Subaru Alcyone SVX
Encyclopedia
The Subaru Alcyone SVX, also known outside of its home market Japan as the Subaru SVX, is a two-door grand tourer
Grand tourer
A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....

 coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...

 that was sold by Subaru
Subaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...

, the automobile manufacturing division
Automaker
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

 of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese transportation conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

 Fuji Heavy Industries
Fuji Heavy Industries
, or FHI, is a Japanese transportation conglomerate most known for being the manufacturer of Subaru automobiles. It traces its roots to the Nakajima Aircraft Company, a leading supplier of airplanes to the Japanese government during World War II...

 (FHI). Produced from 1991 to 1997, it was FHI's first attempt to enter the luxury/performance car market. Its intention was to combine two seemingly contradictory elements—comfort and performance. The name "Alcyone
Alcyone (star)
Alcyone is a star system in the constellation Taurus. It is the brightest star in the Pleiades open cluster, which is a young cluster, aged at less than 50 million years. Alcyone is approximately 370 light years from Earth. It is named after the mythological figure Alcyone, one of the...

" refers to the brightest star in the Pleiades
Pleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...

 star cluster, on which the Subaru logo is based.

Development

The Subaru Alcyone SVX first made its debut, as a concept car, at the 1989 Tokyo Auto Show. Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...

 of ItalDesign designed the slippery, sleek bodywork, incorporating design themes from many of his design concepts, such as the Ford Maya and the Oldsmobile Inca. Subaru decided to put the concept vehicle into production and retain its most distinguishing design element, the unconventional window-within-a-window. Subaru called this an "aircraft-inspired glass-to-glass canopy," which was borrowed from the previous model Subaru Alcyone with an additional extension of glass covering the A-pillar
Pillar (car)
Pillars are the vertical supports of the greenhouse of an automobile — known respectively as the A, B, C or D-pillar moving in profile view from the front to rear....

. The decision to release this car for production would give the public the first opportunity to drive a "concept car" as originally conceived.

In stark contrast to the boxy, angular XT, the SVX had curvy lines designed by Giugiaro and an unusual, aircraft-inspired "glass-to-glass canopy" with two-piece power side windows. The windows are split about two-thirds of the way from the bottom, with the division being parallel to the upper curve of the door frame. These half-windows are generally seen on exotic vehicles with "scissor
Scissor doors
Scissor doors are automobile doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge at the front of the door, rather than outwardly as with a conventional door.- History :The first vehicle to feature scissor doors was the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo concept car, designed...

", "gull-wing
Gull-wing door
Gull-wing door is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by the 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL race car and its road-legal version introduced in 1954....

", or "butterfly
Butterfly doors
Butterfly doors or vertical doors are a type of door sometimes seen on high-performance automobiles. They are similar to scissor doors, but while scissor doors move up, butterfly doors also move outwards, which makes for easier entry/exit at the expense of saving space.The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33...

" doors, such as the Lamborghini Countach
Lamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach is a mid-engined supercar that was produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini from 1974 to 1990. Its design both pioneered and popularized the wedge-shaped, sharply angled look popular in many high performance sports cars...

, De Lorean DMC-12
De Lorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car originally manufactured in Dunmurry, a suburb west of Belfast, Northern Ireland by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company for the American market in 1981-82. Most commonly known as the DeLorean, it was the only model produced by the company which would go into...

 (another Giugiaro design), and the McLaren F1
McLaren F1
The McLaren F1 is a supercar designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. Originally a concept conceived by Gordon Murray, he convinced Ron Dennis to back the project and engaged Peter Stevens to design the exterior of the car...

. The SVX's aerodynamic shape allowed it to maintain the low drag coefficient
Drag coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less aerodynamic or...

 of , previously established by the XT coupe it replaced.

In 1991-1992, Subaru displayed the Amadeus, a prototype shooting brake variation on the SVX, which was considered for production. Ultimately the Amadeus was not produced.

Powertrain

Unlike the previous model, which had been available with either a turbocharged
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...

 flat-four (as XT) or a naturally aspirated flat-six (as XT6), the SVX debuted with and remained available with only one engine, the EG33 model 3.3-liter boxer horizontally opposed flat-six. This engine was the largest engine produced by Subaru for its passenger cars until the introduction of the 3.6-liter EZ36 engine in the 2008 Subaru Tribeca
Subaru Tribeca
The Subaru Tribeca is a mid-size crossover SUV sold since 2005 by Subaru, the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries . Released in some markets as the Subaru B9 Tribeca, the name "Tribeca" derives from the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City...

. The previous generation Subaru Alcyone had installed a turbocharger on the four cylinder engine, but the larger EZ36 was more powerful and a turbo was not installed.

Internally, the engine is essentially a six-cylinder variant of the EJ22 found in the first-generation Legacy
Subaru Legacy
The Subaru Legacy is a mid-size car built by the Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries, and manufactured by its division Subaru since 1989, and is available as a sedan or wagon. Part of the original design goals for the Legacy model was to provide Subaru a vehicle in which they could compete in...

 and Impreza
Subaru Impreza
Introduced in November 1993, the Impreza was offered in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive versions and as a four-door sedan/saloon or five-door station wagon/estate. According to a Motor Trend article written March 1992 on page 26, the name of Subaru's new compact was, initially, to be...

. The new 3.3-liter variant was equipped with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, and had an increased compression ratio of 10.1:1, bringing horsepower up to 172 kW at 5,400 rpm with 309 newton metre of torque at 4,400 rpm. Fuel delivery was accomplished with sequential multi-port fuel injection with dual spray injectors. Engine ignition used platinum spark plugs and a computerized management system with "limp home feature", which included over-rev protection, monitors fuel injection and ignition.

The exhaust system consisted of head pipes from each bank of cylinders with their own pre-catalytic converters, which entered a dual-inlet / single outlet main catalytic converter. A single 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) exhaust pipe exited the main converter and went into a resonator, and onto the main, transverse, single inlet muffler with twin exhaust tips in the bumper.

All versions of the SVX sold were equipped with automatic transmissions, as a manual transmission capable of handling the horsepower and torque of the EG33 engine was not produced by Subaru at the time. Depending on the country, Subaru had two versions of their all-wheel drive system for the automatic transmission, called ACT-4 or VTD. The first system, called ACT-4 (active torque split) by Subaru, was the same setup commonly found on other Subaru models of the period, and used a variable clutch pack center differential using a 90/10 power split ratio front to rear, which could transfer up to a 50/50 power split ratio for maximum traction if the front wheels started to slip. This AWD system was offered throughout the entire production run, and was used in vehicles manufactured for sale in the US, Canada, Germany, France and Switzerland. A sportier continuous traction delivery system, called VTD (variable torque distribution) by Subaru, was used in vehicles for sale in Japan, the UK, the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...

 region, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Austria and Brazil. The VTD AWD system is a permanent AWD due to its 36/64 split.

The Japanese-spec "SVX L" received four-wheel steering in 1991 and 1992, model code "CXD" (1,905 built). The VTD equipped versions received the "CXW" chassis code. In an attempt to lower the price for the US market, a front-wheel drive ("CXV") was offered in 1994 and 1995 but sales weren't abundant.
  • 0-60 mph: 7.3 seconds
  • 1/4 mile: 15.4 seconds at 92.5 mi/h
  • Top speed: 154 mi/h (1992–93), 143 mi/h (1994+ due to the addition of an electronic speed governor)
  • 60-0 mph: 98 ft (29.9 m)

Market

Total sales of the SVX numbered 14,257 in the United States and a total of 24,379 worldwide. 2,478 SVXs were sold in Europe (with 854 headed directly to Germany and 60 to France). Roughly 7,000 of all SVXs sold were right-hand drive models. Included in this number were the 249 vehicles sold in Australia, at a cost between approx. Au$73,000 to Au$83,000. 5,884 units remained in Japan.

As an investment, Subaru actually lost $3,000 on every Subaru SVX sold, for a total loss of around $75,000,000 on this project . It was also developed and released during Japan's "bubble economy
Japanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991, in which real estate and stock prices were greatly inflated. The bubble's collapse lasted for more than a decade with stock prices initially bottoming in 2003, although they would descend even further amidst the global crisis in 2008. The...

", and as the economic condition in Japan continued to decline, it had an effect on sales in Japan.

Asia

In Japan, the SVX was the first Subaru to exceed government size regulations in the vehicle's dimensions. These regulations also limit engine size to two litres and determine yearly tax liability. The SVX was not Subaru's first car to be sold in Japan with an engine bigger than two litres; this honor goes to the preceding Alcyone XT6. The models offered in Japan were the L (similar to the LSi in the U.S.) and the S4. As a result, in Japan the SVX was considered a luxury vehicle and was equipped appropriately with one-touch climate control, leather interior, front seats that were both electrically adjustable and heated, a single-disc CD player coupled with a Panasonic AM/FM stereo system, that was hidden behind a retractable panel, and a remote-controlled infrared keyless entry with security system. The luxury approach followed the introduction of the Subaru Legacy four years earlier.

The television commercial advertising the car in Japan used Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...

 singing "Five Hundred Miles" (Alcyone SVX video), a reference to the car being able to travel 805 kilometres (500.2 mi) on one 70 litres (15.4 imp gal) tank of fuel, with a fuel economy of 9.4 L/100 km.

Here's a video from Subaru describing the Alcyone SVX in Japanese Subaru Promotional Video part 1 & part 2

North America

Subaru
Subaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...

 introduced the SVX in the United States in July 1991 (as a 1992 model), following up the U.S. debut with a Japanese market introduction in September of that same year. The model was designed and marketed as the replacement for their aging, envelope pushing Alcyone XT and Alcyone XT6 coupes. Outside Japan, the Alcyone designation was dropped, and the car was marketed as the Subaru SVX. The 1992 Subaru Legacy was given a facelift that strongly resembles the SVX, introducing a visual similarity between Subaru's top level vehicles. Many of the color choices on the Legacy mirrored those offered on the SVX. The introduction of the SVX followed the 1990 introduction of the Honda NSX
Honda NSX
The Honda NSX, or Acura NSX, is a sports car that was produced between 1990 and 2005 by the Japanese automaker Honda. It is equipped with a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, powered by an all-aluminium V6 gasoline engine featuring Honda's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control ...

, as it appeared that Subaru was following Honda's lead in introducing new products with an emphasis on performance and luxury, which were not previously associated with either Honda and Subaru in the past, which reflected the state of the Japanese economy before the economic downturn in 1991 called the "bubble economy".
The Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP
Suggested retail price
The manufacturer's suggested retail price , list price or recommended retail price of a product is the price which the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell the product. The intention was to help to standardise prices among locations...

) for the U.S. base model 1992 SVX-L was $24,445, with the top of the line model with touring package (leather trim, 8 way electronic seat adjustment, tilt and slide sunroof), the LS-L, listing at $28,000. This was $8,000–$11,000 higher than any previous Subaru. A rear spoiler was optional on the 1992 models only. From 1993 on, the spoiler was included as standard equipment. On the other hand, it was almost $5,000 lower than a comparable four wheel drive Dodge Stealth R/T/Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4
Mitsubishi GTO
The Mitsubishi GTO is a sports car built by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors between 1990 and 2001. In most export markets it was rebadged as a Mitsubishi 3000GT. It was also sold by Chrysler in North America as a Dodge Stealth captive import from the 1991 to 1996 model years with only minor...

, though the Stealth/3000GT twins were faster. By the end of its production run in 1996, the price had risen to $36,740 for the top-of-the-line LSi, which was the same trim level as the 1992 LS-L

Soon after the SVX entered production, Subaru began to realize that the high selling price of the SVX was giving some buyers "sticker shock". In an attempt to attract more buyers, a front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...

 version was offered on the SVX during the 1994–1995 model year, which cost about $1,500 less than the AWD version. In 1994, FWD was offered on both the L model (X33 in the VIN) and on the LS model (X34 in the VIN). In 1995, only the L model was offered in FWD (X33 in the 5th, 6th and 7th digits of the VIN). Buyers avoided the compromised FWD version and weak sales figures led to its discontinuation after 1995.

Due to the SVX's high price, and the fact that it had made its debut during an economic recession, sales in the United States were sluggish; 5,280 cars were sold in 1992 and 3,859 cars in 1993. It was reported that Subaru intended to sell 10,000 SVX's each year. Demand for the SVX dropped significantly before falling to just 640 units in 1997, at which point Subaru discontinued production.

Motorsports

In 1991, a Subaru SVX, driven by Ken Knight and Bob Dart, won the Alcan Winter Rally, a race starting in Seattle to the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

and back.

In the early 1990s there was a Subaru SVX PPG Pace Car. It featured a silver to purple fade paint job, silver wheels in the front, purple wheels in the rear, "SVX" windshield banner, roll cage and an amber roof light. It was evaluated by Wally Dallenbach Sr, Indy Car Chief Steward and PPG Pace Car evaluator. It was used as a promotional tool for Subaru, as well as a pace car. While most pace cars were retired after one season, the SVX proved to be such a worthy example and a favorite, it was used for several seasons. It now is in storage in the famous "Subaru Performance Attic" in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, near Subaru of America's headquarters. This is where many of the unique Subaru concept cars and Subarus of historical significance are stored.

External links

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