2010 Subaru Outback - Click above for high-res image gallery
Once again, Subaru's mainstay models, the Outback and Legacy, appear to be girding for a recall. Both models have already faced callbacks for leaky CVT hoses and wiring issues, but according to Inside Line, a new issue affecting a number of manual transmission-equipped 2010 and 2011 models will not only precipitate another recall, but also a stop-sale on all potentially-affected vehicles.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the oil lubrication hole in the six-speed manual transmission has not been drilled on the affected vehicles, which can cause gears to break. NHTSA issued a statement, saying:
"If the transmission gears are not properly lubricated, a groaning sound may begin to develop, alerting the driver to a problem. If this sound is ignored and no action is taken, the gears will eventually break and this condition will lead to vehicle power loss, possibly resulting in a crash."
Vehicles will be repaired, free of charge, at any Subaru dealer in America. Most will simply have an oil lubrication hole drilled, though the automaker has informed its dealer network that vehicles with 6,250 miles or more will require the replacement of the third through sixth gearsets, as well as the main shaft.
A total of 809 Outback and Legacy models are affected by this recall, which is expected to officially go into effect on August 6. In the meantime, owners are urged to contact their local dealers as soon as possible to have this problem corrected.
Subaru take the public for a ride in the 2011 WRX STI sedan - Click above to watch video after the jump
Call us sadistic, but there's something undeniably hilarious about yanking random people off of the street and plopping them into the passenger seat of a sports car. Throw a talented race driver behind the tiller, and you've got an unmatched recipe for entertainment. Subaru has decided to take a stroll down that path with a slew of new ads designed to introduce the new 2011 WRX STI sedan to the public. The company asked rally driver Dave Mirra to shuffle a few folk around under an overpass in the 305 horsepower turbo four-door, filmed the whole thing and called it a day.
Subaru has unveiled a total of five 30-second spots with a variety of regular Joes (and Janes) riding shotgun in the winged machine. The company is calling the campaign Get More Gs, and Subaru is quick to point out that the phrase is meant to equally focus on g forces as much as that "oh geez" feeling you get from slinging the car through a slalom. We see what you did there, Subaru. Hit the jump to enjoy the videos. Now... where can we get a skull antenna topper?
2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI - Click above for high-res image gallery
By most accounts, something went awry while Subaru was baking the last generation Impreza WRX STI. Maybe someone slipped in an extra cup of civility or forgot to add enough dashes of hardcore, but what was once little more than a thinly-disguised rally stage escapee had come out of the oven a little weaker than its predecessor. Subaru itself diplomatically admits that the priorities for the last generation STI were somewhat different from the 2011 model. The company stripped the line down to just the five-door hatchback in 2008, stressing functionality over style, and the whole recipe simply felt less focused than what we had come to expect from Japan's all-wheel drive hero.
But that was then, and this is now. The company assures us that for 2011, we can expect a return to the fundamentals that helped establish the STI as a force to be reckoned with. Though the drivetrain remains unchanged, a slew of suspension adjustments and a lower stance have given the STI the ability to hoover up tarmac and gravel stages indiscriminately once again. It isn't a completely new generation - more like a much needed do-over - but the changes are enough to make the 2011 model instantly recognizable from behind the wheel.
If that's not enough to convince you, allow us to direct your attention to the rear of the resurrected four-door body style, dominated once again by the kind of spoiler that could double as a civil engineering exercise. Yeah, baby. The STI is back, and on more than just a wing and a prayer.
2011 Subaru WRX - Click above for high-res image gallery
My, how the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX has grown. The plucky little sedan has gone off to summer camp and returned as a full-figured looker. Now donning its bigger sister's widebody dress and uprated wheels at all four corners, there are few tells this thing isn't fully capable of stopping at a moment's notice. And all we can say is: It's about time.
Even though the WRX has always had plenty of pep and other worldly grip, its outer shell never quite managed to hint at the go-fast fun lurking underneath its sizable hood scoop. No more.
2010 Subaru Outback - Click above for high-res image gallery
Ford's SYNC does 3G WiFi, and with the help of Autonet so do GM, Chrysler, Avis, some school buses and now Subaru. The Japanese automaker has put WiFi on the options list of the 2011 Subaru Outback for the pretty standard price of $499 as a dealer-installed option. That'll get you an encrypted connection good within 150 feet of the car, and it can be used while the car is in motion. The subscription is $29 per month after that, and Subaru is gracious enough to pick up the first three months for you. Follow the jump for the full press release.
KBB reader-submitted auto reviews - Click above to watch the videos after the jump
We've seen a lot of consumer-grade video in our day (we've made a few, too), and the quality can be less than astounding. So when we got wind of the fact that Kelley Blue Book was hosting a contest awarding $10,000 to the best consumer car review video, we were skeptical of the quality of product we were expecting to see. Good news. We were wrong, and the top videos are pretty darn good.
The top prize has been awarded to Clark Olson for a very funny critique of the 2000 Corolla with actual production-quality video work. In second place was Joel Moss Levinson, who managed to crack us up with a very clever rap featuring a somewhat problematic 2001 Volkswagen Passat. Seriously, it's pretty hilarious and is jam-packed with actual insight. In third place was an also entertaining take on the 2004 Subaru Forester by Patrick Latimer. Latimer sounded like a full-on auto enthusiast with 0-60 times and a very valid mention of the value of rowing one's own gears.
The winner was rewarded with $10,000 in cold, hard cash and a trip to sunny California for a video shoot with the KBB video crew. Second prize netted $5,000 and the third place winner received $1,000. Nicely done fellas. Hit the jump to watch the videos for yourself, and chime in via the post-jump poll to tell us if KBB correctly numbered the top three.
As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And while many of us look at a Subaru and describe the brand's styling as "awkward" or "quirky," owners of the competent, all-wheel drive conveyances tend to show unconditional love. More recent, Subaru designs like the Legacy or Impreza are less "outside the box" than past efforts, but some hardcore Subaru fanatics look at the change in styling as an aesthetic neutering. Still, sales have improved immensely over the past few years, as Subaru has not only survived the Great Recession, but thrived. So what's in store for the future of Subaru styling?
In a recent interview with AutoWeek, Subaru's new design boss Osamu Namba claims that the Japanese automaker is looking to ditch its odd designs once and for all, with cleaner lines that appeal to a wider audience. Namba joined Subaru back in 2008 after spending a decade heading his own design firm, and he's said to be working on the next-generation Impreza; his first production Subaru. But to see where Subaru's design direction could go, look no further than the Hybrid Tourer Concept from the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The Namba-designed concept is a totally new look for Subaru, with clean, modern lines and an aesthetic that's far less challenging than past models.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Subaru design staff is to improve styling without alienating its loyal audience. While some critics may mention that the Hybrid Tourer Concept would rub Subaru owners the wrong way, the Japanese automaker is hoping that those loyal fans will continue to love their products because of their all-wheel drive, boxer engine and entertaining driving characteristics. Head over to AW to read over the interesting article about Namba and the future of Subaru design, and make sure to weigh in on the poll below.
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Chris Shunk, Alex Nunez, Sam Abuelsamid and Dan Roth convene yet again for Episode #186 of the Autoblog Podcast. Topics are the final passing of the long-suffering Chrysler PT Cruiser, General Motors' "Build your own engine" for Chevrolet Corvette buyers, Tesla and its dalliance with Toyota prototypes, and the work being undertaken to develop vehicles that can be driven by the blind. There's the inevitable tangential excursions, and we finish up by responding to your feedback and questions before wrapping at an hour and twenty-five minutes. Thanks for listening, see you next time!
Autoblog Podcast #186 - The PT Cruiser is dead, blind drivers, Tesla and Toyota, and more!
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2010 Subaru Outback - Click above for high-res gallery
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Subaru is recalling 74,000 2010 Outback and Legacy models built between February 16, 2009 and April 12, 2010. It seems that a bundle of wires located behind the steering wheel can develop stress cracks and eventually break. If this happens, some vehicle functions with controls on the steering wheel - such as the horn, cruise and radio controls, paddle shifters and even the driver's airbag - could fail.
Owners of affected vehicles are urged to contact their local dealerships to see if their cars are equipped with a possibly defective steering roll connector. If so, the dealership will replace the component free of charge. Earlier this year, Subaru recalled roughly 30,000 Outback and Legacy models for a leaky CVT transmission hose.
Full details on this latest recall can be found after the break.
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Special Edition - Click above for high-res image gallery
If you're in the market for an all-wheel drive hatchback with 300 horsepower and an extensive track pedigree, you're probably looking for a Subaru WRX STI. Hope you know how to drive a stick, though, because the only available transmission here in the States is a six-speed manual. If you're thinking "good!" we're most definitely with you, but if you're interested in a slush box you're going to have to pass on the STI all-together. Unless you live in Australia.
Subaru is offering a five-speed automatic for the Australian market, apparently because of high demand. Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia says in the post-jump press release that the company has had "increasing inquires about an auto over the last two years and we're delighted to be able to deliver what a significant number of customers have requested." Senior added that the five-speed slush box will reflect the hatchback's athletic nature while appealing to a wider audience.
We're all for car-buyers getting whatever they want, as long as a proper manual transmission is also offered. Keep in mind that the automatic tranny is only being announced for the Australian market, and there is no indication that we'll see a five-speed slusher in the States. We wouldn't be surprised if we did, though, considering Americans' love for the automatic, coupled with the fact that the Land Down Under is such a small market.
The current Subaru Forester started life with a Motor Trend SUV of the Year award, followed by strong sales that helped Subaru succeed in a down auto market. The story gets a bit better for the 2011 model year with a new 2.5-liter boxer engine and a host of added features.
The new engine retains the same displacement as the outgoing mill and achieves the same 170-horsepower, but it's now packing a chain driven double overhead cam versus the belt driven single overhead cam before. The result is maximum horsepower available at a lower RPM and an additional four pound-feet of torque (to 174 lb-ft). The new 2.5-liter helps the Forester post 21 miles-per-gallon in the city and 27 mpg on the highway whether you're sporting the manual or automatic transmission. That's up one mpg versus the outgoing model.
Other changes include a new model; the Subaru 2.5XT Touring, which slots above the Limited model. Among the standard features on the Touring model are HID headlamps, backup camera and dual-zone climate control. Subaru is also adding a 2.5XT Premium model (old model was 2.5X Premium), which includes a 10-way power driver's seat, an upgraded stereo with six speakers, Bluetooth and a USB port for your iPod. Also available is a removable 4.3-inch TomTom Navigation System for directions on the cheap. Hit the jump to read over the Subaru presser if you're interested in all the details.
Toyota Ractis - Click above for high-res image gallery
Subaru sees a demand for 1.3- and 1.5-liter cars in Japan at the same time as it sees a void in its lineup of vehicles with that displacement. To plug that hole, Subaru is turning to Toyota for a supply of its Ractis subcompact, a five-door, five-seater that offers both of the relevant engine sizes and comes in two-wheel and all-wheel drive.
Toyota will ship roughly 10,000 models to Subaru every year, to begin once the Ractis, on sale since 2005, comes in for thorough revision. It's the first time Toyota has agreed to supply a Japanese carmaker with finished products, perhaps aided in this case by the fact that Toyota owns 16.5% of Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru's parent company.
That's my wife, and despite the two thumbs up and big smile on her face, she just stalled our long-term 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT for the sixth time in a row. Turns out that the Legacy is not an ideal practice car in which to learn the fine art of cog swapping. It's too bad, too, as tomorrow the Mrs. and I are heading off on a 2,000+ mile road trip vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine in the Legacy. While I love a long road trip behind the wheel and prefer the driver's seat to the passivity of riding shotgun, it's going to be a long trip and I wouldn't have minded a copilot to take over when my eyelids get heavy.
The problem with learning stick in the Legacy is its clutch. The take-up point comes on quickly, after only an inch or so of pedal travel, so you have to be very nuanced in the application of your left foot within that span of space. Experienced manual drivers can get the hang of it, though it still takes concentration not to make your passengers buck back and forth when shifting gears. As for my wife, she just couldn't get the hang of the Legacy's manual tranny. Her left leg just didn't have the degrees of control necessary to pull away from a stop without letting the engine bog down and die. She actually did it the first time she tried, but couldn't duplicate her success on the second or eleventh try.
Now, I shouldn't fault the Legacy alone, as my lesson in shifting began with highly technical expositions of how the accelerator and clutch pedal were affecting the car's mechanicals and ended with me shouting "Give it more gas. More GAS. MORE GAS!" Our next lesson will be in a friend's 2002 Ford Focus, which we're assured has a suitably mushy clutch that's perfect for beginners. If you've got any tips on how best to teach someone manual driving, let us know in the comments.
PS: Thanks for the response from readers on my update about the Legacy's backwards E-brake. Since then I've tried to consider the E-Brake as more analogous to ye olde foot brakes and am having success. I've also discovered that if you're in gear and have your seatbelt on, the E-brake will disengage as soon as you apply some gas. Yes, electronics can be your friend.
2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI - Click above for high-res image gallery
Subaru has released pricing on its non-turbocharged Impreza models (which doesn't include the pictures WRX STI, sorry), and you'll be glad to know that your procrastination has been rewarded. Straight from the house that wears The Pleiades: "Pricing for the 2.5i, 2.5i Premium and Impreza Outback Sport are held to 2010 model year levels." That means the base 170-horsepower Impreza 2.5i sedan holds steady at $17,495, so too the Impreza Outback at $19,995 and everything in between, while the five-door hatch garners a slight premium at $17,995.
On the color front, although Subaru has dropped Newport Blue, and in its stead two hues have been added: Marine Blue Pearl and Sky Blue Metallic. Additionally, there are a couple of monotone paint options for the Impreza Outback Sport, and a couple of trim packages have been reworked and discounted. Follow the jump to read all about it.
Since I took the keys for our long-term 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT from fellow editor Chris Paukert, I've managed to squeeze in a number of long drives. This has given me a perfect chance to observe the Legacy 2.5GT's fuel economy in ideal conditions. The Environmental Protection Agency rates our Legacy model and its turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder at 18 mpg in the city, 25 on the highway and 21 mpg combined. As you can see above, our experience over the last three full fill-ups beat the estimates with room to spare.
Mind you, I've spent most of my time with the Legacy cruising comfortably on the highway, and Paukert, who lives in a decidedly more urban setting, assures me that the MPGs fall fast in the city. Also, remember that the Legacy 2.5GT requires premium fuel, and I spent between $44 and $46 to fill up its 18.5-gallon fuel tank with 93 Octane that cost about $2.80/gallon.
Still, my last fill-up showed the car achieved an honest-to-goodness 27 mpg over 426 miles, which is 6 mpg better than the EPA's combined estimate and 2 mpg better than its highway estimate. And the engine appears to be gaining efficiency as we continue to break it in.
The wife and I are gearing up for a road trip with the Legacy that will add well over 2,000 miles to its odo. We'll keep track of the fuel economy we see and report back to see if Autoblog's first long-term car can keep this surprisingly good performance up.
We've grown quite fond of our long-term 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT over the past few months, but we can't help but be somewhat jealous of the STI-tuned Legacy that's just been released in Japan. Subaru's in-house tuning department has laid hands on the new-for-2010 Legacy sedan (and the not-for-U.S. wagon!) to create the B4 2.5GT tS, which features a host of cosmetic and dynamic enhancements, even though the turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer remains unchanged.
Visually, the tS (which stands for "Tuned by STI") gets a new front lip spoiler, as well as a subtle deckled spoiler out back (fixed to the roof on wagon models). New 18-inch alloys wrapped in 225/45-series rubber sit at the corners and appropriate badging is applied all around. Inside, there's a revised instrument cluster, sport seats, carbon trim, a leather-wrapped STI steering wheel and, of course, STI branding on the shifter and floor mats.
Where the tS gets good, however, is in its performance upgrades, which include a sport exhaust system, a more robust Bilstein suspension, and new strut tower bars. Because the turbocharged flat-four keeps its stock output - 265 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque - this hotted-up Legacy won't be any quicker on the street. The other tweaks should make it even more poised during sporty driving, though.
While this may seem like just another juicy piece of Forbidden Fruit, we're sure that STI has upgrades for the U.S.-spec Legacy in the pipeline. (Please!) Scroll through the gallery below to see the Legacy tS's upgrades in detail.
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Special Edition - Click above for high-res image gallery
Rumblings about a diesel-powered Subaru WRX STIfirst surfaced more than two years ago, and now they're back. The realities of meeting CO2 emissions limits in Europe and elsewhere may have increased the likelihood of a high-performance diesel Subaru, and an oil-burning STI would probably generate at least 200 horsepower and well over 300 pound-feet of torque, suggests Autocar. According to the UK rumor-traffickers, gasoline engines will almost certainly remain in the mix, albeit with reduced displacement. A new engine based on the 1.5-liter boxer in the base Impreza could offer suitable power if mixed with other technologies like direct injection. Even if Subaru does indeed develop a diesel STI, there's no guarantee that such a model would ever make it to North America.
Of course, the WRX doesn't live in a vacuum. Its longtime rival, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo may also ditch the spark plugs and also add a hybrid system. Earlier plans for a gas hybrid were reportedly canceled in favor of the diesel. The plan is to retain the Evo's sophisticated all-wheel-drive for acceleration to 60 mph in under five seconds and CO2 emissions below 200 grams per kilometer. Thanks to everyone for the tips!
2011 Subaru WRX STI sedan at the Nürburgring - Click above for high-res image gallery
Quick: What's the fastest production sedan in the world? Does it wear a Mercedes-Benz, Audi or BMW badge? What about the Porsche Panamera Turbo or the Cadillac CTS-V? There's no doubt that each of these vehicular behemoths is capable of ripping off some fast times on a race track near you, but Subaru is out to prove that its new 2011 WRX STI sedan has the chops to keep pace with the best from the rest of the world.
To prove its point, Subaru recently sent test driver and four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Mäkinen out to the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife course in Germany with a 2011 STI test car. According to reports, the vehicle used in this testing was equipped with a few significant upgrades including a larger turbocharger that normally sees duty in the Japanese R205 model and some lightweight aluminum bits, but one thing is for certain: the 7:55 lap time is a mighty impressive result.
For those keeping track of such things, the previous best lap set by a Subaru WRX STI was in 2004 at 7:59.41 and the new mark set by Subaru - albeit with a prototype, not a production car - is quicker than any of the aforementioned competition. Best of all, there's a video of one entire lap around the 'Ring and you can find the in-car footage after the break.
Executive Editor Paukert has already complained about one button located on the panel to the left of the steering wheel in our long-term 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT. But now that the keys have traded hands and I've got a beef to share about a different button.
The electronic parking brake is the biggest "button" in the cluster, but it's not so much a button as a push/pull-type switch. Fitted with a manual transmission, we tend to set the parking brake every time we exit the car, so the switch gets a lot of use.
However, Subaru has set up the switch in the exact opposite orientation you'd expect. Every time I go to set the parking brake, I pull it. Every time I go to turn it off, I push it. Unfortunately, it works the other way around. I think what's going on is that my muscle memory is trying to replicate what I would do with a more traditional parking brake lever, i.e. pull to set, push to release. I suppose someone could argue the exact opposite, that pushing to engage and pulling to release makes total sense (because that's how the door on a microwave works?), but we've heard from other late-model Subaru owners that this switch is a source of frustration for them as well, and many other vehicles that we've driven with similar e-brake levers work in the opposite fashion.
For now, we must remember that in this digital age of ours, new technology doesn't necessarily mimic its analog counterpart, which means I'm stuck pulling when I should pushing until my brain decides to relent.
CLICK HERE to check out all of the updates on our long-term 2011 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT.
Our 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT long-termer has over 4,000 miles on it now, and it's broken in nicely. The six-speed cable shifter has freed up nominally (it's still a bit notchy), and the turbocharged flat-four is singing as sweetly as ever.
As we mentioned earlier, we're pleased to note that Subaru has already begun making some nominal tweaks to the 2.5GT to make it a bit more special, particularly in the area of cabin furnishings. We find the interior to be a pretty comfortable - and hugely roomy - place to be, but for the range's dedicated performance model, the 2010 iteration just isn't adequately differentiated from other models in the series. Thanks to a slew of minor changes, the 2011 model's interior promises visuals that are more in keeping with the 2.5GT's sporting temperament.
Oh - another word about those front seats. We've taken a few longer drives over the past month, and while they're still very comfortable, the lower seat cushions are quite short and we can't help but wonder if this would become a problem for taller folks. We're going to try to cajole some of our lankier friends into taking a few long drives with us and see how they come down. Either way, we do wish that the GT would rank model-specific seats with significantly more lateral bolstering for the twisties. No such issues with the rear seats - knee, leg and toe room is epic, as is headroom.
One other thing we've noticed is that not only are the Legacy's seats comfortable, the ride is extremely forgiving, even on 18-inch Bridgestone summer rubber. The 2.5GT has a surprisingly pliant sort of long-travel feel to it, which has proven to be an asset on the broken roads here in the Midwest. There might be a bit more lean in hard cornering as a consequence, but the tuning seems to mesh nicely with the idea of Subaru's rally heritage - we can see getting our Scandy-flick on and catching air on modest jumps with few issues in this thing. We plan to have the Legacy live out in California for a few months later this year, where our man Lavrinc will tell us if this somewhat softish feeling is a liability on the state's well-groomed curvy roads. For now, however, it's a pleasure, making short work of Detroit's broken surfaces.
In the meantime, our Subie continues to win friends on the streets and with family members, some of whom haven't encountered a modern product from Fuji Heavy. We've had a surprising number of unsolicited compliments curbside and at gas stations, and we're growing used to the design ourselves - those big fenders (purportedly to emphasize the car's all-wheel drive nature) now almost look like they're part of a sporty body kit to us - in a good way - and the deep maroon paint hides the car's size, while the finish appears to be of uniformly high quality.
CLICK HERE to check out all updates for our long-term 2011 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT.
