1990 Subaru Justy ECVT review from UK and Ireland

In the last 4000 miles, the only problem that I have had with the car was a blocked fuel filter, resulting in spluttering under load and maximum acceleration. This took some time to figure out what was wrong, but once we found the filter (located just in front of the left rear wheel), the replacement part was only £10 (would have been about £3 from Subaru, but we didn't want to wait for them to order it!) and my father fitted it.

Had to change the spark plugs, which helped the car run a lot better.

At some point, someone has added a button that operates the starter, because the one on the ignition no longer works properly.

My Justy has the "jem" package, which simply means it has colour coded bumpers and mirrors, and in white it looks fairly good, making it appear younger than it really is. I would have thought though that they could have added central locking, but you can't have everything!

For a 12 year old car, it has resisted rust quite well, apart from the front wheel arches which had to be done when we bought the car.

It's the three door version which I think looks better than the five door. In addition to the coloured bumpers and mirrors it also had white wheel trims which made it look a bit girly, which I being an 18 yr old male, didn't particularly want! So Dad came up with the idea of painting them gold like the Subaru Impreza WRX, and the end result is actually pretty good, certainly better than being white.

It has the automatic ECVT (Electro-continuously variable transmission) gearbox which acts as if it has loads of different gears, that change depending on how far down your right foot is on the accelerator. In other words, when you boot it the revs rise to just below the red line and stay there until you let off.

The gearbox also has two modes "D" for normal driving, and "Ds" (drive sport or slope, according to the handbook) for sporty driving. In Ds mode it has more engine breaking and a much more responsive feel (i.e its more fun!), and is much better for overtaking as you have power on tap, rather than having to wait for it to build up like in D mode.

Considering it only has a 1.2 3 cylinder engine with automatic, it is surprisingly fast with 50 - 70 coming up pretty quickly. Unless put in Ds however, hills can blunt its performance, but other than that its great, and it gets 40 mpg too! It also has 4wd which can be operated on the move via a button on the side of the gear stick, which is handy for quick getaways on roundabouts etc.

The ride and handling are OK, it has a tendency to under-steer sometimes in the wet when going round roundabouts etc, and dad tells me you can get torque steer when hammering it too! The ride improves with more people in it, as it becomes less harsh, but it also blunts performance, and breaking power. The worst aspect I can think of about the car are the original stereo speakers! How Subaru could get away with supplying those is a mystery. I sorted it out however with a custom setup compromising of a pair of old hi-fi speakers placed in the boot, the end result was surprisingly effective, and a massive improvement on the tinny originals.

Considering it is only a 1.2, the insurance group of 6/7 is slightly over the top - my friend has a Peugeot 306 1.4, and the insurance group is only grp. 4!

Another minus point that might bother some people is the pitiful excuse for boot space. The consolation is that its much better with the rear seats down, which provides a respectable load area.

Overall I'd say that it's a reliable, fun, and economical little car, which is way, way, way better (and faster) than the alternatives. e.g. Novas, Unos, Metros and Fiestas!

Sorry to those people who have the above cars, but you should try the Justy. Plus the three cylinder engine sounds great... now that's something you couldn't say about the cacophony created by a Fiesta and its tappets - you can tell one is coming from three miles down the road...