News
Posted Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 11:08pm
You may remember Subaru’s recent stunt run down a mile-long bobsled track. The video showed a heavily modified WRX STi sliding through one of the more improbable terrains, even for a Subaru, making it a real case for marvel and awe. The driver was none other than two-time Isle of Man TT Champion Mark Higgins, perhaps the only driver with huevos large enough to attempt the task. Although the previously released footage seemed like smooth sailing,… Read More →
Posted Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 11:01pm
These images give us our best look so far at the Subaru Ascent, a new-for-2018 three-row crossover to fill the hole in Subaru’s product lineup since the unloved Tribeca was discontinued after 2014. This prototype is lightly coated in a body-hugging camouflage wrap and appears to take its design from the Highlander-on-steroids Viziv-7 Concept that debuted at November’s Los Angeles Auto Show. An exec from Subaru’s parent company said at the time that “the next… Read More →
Posted Monday, March 20, 2017 at 10:29pm
Please allow me a momentary rant before getting into the subject of this week’s column, the excellent Subaru Forester, which has been made in Japan since 1997 and successfully sold in the United States since 1998. My rant is occasioned by national news showing our new president bragging about “keeping” automotive jobs in the United States. Please, people. Don’t buy it. It’s bull. The only thing “keeping” U.S. automotive jobs here is that U.S. automotive… Read More →
Posted Monday, March 20, 2017 at 10:22pm
This is the death-defying moment a stunt driver navigates a car down an infamous Olympic bobsled run. Mark Higgins, who stood in for Daniel Craig during some of the most elaborate James Bond driving scenes, sped down the 113-year-old track in St Moritz, Switzerland last weekend. At one point the three-time British Rally Championship winner almost flipped his Subaru WRX STI over as he navigated the near-vertical 30-metre long hairpin bend at the Olympia Bob Run. Read More →
Posted Friday, March 17, 2017 at 12:07am
No one buys a crossover based solely on how quick it is. But if it’s quicker than its competitors and has one of the most spacious cabins in its class, there’s reason to be impressed. Last year, we tested a 2016 Subaru Forester with a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter engine delivering 170 hp. It ran from 0 to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds, or on the slower side of the competition. Equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged… Read More →
Posted Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 12:02am
Following a rather sports car heavy Geneva Motor Show, it was hard to imagine a better way to leave the city than by jumping into Subaru STIs and heading straight to Italy and then for the Alps. There are multiple benefits to drive through Italy to get to the Swiss Alps: the Italians’ love of speed, their gas station food, having time to fantasize about Alfa Romeos in the traffic jams around Milan, counting first-generation… Read More →
Posted Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 12:01am
The 2010s have been kind to Fuji Heavy Industries, the company better known by its Subaru auto marque. After years of swift growth, its global vehicle sales surpassed the 1 million mark in 2016. The catch is that most of those sales were made in one place — North America — and production is straining capacity. The Nikkei spoke with Fuji Heavy President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga to find out how he plans to put the automaker… Read More →
Posted Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 11:57pm
We can count on one thing: one of the 700 units of the STI Series.HyperBlue that have come to the US was totaled over the weekend in Ohio. And you can check out a video showing the aftermath of the impact below. As for how the Dayton-driven Scooby ended up in such a horrible situation, Redditor Harmonicon provides a story that definitely needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Read More →
Posted Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 11:53pm
There’s an inherent compromise in “car movies.” Go heavy on the realism and mechanical accuracy, and you’ve got a film with extremely niche appeal—Steve McQueen’s Le Mans is the quintessential example. Head in the other direction, using the cars as the backdrop for the action, and you’ve got goofy fun that doesn’t necessarily reflect gearhead reality. Transformers is but one example. But the latest action movie slated to come out this summer seems to hit… Read More →
Posted Monday, March 13, 2017 at 11:33pm
There’s no doubt that the pickup segment has been heating up lately following a sudden surge of pickup lovers among Americans. However, we can’t help but ponder on this: why isn’t Subaru making a mid-size pickup? Almost every other automaker has been trying it so, why not Subaru? On top of that, Subaru’s Symmetrical AWD systems would be perfect for a pickup truck and maybe even becoming an instant hit among truck buyers. It could… Read More →
