1989 Subaru Justy ECVT (Reaction) Motorweek Retro
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- #ACwJ
Today's re-upload is my 1989 Subaru Justy ECVT Reaction!
Hope you enjoy this one.
This channel is supported by viewers like you! Please consider supporting our histories and news-pinions: / allcarswithjon
14:00 - To me, this car's primary competition was subcompacts like Swift/Sprint, Tercel, LeMans, and (most closely) Festiva. Those didn't have available 4WD*, which is the *only* reason it deserved consideration.
*Tercel had a 4WD option in wagon form only.
14:53 - Justy had 3- and 5-door configurations.
An uncle of mine had the boxier looking previous model Subaru Justy which was mentioned a couple times in this video to illustrate the improvements of the facelifted model they were testing. His was a 5 speed, being from before they started offering the CVT. He bought it sometime in the early 90s. I recall it having a good bit more painted exposed metal in the interior than the newer car in this video and that it seemed very spartan compared to the cars we owned, my frame of reference for what to expect from a small 2 door hatchback being a Ford Escort that my parents shared as a third car. It also didn't have the optional air conditioning, which was unfortunate since the occasion that I spent the most time riding in it was July in Dallas. For me, even as a 10 or 11 year old, the back seats were cramped, flat, too straight backed/upright and very lightly padded. The thing that stood out to me the most however, were the doors. They seemed well made, and the build quality seemed quite good, but they were the thinnest doors I have ever seen on a car. I would have absolutely no confidence in being able to walk away from any side impact from another vehicle moving at greater than walking speed. That being said, it was an extremely reliable car for him. He had it for several years and it never gave him a problem. He regularly drove it between Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, and Cleveland, Ohio getting a claimed 45mpg on highway journeys, and it was still running fine when he got rid of it and bought a Mazda 626 because he wanted air conditioning.
The Subaru Justy. It has justy-nuf power to get over that speed bump.
The major problem we often see in your retro reviews is the tendency to comment on the past through the eyes of the present in terms of what has since developed. In this case we all know how Nissan killed itself with the CVT and today's general feeling about the CVT. You were correct when you said MotorWeek gave this car a pass and 'handled it with kid's gloves'. They said the braking performance was acceptable when in any other car it would have been loudly decried as terrible. At the time of this car you were right that the dash looked like generic Japanese. This was what all our Toyota's looked like at that time. A good one, Jon. We all enjoyed a look at the past for nostalgia sake. Thumbs Up!
I do try to balance what one of these old cars appears to be from the present day expectations, while also trying to keep in mind their place in the market at the time they were being tested.
Some I do better than others. :)
What most people don't do is A. Read their owners manual, and B. realize that CVT's run much hotter than a DCT or a regular Automatic, so you are going to have more wear and tear, since those transmissions are essentially a fully system pushing on a belt / chain so there is more friction and edge wear on those items. So changing transmission fluids are needed far more often than people expect.
Jon Subaru Justy is rebadge Suzuki Swift!! Suzuki Swift were very popular here in Australia, available as Holden Barina or US Geo Metro.
Suzuki is very underrated by our US friends. I drive a JDM Alto Turbo RS & ride a Suzuki, just sold the Ignis. Cheers from Canberra mate.
The first Subaru Justy was not related to the Suzuki Swift at all. At one point that did happen but not the first one.
As per Jimmy, this was the massively successful Suzuki Swift, also the Holden Barina etc, flying under a flag of convenience. The 1.3 GTi was a little monster. Luckily we were spared any CVTs. Cheers Jon. 🇦🇺
@@UncleJoeLITE CVT have struggled reliability, its like they trying reinvent the wheel again with automatic. Mother inlaw has last model of Suzuki Swift way better then KIA n Hyundai small cars.
@JimmyShields-z2h The Ignis had a CVT. It suits the Ignis ok because it's only a small engine & a slow car, but I didn't like it. Ofc it's cheaper, just like sticking everything on a screen.
This is supposed to be a rebadged Suzuki but I’m surprised with the Subaru badges on the engine.
4:34 - ...but after the 1987 Chevy Sprint Metro.
Compared to their more popular Japanese rivals, the Justy was a worthy, if not outstanding little car. The 4WD version of such a small vehicle, seemed to be a nonsensical option with limited appeal for the mainstream. The first CVT was a Dutch innovation that appeared, from the 1950's, in a range of small cars that were made by DAF.
Nissan gets 💩 on for the CVT, but the complainers never know about the Justy. And Justy wasn't even the first to have it. They were around decades earlier.
DAF used them in the 1950's. I think Volvo also experimented with the CVT for a while.
Complaints were similar to modern ones. Noise, lack of power (rubber band feeling), and reliability. The CVT is a good concept on paper, but it seems hard to get it right in production.
Are those EPA gas mileage results concurrent with the system they use for cars today the same? I remember somewhere hearing that the way they rated cars changed at one point.
Yes, they've been updated twice that I know of. Both were to make them more properly reflect real world driving.
I think most cars from the 80's would have been decreased by 10-25% in mileage. Some still did get great MPG, but they (especially compacts) were much lighter than contemporary cars.