Jumbo: “The already not large four-cylinder has become exactly 100 cc smaller and now measures 658 cc. But that is certainly not a loss, because thanks to a higher compression ratio and modern engine management with multipoint injection, the power has even increased by a few horsepower. Despite a slightly higher weight, the performance of the Vivio is therefore roughly on the level of its predecessor, while fuel consumption is even slightly better.” However, it should be noted that it is better to ignore the CVT to keep the pace acceptable. The four-wheel drive version was indeed unique in that class, but it was also better to leave it for the same reason, especially because of the considerably higher price.

Subaru Vivio.

Finally, it was time to take a closer look at the interior of the Vivio. In that area, we also found the Vivio an improvement over the Mini Jumbo. In fact, the Vivio did very well for its segment: “Although the interior and the dashboard have been kept fairly sober, not a piece of painted metal is visible anywhere and as a driver you have enough freedom of movement to occasionally take a look during longer journeys. to move on the not too lavishly upholstered chair.” The overall impression of the interior was ‘modest but mature’. In conclusion, we found the Subaru Vivio to be a very successful attempt by Subaru to take a bigger slice of the city car pie with this. Nevertheless, in the years that followed, the Vivio failed to match, let alone surpass, the success of the Mini Jumbo. The first full sales year, 1993, was also the best year for the Vivio with 1,658 units. In the barely nine years that Subaru sold it here, the counter eventually reached 7,465 units. This would make the Vivio pale between the Renault Twingo, Fiat Cinquecento and compatriot Suzuki Alto.