Hi,

The D-5 is a 163 Hp diesel, not bad at all but as usaual in these kind of engines the powerramge is extremely short. You will have to keep it between 2000 and 4000 rpm. Over 4000 it simply dies and it is if you were entering the rev limiter on the T-5 and 2,5T but worse. Good side is that it is cheap to maintain and consumption is low, same as CO emissions.
Also with a mannual gear box this means that you keep shifting all the time if you try to drive it in a sporty way. It also is noisy at max. torque (drone)
The Titanium models have an option kit which makes them more sporty but suspension is the same as the other V-70's according to the dealer. If you want sport suspension you will have to add that to the Titanium pack, seperatedly.
In the meantime I drove the new Subaru Legacy 3.0 R.
The car surprised me positively. A few points that I didn't like or liked less then in my actual XC.
1-It's an automatic gearbox with 2 modes, normal which is rather slow and reluctant to shift up or with a hesitation if you floor the throttle and a"Sport" mode which is much more fun and makes the car really move. Best however is the 3rd.mode which is sequencial, or mannual up and downshifts, although without a clutch. The nice thing about that that it will not shift up or down even if you hit the rev limiter, which starts somewhere past 7000 rpm. I would prefer however a traditional mannual 6 speed gearbox.
2-The engine is so silky soft that you only notice the engine is running because of the gauges. No vibration, no noise nothing. Looks electrical.
My 2.5 T feeld like a diesel compared to that. Howvere The 2,5 T has nice low end grunt, something which the Subaru flat six does not have. Best power delivery over 4000 rpm. Under 4000 the car is moving just as any normal dull jap car. Nothing exciting though.(The real fun is between 5000-7000 rpm. it delivers 245 HP at 6300 rpm)
I like massive torque as only turbo charged gasoline engines deliver.
3- The seats are well made and finished but not as comfortable as in the old XC.
I must say though that I found also the new Volvo'd worse in this aspect.
Also the regulation of the steering wheel in depth is not possible.
4- Steering is too light for my taste.I would like to have a less assisted wheel.
Everything else is superb, the audio is superb, termination and ergonomics too.
Interior is spacious and light (too light as the leathers are light beige leather and I would have preferred dark grey or even black)
Iterior room is as in a V70. Roadholding is superb and balanced. On a wet mountain track I have not been able to get this thibg sliding not even when I placed the gear in 2nd. mannual and floored it at the apex of very tight corners. It just pulls away without hesitation or (power)sliding. Good but difficult to find the limit on public roads. The AWD system is a real permanent with a 50/50 split front rear. (symetric AWD the call it) which works superb and even better than Audi's quattro system.
Suspension is the perfect combination between sporty and comfortable, still a bit more towards sporty. Tha car feels smaller then it is and feels really nimble. It comes standard with a large sun roof which goes so far as the rear seats! The only possible option is a navigation system, which I don't need anyway.
Warranty is 6 years or 250.000 kms!! (Volvo 2 years now)
Put in this car a turbo charged engine of about 250 HP at massive torque, the seats of a Saab or Volvo and a mannual 6 speed gearbox and you would have an almost ideal car.
Difficult choice?

Crono