Last weekend, the weather bureau upgraded a low pressure area into a tropical storm and named it “Kabayan” (international name: Mujigae), which made landfall early morning of Oct. 2.
The resultant wet weekend didn’t stop Motor Image Pilipinas (MIP), distributor for Subaru vehicles in the country, to conduct its ride-and-drive activity as planned for members of the motoring media.
The storm’s path affected most parts of central Luzon, which included the Angeles City, the site of the offroading event. Instead of packing up and deciding to call it off, the weekend’s weather became an opportunity for Subaru to show off what its vehicles are capable of.
Dubbed as the “Subaru Eco Adventure Drive,” it was MIP’s biggest ride-and-drive event. It offered an opportunity for MIP to showcase its full lineup of vehicles for its onroad and offroad activities.
For the onroad portion, MIP conducted a fuel-economy challenge with a programmed route from the Subaru Greenhills showroom up to the Shell fuel station at Clarkfield, Pampanga. The route was a mix of highway and city driving, and participants were asked to top up the fuel tanks of their respective vehicles with Shell Nitro V-Power gasoline fuel at the Shell Gas Station in Edsa Greenhills.
There were several variants, including the Subaru Forester, XV, Legacy, Outback, BRZ, WRX and WRX STI, and the actual fuel consumption of each vehicle was certified by the Automobile Association Philippines.
The team that got the best fuel mileage had Mike Potenciano as driver, who managed to squeeze out 14.68 kph in a WRX sedan with a manual transmission.
The second leg of the event was a convoy of Forester and XV Subaru vehicles that went on an offroad adventure at the lahar-filled river beds at the foot of Mt. Pinatubo.
Organized and led by offroad expert Beeboy Bargas, the convoy went through a trail of river crossings, mud trails and hilly slopes.
The Pinatubo lahar beds were very slippery and the water elevation was higher than usual because of the previous days’ torrential rains, causing the sand to be wet and soft.
The drivers were reminded to power up and keep their momentum in check to avoid getting stuck in the river bed.
The power of Subaru’s boxer engine, and sure-footedness of its Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive System for both the Forester and XV models, made negotiating through the river beds and mud trails almost effortless, thanks to its X-Mode feature and Vehicle Dynamics Stability technology.
Bargas conducted a demo where a fully-stocked XV model crossed over the Pasig-Potrero River with its knee-high and fast-flowing water, and made it back without any issues.
Subaru has always been known for its onroad high-performance models like the WRX STI sedans as well as its signature Russ Swift precision-driving stunt shows at the Manila International Auto Show.
This event has proven that the Forester and XV models are very capable offroading vehicles. We hope to see more of these activities from MIP.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
