History
The name "Vivio" is a reference to the engine's displacement of 660 written in Roman numerals (VI,VI,O), and also inspired by the word "vivid". It replaced the Rex that was introduced in the 1970s, and was itself superseded by the Subaru Pleo. It was available in 3 and 5-door versions commonly, with a two-door targa top version named T-top being available to special order from 1994. The T-top was built by Takada Kogyo, a convertible specialist who also assembled Nissan's Figaro and Silvia Varietta amongst other specialty cars.
In November 1995 the Vivio Bistro was introduced. This was modified variation with a retro theme, with Mini-esque front and rear fascias, matching upholstery and modifications to the dashboard. The Bistro series was popular, causing Subaru to release multiple succeeding versions of the Bistro, called the "Bistro B-Custom", the "Bistro Chiffon", the "Bistro White Edition", the "L Bistro", the "Sports Bistro" with BBS wheels, the "Bistro SS" using the engine package from the Vivio RX-SS, and the "Club Bistro" with a British black cab appearance. The trend of retro-styled cars was quite popular in 1990s Japan, following the success of Nissan's "Pike" series cars like the Pao and Figaro. Subaru also tried this approach with the larger Subaru Impreza called the Casa Blanca with limited success.
The Vivio was available with a variety of normally aspirated or supercharged four-cylinder engines with different gearbox options (including ECVT - an electronically controlled Continuously variable transmission) and multiple trim packages. Aside from the top of the line RX-R, all engines were SOHC 8-valve designs. The ECVT equipped supercharged model claimed 64 PS (47 kW) with such a setup, and while the Twin Cam 16-valve RX-R version claimed to make no more power than the SOHC, this was only to stay within the limitations laid down by Japan's kei car legislations. Claimed torque was higher, at 88 N·m (65 lb·ft) versus 84 N·m (62 lb·ft). Front- or four-wheel drive version were offered.
The suspension setup used was inspired by the Legacy instead of using strictly MacPherson struts to save on production costs.
Read more about this topic: Subaru Vivio
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