2023 Subaru Ascent Touring on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota GT86 engineers explored shooting brake and sedan variants, are they still in the cards?

According to the Toyota UK blog, engineers for the automaker were so excited developing the GT86 coupe that they investigated producing a whole family of models based on the rear-wheel drive sports car. And at least one engineer - product chief Tetsuya Tada - still hopes it can happen, even if not everyone at Toyota is onboard. Tada: "Actually we tried to do this secretly but the executives found us out. They said: 'What are you doing? Will you please focus on the coupe.'"
Those mooted variants included both a four-door sedan and a shooting brake. Why? Aside from the pure excellence of a lightweight, brilliantly handling hatchback, Toyota was keenly aware of the fact that it may need to spread the cost of development out across several models. Tada says that's part of the reason why it was so easy to create the convertible. The company knew from the outset that a softtop version was in the cards, and built the machine's structure to accommodate having the roof sliced off.
Tada also made mention of the already-announced collaboration between Toyota and BMW. The engineer said that the GT86 was particularly helpful because it demonstrated just how successful a product conceived and designed by two different companies can be. While he didn't say exactly what Toyota and BMW are up to, it's clear the two are looking into a number of possibilities. It's an interesting read with a lot of

Subaru gives Aussies BRZ Sports Pack

Well, it might not be exactly the Subaru BRZ STI that we've all been waiting for, but Australian market shoppers are now going to have the option of adding some STI flavor to their coupe, with this new BRZ S.
Critically, the Sports Pack upgrades included in the S specification do not involve forced induction of any kind for the BRZ's 2.0-liter flat-four mill. Instead, the BRZ S will offer a novel flexible strut tower brace and a coilover suspension to aid its already impressive handling prowess. Visually, the car gets a new aero kit with lowered skirts and a new front and rear splitter, as well as some mean-looking, 17-inch black wheels. Inside, a new gearlever and a STI-branded starter button will call out the S model.
The S package can be ordered on a new BRZ and fitted at the dealer, or added to an existing customer car. When ordered new, the BRZ S adds $7,995 Australian - about $7,275 US including installation - to the price of the six-speed manual car, or $7,195 Australian ($6,547 US) for the six-speed automatic transmission model. That's a pretty fat wedge of cash, but it's worth bearing in mind that Australians generally pay significantly more for new cars than we do here in the States. For instance, the BRZ starts at $37,150 Australian, nearly $34k US. Even accounting for regional equipment differences, that's a lot more than the BRZ's $26,265 as-delivered base MSRP here in America.

2015 Subaru Outback

"We like producing cars that are different." That's the company line trumpeted by several Subaru executives during the launch of the 2015 Outback - one of Fuji Heavy's most successful vehicles to date. Managing Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski accurately noted that while Subaru has never really found salvation with its mainstream sedans, it's the higher-riding, butcher offerings like the Outback and the Impreza-based XV Crosstrek that have been sales stars for the Japanese company. In 2013, for example, Subaru sold nearly three Outbacks for every Legacy it moved. And in 2014, the XV is on pace to outsell the Impreza upon which its based.
But Subarus have always been different, catering to unique customers that desire something a bit more special than your run-of-the-mill sedan or crossover. It's clearly worked, with Subaru having posted 30 months of year-over-year sales increases as of this writing. And even as the automaker's portfolio goes more mainstream, smoothing out its serially awkward styling and gunning for a larger market share here in the United States, that intrinsic Subaru differentiation is still baked in to each and every product.
It's that new Outback we're here to talk about today, a vehicle that's been comprehensively redesigned for the 2015 model year while not shaking up the formula that's made it successful since its inception in the mid-1990s, back when it (arguably) launched what we now know as the crossover utility vehicle segment. It's still plenty different - and plenty good, too.