Car Star: Subaru Justy

Each month, RoadTestReports.co.uk will recommend to you a car which the staff here working for the website think is a bit of a hidden gem. That is to say, a car which prehaps is not that well-known or does not have the sales figures of some of its competitors in it’s class yet is still a very worthy opponent.

This month, the Subaru Justy, not as well know as your Ford Ka or Vauxhall Corsa, the Justy could be just the supermini you’ve been looking for.

Introduced in May 2008, the Justy is a rebadged Daihatsu Sirion, with numbers limited to just a 1,000 units a year in the UK, the Justy may have slipped from your radar. Although the limited numbers could make it difficult to find one, the exclusivity could help it hold its value well.

With prices from £9305, this five door supermini has CO2 emissions of 118g/km meaning you’ll only pay just £35 a year road tax and it achieves an impressive 56.5 mpg (combined) to keep the fuel bills down. The Justy will prove economical in other ways too, with the 1.0 R sitting in insurance group 5 and supplied with a five year warranty to give you half a decade of stress-free motoring.

Only two variants are available, the 1 litre R or the upgraded Twin Cam from £9,995 which offers a rear spoiler, roof and side stripes, a sporty twin exhaust, privacy glass, branded mats and a racy little alloy and leather gearknob.

The Subaru Justy has a particularly spacious five-seat interior for its class and exceptionally low 0.31 Cd drag coefficient improve fuel economy and high-speed touring and refinement.

Its wide-opening doors and 590 mm seat height allow easy entry and exit – especially appreciated by older customers. The rear doors, for example, open to 80 degrees. Luggage space measures 225 litres with the rear seat up and 630 litres (VDA) when folded, making it a practical small family car. Its turning circle is an especially tight 9.4 metres.

The 1.0 litre twin-overhead camshaft petrol engine – mated to a manual five-speed gearbox used in the Justy is the same respectable engine used in the Toyota Yaris and Aygo, Citroën C1 and Peugeot 107.
Producing 69.3 PS at 6,000 rpm and 69.3 lb ft of torque at 3,600 rpm, the 12-valve unit offers respectable performance too. A top speed is of 99.4 mph with a 0-60 mph time of 13.5 seconds makes it quicker than its equivalent Sirion cousin.

Safety-wise, the Justy comes with multiple airbags, ABS, EBD, seat belt pre-tensioners. Where the Justy really shines is in its excellent level of standard kit, which may justify the higher starting price it has over some competitors such as the Sirion (£8320), Hyundai i10 (£7095) or the Ford Ka (£7995). Standard kit includes alarm, split-fold seats, central locking, alloys, air con, electric front and rear windows, rear parking sensors and electric mirrors.

Currently (sadly) due to the limited number of Justys on the road, no-one has yet reviewed it on RoadTestReports.co.uk. So if you own or have driven Justy, why not let us know what you think by submitting a review, we would be keen to hear!

Author: Faye Sunderland, June 24th, 2009
Filed under: Car Star, Subaru | 1 Comment »

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