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Subaru WRX STI S209 is the most expensive production Subaru ever

We asked for it, and now we have it: The ultimate WRX STI. It’s called the STI S209, and we drove the extra-special Subaru just a few short weeks ago. Now we have a price, and itÂ’s officially the most expensive new Subaru ever. All 209 examples of the S209 will sell for $64,880. WeÂ’ll give you a second to process that, but a second most likely isnÂ’t long enough. Every one of the 209 cars will be headed to the U.S. starting in November this year — STIÂ’s shop is only able to produce 2-3 cars per day, so itÂ’ll be a slow trickle of cars being shipped over here. Previous to the S209, the Type RA was the top dog in the American WRX lineup. It cost $49,855, and offered a nice bump in performance over a regular STI. This S209 finally gives us the significant increase in power weÂ’ve been asking for all these years, but it also represents a massive effort at making the best-handling STI ever. Aftermarket modifications could get you partway there, but there will be no true equivalent to the S209 coming from somebodyÂ’s garage. We fully expect itÂ’ll be Subaru WRX STI enthusiasts who spring for the few available cars, as the $64,880 price will likely be a major roadblock for all but the true believers. At that price thereÂ’s a huge variety of other cars to choose from, many of them more desirable than an ultra-rare Subaru to some folks. Dealer markups could take this car to even greater heights, especially if a dealer finds some Subaru fanatics with money to burn. If the 341-horsepower S209 sounds like something you need to park in your garage, we suggest you get over to the nearest bank and Subaru dealer as soon as possible.

Subaru nixes plans for US-built XV Crosstrek

Subaru is on a sales tear, with numbers up 21 percent through the end of November compared to last year. It's been investing in its Indiana factory, and having ended its contract to build the Toyota Camry there, the 400,000-unit capacity was once seen as more than Subaru needs. At some point Subaru had plans to build the XV Crosstrek here in the US, but Reuters reports that the company has changed its mind and will build the little crossover Scooby in Japan, in the same Gunma Prefecture factory where the Impreza, BRZ and Levorg are built. The report cites "the relatively high sales price," the weakening yen versus the dollar and capacity constraints at the Indiana facility. For a planned production run of 65,000 Crosstrek units annually, the new math – especially the yen valuation, which has declined against the dollar to a rate not seen since 2007 – makes Japanese production a viable option. Subaru isn't the only manufacturer taking its toys back home, either: the Reuters report says Toyota is considering shifting some Camry production back to Nippon, while Nissan plans to do the same with the Rogue. Our guess is that if Subaru sales continue the trend they've been on for years, the assembly decision will give them more local flexibility here for addressing it. Featured Gallery 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid: First Drive View 53 Photos News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Copyright 2014 AOL Plants/Manufacturing Subaru Crossover subaru xv crosstrek

CCTV footage shows Red Bull trophy heist going down

Any Formula One team knows the deal: you train, you prepare, you make the best car possible and put it in the hands of the best people you can get. But then out of nowhere another driver crashes into one of yours and your race is over. That's just the way it goes sometimes, but even that didn't prepare Red Bull Racing for the crash that happened at its headquarters last month. That's when some bandits drove a silver Subaru Legacy wagon backwards through the front door of the team's headquarters in Milton Keynes, UK, and made off with a bunch of the trophies displayed in the lobby. Now video footage from a closed-circuit television camera has surfaced, showing the crime go down in a brief twelve-second clip. It was a senseless crime since most of the trophies don't have much intrinsic value, and it's not exactly like they could sell them to someone else. All it accomplished was to damage the team's facility and demoralize the men and women who worked so hard to win those trophies – many of which ended up dumped in a nearby lake. News Source: BBC via YouTube, World Car Fans Motorsports TV/Movies Subaru F1 security trophy heist