• Space for four adults in comfort
• Average boot space
• Parking easy despite no sensors

How much space is there?

The Subaru is reasonably wide, so there’s ample interior space on offer, and it’ll easily transport four adults in relative comfort, but a fifth won’t be too happy about the transmission tunnel intruding into their legroom. The sloping roofline does limit headroom slightly for very tall passengers, though, and they also won’t be pleased by the hump in the headlining to accommodate the sunroof – it doesn’t limit headroom but curiously can block the view forward.

An armrest between the two rear seats features cupholders and there’s a further pair in the front, along with storage in all four doors. It’s worth noting here that the doors also open particularly wide, which makes getting in and out easier for the less mobile. 

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Boot space and storage

The boot of the XV is only five litres larger than the previous version, but it also has a wider opening to make loading items easier. At just 345 litres, though, it’s very limited in overall capacity – due to the positioning of the hybrid powertrain’s battery. You also lose the spare wheel due to the battery pack sitting in its place beneath the boot floor; with a tyre repair kit in place instead to preserve the space available.

By contrast, even a much smaller SUV such as the Volkswagen T-Cross offers 385 litres of space.

You get a 60:40-split rear seat for loading larger or longer items into the XV, but it’s a shame features such as a powered bootlid aren’t offered even as optional extras.

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Is it easy to park?

While the XV doesn’t have acoustic parking sensors on either of its trim levels, there’s a reversing camera to show what you’re about to hit.

We found it to be an easy car to park thanks to great driver visibility – not only are you perched quite high in the cabin but you’ve got a huge amount of glass around you, with relatively small pillars that don’t obstruct vision too badly. 

Safety

• XV scores highly for safety
• Impressive Eyesight driver assistance
• Much stronger shell than ever before

The Subaru XV is an impressively safe car that makes use of a suite of driver assistance technology that our testers rank among the best in the business. That statement is backed up by Euro NCAP, which awarded the XV five stars in its crash-testing regime. It has also won a number of awards worldwide for its safety credentials.

Two cameras mounted either side of the rear-view mirror are able to identify potential hazards – other vehicles, pedestrians and animals – and adjust the car’s behaviour accordingly. The following features are included:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Pre-collision braking
• Pre-collision throttle management – warns the driver if they put the car into Drive with an obstacle in front of it
• Lane sway and departure warning
• Lane-keep assist
• Lead vehicle start alert – tells the driver the vehicles in front have started moving

On top of all that, the XV has automatically dipping high-beam headlights with a cornering function, blindspot monitoring, lane-change assist and rear cross-traffic alert. You also get X-Mode, which adjusts the engine, transmission, all-wheel drive system and brakes for off-road driving, while hill-descent control is also standard-fit.

There are automatic headlights and wipers, two Isofix child seat mounting points and seven airbags installed around the cabin.