Subaru XV SUV (2012-2017) - Practicality & boot space

Practicality should be a strong point of any SUV – they should always provide more space than a standard hatchback. The XV does well here, offering a spacious interior and a decent (if not class-leading) boot. Rear passenger space is particularly good and there are tonnes of nooks and crannies to keep your various odds and ends in.

Subaru XV interior space & storage

Inside, the XV is very spacious and there are loads of generous storage areas, too. The glovebox is more than big enough to hold a one-litre bottle, the door bins are generously sized and there are quite a few little spaces, including two cupholders covered by a sliding screen, in the centre console. The rear door bins are particularly good, as they offer more than enough room for chunky cups. Getting into the XV is pretty easy, too, as both the front and rear doors open nice and wide.

Rear legroom is excellent, helped by the concave shape of the front seats, while up front there’s plenty of space, too. In fact, when you take the car’s dimensions into account, the rear seats offer almost as much room as the front ones.

Boot space

With the rear seats in place, the XV has a smaller boot than the Nissan Qashqai, at 380 litres. But it has a 410-litre advantage when you fold the rear seats down, with a 1,270-litre capacity. The rear seats don’t fold entirely flat, though. Instead, there’s a flat lip on the carpet that covers the seat hinges, which does help in some way when you want to slide long items across the boot floor. The leading edge of the boot floor can be also lifted up and hooked to the lip of the tailgate, to give a smooth ramp and a bit of protection.

Towing

Both the 2.0-litre petrol and 2.0-litre diesel-engined models of the XV can tow up to 1,600kg when paired with the standard manual gearbox. The CVT automatic transmission reduces that total to 1,200kg.