News
Posted Thursday, August 22, 2024 at 10:11pm
Walk around any convention-style car show, and the Subaru section is likely to stand out. Leaning into its popularity among outdoorsy types, the carmaker displays its latest models not on sterile stages but in oases of synthetic trees and puppies. So crunchy is the brand’s vibe that it’s surprising an EV wasn’t among those models until early 2023, when Subaru launched the Solterra in the US. However, Subaru’s slow burn seems to be paying off.… Read More →
Posted Sunday, July 28, 2024 at 9:47pm
Elections have consequences — including for the product plans of midsize Japanese automakers. Subaru is slowly working on a redesign of its three-row Ascent crossover, but the brand’s largest vehicle will be replaced by the three-row electric vehicle being built in Kentucky by Toyota if regulations tightening emissions remain in place. However, if the November election outcome changes emission requirements, the gasoline-fueled Ascent will be redesigned and offer a hybrid variant alongside the Toyota-built EV.… Read More →
Posted Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 11:27pm
Stunt cars are the new concept cars, and that’s OK. I miss far-flung exotic design studies that “run” on plutonium as much as the next guy, but let’s not overlook the fact that companies like Ford and Subaru keep making killer performance machines that actually drive, which is more than most concepts can say. The latest from Subaru is the Project Midnight WRX, a 670-horsepower asphalt rocket built for ex-F1 and rallycross driver Scott Speed.… Read More →
Posted Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 11:02pm
Some automakers are trying to save the manuals while others are attempting to rescue the internal combustion engine. Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru held a joint conference to explain how decarbonization can be achieved without going all-in on EVs. Toyota has three new smaller and more efficient engines in the works. Mazda is pursuing single- and two-rotor engines. Here’s what Subaru is cooking up. It has figured out how to keep its horizontally opposed engine alive in a next-generation… Read More →
Posted Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 9:36pm
On Tuesday, May 28, Toyota, Subaru, and Mazda announced a lineup of innovative new combustion engines that can be used either in a stand-alone or hybrid form in conjunction with a battery. The new engines will be combustion engines but also compatible with alternative fuels such as e-fuel (synthetic fuel), biofuels, and liquid hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen, provided the hydrogen is made from electrolysis, emits zero carbon dioxide (CO2). And while both e-fuel and biofuels do… Read More →
Posted Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 10:00pm
Subaru expanded the WRX lineup for 2024 with the new manual-only TR model, which featured a series of upgrades including brakes, stiffer springs, retuned steering, and front Recaro bucket seats. Now Subaru is adding another special performance model with the 2025 WRX tS. That moniker stands for “tuned by STI,” and the latest WRX variant gains a new suspension tweaked by the STI performance division, along with a new digital gauge cluster. The headlining update… Read More →
Posted Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 10:28pm
It’s that time of the year when Japanese automakers are releasing details about how they performed in the previous fiscal year, which ended on March 31. Usually, companies also make some major announcements, such as Mazda’s confirmation of a next-generation CX-5 hybrid. Subaru has some important news to share as well–production of the new Forester is coming to United States. The sixth-generation model will be assembled in Indiana at the factory in Lafayette. Production capacity… Read More →
Posted Monday, May 13, 2024 at 10:14pm
As the era of widespread EV adoption looms, smaller automakers are looking to big conglomerates for help as they contend with the large upfront costs required to develop all-new platforms and powertrains. Subaru is one such company, as it seeks to strengthen ties with Toyota—which holds a 20 percent stake in Subaru—and has outlined plans for three new electric SUVs over the next few years. The plans were divulged during a recent earnings call, as… Read More →
Posted Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 9:45pm
In an updated test that evaluated the performance of the crash avoidance systems of 10 popular, small SUVs, few models excelled. Only the 2023-24 Subaru Forester earned a good rating. The first results of the new vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention testing program, aimed to encourage automakers to improve crash avoidance systems, were announced on Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit financed by the insurance industry. “The vast majority of new vehicles… Read More →
Posted Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 10:13pm
Get ready to bid farewell to yet another sedan. Subaru announced today that the Legacy mid-size sedan will be discontinued following the 2025 model year. The current generation, the Legacy’s seventh, arrived for 2020 and was given a refresh for the 2023 model year with sharper front end styling. While sales were up by 13 percent year over year in 2023 to 25,510 units, they were down by 13 percent through March of this year and are… Read More →
