Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept introduces novel hybrid system with all-wheel drive at Tokyo Auto Show

September 30, 9:59 PMAuto Review ExaminerJohn Matras

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No one stayed up late working on the name for Subaru's hybrid tourer concept car because that's what they named it, the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept.

As a concept car , the Hybrid Tourer Concept is supposed to display, according to Subaru, "Subaru's vision of a future grand touring car that excels in environmental friendliness." As such it has a distinctive body design, though not so outré that it would look out of place on the highway. In the parking lot, those auto show full-length gullwing doors would stand out, but they're there primarily to show off the auto show interior.

Subaru tells us that the interior of the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept is designed around "an atmosphere that provides a surpassing feeling of openness and stress-free reassurance" with the "pursuit of a human-centered philosophy," et cetera and so on. Specifically that includes individual seating for four, a moveable dashboard top and "specialized shielding...incorporated in the windsheild to reduce eyestrain to the driver."

More intriguing, however, is Subaru's take on a hybrid drivetrain. Because it's a Subaru, it has a horizontally-opposed engine, direct-injected, 2.0-liter and turbocharged, and it has Subaru's Symmetrical AWD system.

New, however, is Subaru's next generation automatic, a continuously variable transmission dubbed Lineartronic, combined with two electric motors in a parallel hybrid arrangement. One electric motor is positioned between the engine and transmission and is used primarily as a generator for recharging the lithium-ion batteries. Another motor is positioned at the rear of the car, driving the rear wheels for start up and at extremely low speeds, as when pulling a car into a garage without having to actually runthe engine.

During normal driving, the Subaru Hybrid Tourer is powered primarily by the gas engine, but the rear electric motor can assist for extra acceleration. And when accelerating uphill, the front motor, instead of its usual generator duty, can provide more power. Along with idle-stop technology, the hybrid system makes the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept capable of more efficient operation, though without giving up the Subaru performance and Subaru all-wheel drive.

While Subaru introduced the tiny plug-in electric Stella this summer in Japan, the company does not have a hybrid vehicle in its lineup. It's not hard to see, however, the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept's powertrain as a prototype for the Subaru hybrid when or if it finally arrives.

Illustration: 2009 Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept. Photo courtesy Subaru.

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