Subaru's baby in the car line-up is the small Justy model, which fits into the supermini group when it comes to car choices. The Justy has space and style attributes, with economy and low emissions as signal points in its direction. Michael Moroney drove the latest Justy and gives a dipstick view of the car.

The new Subaru Justy comes with an economical engine, delivering low emission levels and lower running costs, especially after 1 July. Prices start at €13,995 before delivery charges.

Subaru gave the Justy a fresh look in 2007 and it's only now that increasing numbers are coming on the market. The Justy is a classic five door supermini car, with ambitions for space, versatility and most of all economy.

For Subaru, the Justy offers a one-model option. The car comes with a three-cylinder one-litre petrol engine that's both economical and clean. It's the sort of car that you can drive to a Green Party meeting and not have to park it around the back.

If you think that you've seen the Justy before, you're probably right. The car bears an uncanny resemblance to the Daihatsu Sirion in terms of external styling. That's because Subaru and Toyota each have a share in Daihatsu for small car production.

The body shape of both of these Japanese models is identical. For the test car that I drove, Subaru added a few extras; go fast stripes to give it a performance look and twin exhausts plus alloy wheels to add to the effect.

But underneath this pretentious skin, the Justy was well behaved in terms of performance and the environment. It just looked like a brave super car warrior. I felt that the extra styling treatment was a little over the top for a car that is really a runabout model.

The shining part of the Subaru Justy is the three-cylinder 1.0-litre engine. The engine, while a little noisy and rougher than you would expect, does deliver on the key performance points. Engine power is rated at 69bhp, which is identical to the Daihatsu Sirion and a little higher than the average for the sector. The engine torque is also relatively high at 96Nm and combined they ensure that the Justy can deliver a 0 to 100km/hr rating of 13.5 seconds. That's the best performance for 1.0-litre cars and matched by the Daihatsu Sirion and 1.2-litre Nissan Micra.

In driving terms, the Justy's three-cylinder engine is not as smooth as one would expect from similar four-cylinder cars. That's to be expected and you get a similar driving experience from the Daihatsu Sirion, Opel Corsa and Toyota Yaris with their three pot engines. At first it appears louder and less smooth than normal, but you quickly get used to the feel and sound.

The Justy scores most impressively of all in fuel economy. The car can deliver a combined fuel economy figure of 5-litres/100km (56mpg) and that's good. That feeds into a best performing low emission level of just 118gr/km.

That puts the Justy into the lowest VRT brand on the market at 14 per cent, which should ensure a price reduction in July. It also means that annual road tax for the Justy will be just €100, the lowest Band A category. So there should be lots of sense in planning a Justy purchase post 1 July.