SUBARU Australia has unveiled its farewell tribute to the departing Liberty mid-sized sedan within the type of a limited-run Closing Version, a automotive the model says presents $6,400 price of added worth for simply an additional $1990.
Based mostly on the common Liberty 2.5i Premium, the Closing Version has been adorned with a collection of STI beauty enhancements and shall be restricted strictly to simply 31 models – one instance for yearly the Liberty has been supplied Down Below.
Priced from $39,930 plus on-road prices, the Closing Version’s beauty enhancements include 18-inch STI alloy wheels, STI entrance lip spoiler, rear boot lip spoiler, mesh sample entrance grille, particular person Closing Version quantity badging in addition to black foglight surrounds, aspect skirt garnishes, door mirror covers and rear exterior badges.
Issues have been stepped up contained in the cabin too with Ultrasuede inserts on the seat upholstery and inside trim, blue stitching on the seats, armrests and sprint, and black accents together with the air vents, sprint, door trim and steering wheel.
A Harman Kardon sound system pinched from the flagship 3.6R has additionally been fitted as normal.
With lower than three-dozen examples to be out there, the Closing Version shall be out there in simply three completely different color schemes with a various variety of models out there in every color.
15 examples shall be completed in Magnetite Gray with black wheels, 10 shall be Crystal Black with silver wheels and 6 shall be Crystal White with gunmetal wheels.
Regardless of the apparent go-faster styling, which seems to hark again to the fourth-generation GT tuned by STi flagship, Subaru has not gifted the Closing Version any additional firepower or dynamic prowess over its donor automotive.
This implies energy and torque from the two.5-litre flat-four-cylinder engine stay pegged at 129kW/235Nm, nonetheless despatched symmetrically to all 4 wheels by way of a repeatedly variable transmission.
When requested as to why the two.5i Premium was chosen as the idea for the Closing Version quite than the stronger 3.6R, Subaru Australia nationwide company affairs supervisor David Rowley mentioned the choice was made based mostly on the “mixture of manufacturing availability and certain buyer curiosity” given “the two.5 variants have lengthy been the most well-liked”.
In keeping with Subaru Australia normal supervisor Blair Learn, the native arm needed to mark the tip of Liberty’s historical past “in a really unique approach”.
“These individually numbered autos are a tribute to what it has contributed to Subaru over greater than three many years,” he mentioned.
As beforehand reported by GoAuto, the model expects inventory to final till early 2021 with the ultimate manufacturing order at present being fulfilled.
The choice to retire the Liberty got here after years of declining gross sales with the fan-favourite mid-sizer being outsold greater than 5 instances over by the high-riding Outback SUV.
In keeping with the October spherical of VFacts knowledge, the Liberty is the slowest promoting mannequin of Subaru Australia’s mainstream line-up – discounting the area of interest BRZ coupe and Levorg wagon – with simply 760 models shifted all 12 months as of the tip of final month.
When information first broke of the Liberty’s retirement in September, Subaru Australia managing director Christian Dinsdale assured each potential and returning clients that Subaru nonetheless had and would proceed to supply sedans.
“For these clients nonetheless searching for a Subaru sedan, we remind them that present era Impreza carefully mimics the bodily dimension of third-generation Liberty sedan and, in fact, presents the identical symmetrical all-wheel drive attributes,” he mentioned.
“Equally, WRX is a efficiency sedan possibility that’s most likely the closest relative to the varied turbocharged Liberty variants, such because the RS, GT and tuned by STI, which captured the hearts of so many enthusiastic drivers of their heyday.”
The present-generation WRX can also be on account of be put out to pasture within the close to future as indicated by the latest launch of the Membership Spec, a nameplate which historically lands round 12-18 months forward of the subsequent era.
2020 Subaru Liberty pricing*
| 2.5i (a) | $31,440 |
| 2.5i Premium (a) | $37,940 |
| Closing Version (a) | $39,930 |
| 3.6r (a) | $44,440 |
*Excludes on-road prices
