Subaru Vivio: the kei car with a rally record

The Subaru Vivio was a kei car made from March 1992 to October 1998. Its name came from the 660 cc of its engine written in Roman numerals, VI VI O, and also echoed the word vivid; the car replaced the Rex and was itself replaced by the Pleo.

Subaru Vivio at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Subaru Vivio.

History of the Subaru Vivio

The Vivio was introduced in March 1992 and sold until October 1998. It was tall for its size with large windows, which made the interior roomy, and it came as a three- or five-door plus a two-door targa top called the T-top. Most versions used the 658 cc Clover four-cylinder engine with a single overhead camshaft and eight valves, but the top RX-R had a twin-cam 16-valve unit; Subaru quoted the same power for it to stay inside kei rules, though torque was higher at 88 Nm instead of 84.

Engines and versions

The most common Vivio used the fuel-injected EN07E engine with 52 PS in manual cars and 48 PS with the ECVT. In Japan a carburetted version with 42 PS powered the two-seater and ef-s Vans, and European cars claimed 44 PS. The RX-SS of May 1997 was an RX-R with the ECVT, which could also be used in manual mode as a six-speed gearbox.

In May 1993 the T-top arrived, available only to special order: 3,000 were built to mark Subaru’s 40th anniversary, with a fuel-injected EN07E engine and either a five-speed manual or the ECVT. They were converted by Takada Kogyo, the specialist that also built the Nissan Figaro. Another 1,000 GX-T cars followed in February 1994 with the supercharged engine from the GX and the ECVT. Unlike the Rex, the Suzuki Alto and the Daihatsu Cuore, the Vivio kept its Japanese engine size in Europe, complete with fuel injection while rivals still used carburettors.

Bistro and the retro boom

In November 1995 Subaru added the Vivio Bistro, a version with Mini-style front and rear ends, matching upholstery and a modified dashboard. It became a hit and spawned a long series of editions: Bistro B-Custom, Bistro Chiffon, Bistro White Edition, L Bistro, Sports Bistro with BBS wheels, Bistro SS with the RX-SS engine package and Club Bistro styled like a British black cab. The retro trend was strong in 1990s Japan after Nissan’s Pike cars, and Subaru tried the same idea on the larger Impreza as the Casa Blanca, with much less success.

Motorsport

The supercharged RX-R and RX-RA were widely rallied in Japan, the RX-RA having closer ratios and stiffer suspension, and some cars still appear at Rally Japan. At the 1992 Paris–Beijing raid a private RX-R was quicker than the works Mitsubishi Pajeros in the prologue and ran for more than a week before its suspension broke. The best-known appearance came in the 1993 Safari Rally, when Noriyuki Koseki entered three Vivio Super KK cars for Masashi Ishida, Patrick Njiru and Colin McRae in his Safari debut; in rally trim the 658 cc engine made 85 PS. Only Njiru finished, in twelfth place, while McRae set a fastest stage time before retiring with suspension failure.

Design and features

• Tall kei body: a roomy cabin from a small footprint.
• Supercharged RX-R: 64 PS from 658 cc, and the basis of the rally cars.
• ECVT: an electronically controlled CVT with a manual mode on the RX-SS.
• Bistro editions: retro-styled cars that became a sales success.
• Rally history: a works entry in the 1993 Safari Rally.

Subaru Vivio versions

• Vivio (1992): the standard three- and five-door cars.
• RX-R: twin-cam 16-valve engine.
• T-top (1993): 3,000 targa-top cars for Subaru’s 40th anniversary.
• GX-T (1994): 1,000 supercharged T-top cars.
• Bistro (1995): retro edition with many later variations.
• RX-SS (1997): RX-R with the ECVT and a six-speed manual mode.

The Vivio replaced the Rex and gave way to the Pleo. More Subarus are in the Subaru collection.

Video: Subaru Vivio 650 cc

Video by X X on YouTube.

Sources

• Subaru Vivio, English Wikipedia: engines, versions, Bistro, motorsport