KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — When one refers to All Wheel Drive (AWD) for a vehicle, people tend to think that all of them are the same, i.e., drive is transferred to all four wheels (if the vehicle has four wheels) at all times.

That is not true at all – there are quite a few variations, and each manufacturer has its own justifications as to why they selected their particular system.

The most commonly used AWD system in use today is the ‘auto system’, which supposedly saves on fuel – in this system, most manufacturers channel the engine power to drive the front wheels whenever the vehicle is going in a straight line or near straight line – the argument is that you do not need the additional grip when you are going in a straight line.

Whenever the vehicle makes a turn, or goes into a corner, the difference between the left and right wheels (the inner wheels on a vehicle naturally turn less than the outer wheels in a corner) is sensed by wheel sensors (imagine little men who sit at each wheel counting the number of times the wheels are turning) that send signals to the transmission controller, which then responds by transferring drive to the rear axle as well, thus engaging both the front and rear wheels.

This drive split between the front and rear axle is through a ‘centre differential’ usually controlled electronically.

Some variations to this include additional features that allow users to pre-select the type of drive combination to have AWD all of the time, or part of the time, or even ‘lock’ all the wheels (for really muddy  situations).

Subaru, who have been making AWD vehicles for almost five decades now, firmly believe that all-wheel-drive vehicles are safer on account of all wheels having positive grip at all times, and almost all of their vehicles feature AWD, and their systems drive all four wheels at all times.

(The only vehicle in the Subaru stable that does not have AWD currently is the BRZ, which is a joint development with Toyota, the Toyota equivalent being the Toyota 86.)

Subaru actually uses four variations of AWD systems in its range of cars, all of them called Symmetrical All Wheel Drive, due to the equal length drive shafts for the left and right wheels on each axle. Subaru touts the Symmetrical AWD as they claim that due to the equal length drive shafts, there is no ‘torque steer’, which refers to the vehicle ‘pulling’ to one side under heavy acceleration.

Well, so much for the Symmetrical AWD system – let’s talk about the Subaru XV that was handed to me for a test review.

Making a comparison to its main competitor, the HR-V that seems to have taken the market by storm, the Subaru XV’s external dimensions are longer at 4,450mm (+156mm), slightly wider at 1,780mm (+08mm), a wee bit taller at 1,615mm (+05mm). Ground clearance for the Subaru XV is 220mm, which is a good 50mm more than the HR-V. Anyway, as a perspective, the VW Golf 7 has a wheelbase of 2,637mm.

The Subaru XV is fitted with a 2.0 litre aluminium boxer engine, which sits very low in the engine compartment, and keeps the centre of gravity low.

This engine is similar in build to the Subaru Imprezza, which should set motor-heads brains working overtime wondering if it is possible to ‘shoe horn’ a turbo unit into this SUV. Putting in a 2.5 litre is a distinct possibility after the warranty period expires. I liked the engine response of the XV. It pulls cleanly and smoothly form standstill.

Transmission is a CVT (Constantly Variable Transmission), which I suspect could be sourced from one of Toyota’s suppliers – the CVT feels decent enough, allowing some acceleration in each gear and thus lessening that ‘rubber band’ effect.

I am not particularly fond of CVT’s, but I could live with this one, which behaves very similar to that found in the Toyota Altis. In addition, there is a pair of paddle shifters for you to play with, if you so wish.

With its high ground clearance, the Subaru XV would be suited for those who spend a little more time off-road, and in these rougher conditions, the AWD system would be a boon. I did take the Xv off the beaten track for a short spell, and it works well.

The four-wheel independent suspension set-up contributes to the overall handling both off and on road. As an added bonus, a point often missed out by normal users, the air intake for the Subaru XV is located high up, just under the bonnet cover, which means you can get across flash floods with almost all of your wheels covered without worrying about water getting into your engine.

In terms of overall ride comfort, the XV rides on the firm side of comfortable, which is quite all right with me, and stabilizer bars on the front and rear ends help to keep roll to a minimum. In my opinion, the Subaru chassis engineers have done quite a wonderful job.

Fuel consumption is surprisingly decent – Normal road users can expect average fuel consumptions of between 8.0 to 10 litres per 100 kilometres. For my entire test drive, I got an average of 10.6 litres per 100 kilometres, and this included a stint of exuberant driving up and down the Karak highway between Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Tinggi.

The variant on test was the XV-P (Premium) variant, and this comes with a large array of features, which includes a power seat for the driver, LED Daytime Running Lights (DRL), tilt and telescopic adjustable steering wheel (a very useful feature), two airbags and an additional knee airbag, automatic air-conditioning, smart entry and push-button system, touch screen multi-function display, USB and Auxiliary Audio Input jack, bluetooth hands-free system, and Voice Command.

What I also found very useful and thoughtful was two power sockets.

Other safety features include Vehicle Dynamics Control System (read as Stability and Traction Control), 4-sensor ABS system, a rear view camera, and ISO-FIX child seat anchors.

There are, however, two items that are a little of a disappointing – firstly the spare tyre, although appreciated, takes up quite a bit of space at the rear,  and the fact that there is no rear blower for the air-conditioner.

However, the saving grace for goods stowage  is the 60/40 split rear seats that easily fold down to provide space for larger objects. Perhaps the facelift version might see a set of rear vents.

All things said, the Subaru Xv was a bit of a revelation for me — it doesn’t have heart-stopping acceleration and outright power, but it does its job.

With good handling and a great package, it makes a good bang-per-buck proposition at RM137,327.89 (price on-the road with insurance, P. Malaysia).