The Subaru Vivio is a kei car that was introduced in March 1992, and manufactured by Subaru until October 1998. It is small enough to place it in the kei car class, giving its owners large tax breaks in Japan. The Vivio has a spacious interior considering its small size, thanks to a relatively tall profile and large windows. The name "Vivio" is a reference to the engine's displacement of 660 written in an approximation of Roman numerals (VI, VI, O), and also inspired by the word vivid . It replaced the Rex nameplate that was introduced in the 1970s, and was itself superseded by the Subaru Pleo . The Vivio was available in 3 and 5-door versions, with a two-door targa top version named T-top also available.
19-427: The Vivio was available with a variety of 658 cc naturally aspirated or supercharged four-cylinder " Clover " 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
38-458: A turbocharger or a supercharger . In a naturally aspirated engine, air for combustion ( Diesel cycle in a diesel engine or specific types of Otto cycle in petrol engines, namely petrol direct injection ) or an air/fuel mixture (traditional Otto cycle petrol engines), is drawn into the engine's cylinders by atmospheric pressure acting against a partial vacuum that occurs as the piston travels downwards toward bottom dead centre during
57-556: A same-sized engine relying on forced induction include: Patrick Njiru Patrick Njiru (born 12 July 1957) is a former Kenyan rally driver with Subaru World Rally Team from 1983 to 2002. He hails from Kevote area of Manyatta constituency, Embu County . He attended St Paul's Kevote Boys' Secondary School. He started participating in rally championships after returning from Japan where he studied for three years. He has retired from competitive racing but often takes part in organizing and competing in charity races like
76-754: 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 versions were offered on most of the lineup. The most common version of the Vivio has a multi-point fuel-injected EN07E engine. This produces 52 PS (38 kW) in manual transmission cars, while ECVT cars have to make do with 48 PS (35 kW). 44 PS (32 kW) DIN
95-442: Is also affected by engine speed and atmospheric pressure, the latter of which decreases as the operating altitude increases. This is in contrast to a forced-induction engine, in which a mechanically driven supercharger or an exhaust-driven turbocharger is employed to facilitate increasing the mass of intake air beyond what could be produced by atmospheric pressure alone. Nitrous oxide can also be used to artificially increase
114-412: Is nearly universal on diesel engines that are used in railroad , marine engines , and commercial stationary applications ( electrical power generation , for example). Forced induction is also used with reciprocating aircraft engines to negate some of the power loss that occurs as the aircraft climbs to higher altitudes. The advantages and disadvantages of a naturally aspirated engine in relation to
133-535: The EN07X engine. Most people who saw the car thought it wouldn't last long, but it was faster than the Mitsubishi Pajero works team during the prologue stage, and ran for more than a week until it broke its suspension. The car made it to the finishing line unofficially after repairs were carried out, with no other serious troubles. The most famous appearance of the Vivio in an international motorsport event
152-637: The Legacy , a setup that avoided strictly using MacPherson struts to save on production costs. The supercharged RX-R and RX-RA was widely used for rallying in Japan. RX-RA was a motorsports trim grade with closer ratio gearing and stiffer suspensions than RX-R. Some entrants still enter Vivios at WRC Rally Japan . In 1992, at the Paris-Beijing marathon raid, a private entrant ran the Vivio RX-R with
171-629: The ECVT transmission. The T-top version was built by Takada Kogyo, a convertible specialist who also assembled Nissan's Figaro and Silvia Varietta amongst other specialty cars. An additional 1,000 GX-T models were released in February 1994; these are fitted with the SOHC supercharged engine from the GX ( EN07Z ), only available coupled to the ECVT. In November 1995 the Vivio Bistro was introduced. This
190-598: The RX-R grade, and in rally trim the 658 cc engine produced 85 PS (63 kW; 84 hp) at 6,000 rpm. Only Njiru finished the race, achieving 12th place. McRae did manage to set the fastest stage time before going for two stages in Makindu before retiring with suspension failure on Special Stage 16. He later said "You can hide the whole car in every single pothole along the route!" Ishida had to retire with head gasket failure on Special Stage 45. This appearance
209-552: The Vivio's technical specifications were nearly identical to the Japanese Domestic Market version - including fuel injection, while its kei competitors still had carbureted engines in export trim. In May 1993 the Vivio T-top arrived, available only for special order. Only 3,000 were released, to celebrate Subaru's 40th anniversary, fitted with the fuel-injected EN07E engine and either a five-speed manual or
SECTION 10
#1732773248536228-580: 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 in a trim called the Casa Blanca with limited success. The suspension setup used was inspired by
247-445: The intake stroke . Owing to innate restriction in the engine's inlet tract, which includes the intake manifold , a small pressure drop occurs as air is drawn in, resulting in a volumetric efficiency of less than 100 percent—and a less than complete air charge in the cylinder. The density of the air charge, and therefore the engine's maximum theoretical power output , in addition to being influenced by induction system restriction,
266-497: The latent heat of vaporization, which also aids in increasing the overall air charge density significantly compared to natural aspiration. Most automobile petrol engines, as well as many small engines used for non-automotive purposes, are naturally aspirated. Most modern diesel engines powering highway vehicles are turbocharged to produce a more favourable power-to-weight ratio , a higher torque curve , as well as better fuel efficiency and lower exhaust emissions . Turbocharging
285-447: The mass of oxygen present in the intake air. This is accomplished by injecting liquid nitrous oxide into the intake, which supplies significantly more oxygen in a given volume than is possible with atmospheric air. Nitrous oxide is 36.3% available oxygen by mass after it decomposes as compared with atmospheric air at 20.95%. Nitrous oxide also boils at −127.3 °F (−88.5 °C) at atmospheric pressures and offers significant cooling from
304-452: Was a modified version with a retro theme, with Mini -esque front and rear fascias, matching upholstery and modifications to the dashboard. The Bistro series became a hit, 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
323-658: Was claimed in Europe for the same engine. There was also a carbureted version with 42 PS (31 kW) in Japan, which equipped the Vivio Van versions (two-seater and ef-s). The Vivio was sold in many European markets, where it is unusual in not receiving a larger engine than in the home market. The preceding Subaru Rex, the Suzuki Alto , and the Daihatsu Cuore all utilized larger engines when sold in Europe, but
342-582: Was in the 1993 round of the Safari Rally under the control of former factory driver and Subaru Technica International founder and team owner Noriyuki Koseki to promote the car. He made the decision to enter three of the sports model Vivio Super KK driven by Masashi Ishida , local driver Patrick Njiru and up and coming WRC star Colin McRae in his Safari debut. "Super KK" is the FIA homologation name for
361-533: Was satirized by cartoonist Jim Bamber for the Yumping Yarns cartoon of Car & Car Conversions magazine, in which he depicted McRae driving his Vivio underneath an elephant . Naturally aspirated A naturally aspirated engine , also known as a normally aspirated engine , and abbreviated to N/A or NA , is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through
#535464