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Subaru WRX vs. Volkswagen GTI | Under-$30K fun

If financing a new car purchase for 60 months, you'll spend roughly $200/month for those five years on every $10K you finance. Subaru's WRX and Volkswagen's GTI, each with a base price of around $25K (which equates to roughly $400/month with 20 percent down) can easily become $40K (in WRX STI and Golf R trim). That extra $15,000 will cost you almost $300/month over the life of a 60-month payment book. A $40K Subaru or Volkswagen is cheap in terms of enjoying the additional performance, but if your goal is only to get places in a fast hatch or sedan, you can keep your outlay far closer to the base price. Just mind the options. VW GTI: In the increasingly popular hot hatch segment, the GTI was arguably the first. Based on the revolutionary (for the mid-'70s) Golf hatchback, the GTI offered upgraded power, improved handling and just enough cosmetic enhancements to let others know you were driving something special. Consumer response was immediate, and imitators came out of the woodwork. Now in its seventh iteration (as of the 2015 model year), the GTI has consistently evolved. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged four makes 210 horsepower and — more important in day-to-day driving — 258 pound-feet of torque. Its footprint remains comfortably small, with easy access to front and rear seats and, if you need to carry something large, it has an expansive hatch and fold-down rear seat. Like most of the VW/Audi family, its interior design and appointment bat well above the $25,000 price point. Whether selecting the six-speed manual transmission or six-speed DSG automatic, know that a responsive, agile hatchback is just a throttle tip-in away. It's perfect for the in-town commute, weekend getaway or cross-country romp. And it appeals to a wide demographic, so resale value will remain high. Subaru WRX: This once was a performance derivative not shared with American consumers. But with its success globally, Subaru brought the WRX to the States, with the high-performance STI variant not long after. Having been offered in the U.S. as a sedan, wagon and hatchback, today's WRX is available only as a four-door sedan. As on every Subaru available in the U.S. (except the BRZ), all-wheel drive is standard. Power is supplied by a turbocharged flat four displacing 2.0 liters but upping the horsepower to 268, while available torque is numerically identical to the GTI's at 258 pound-feet.

2015 Subaru WRX and WRX STI configurator comes online

Subaru fans, get your clicking fingers ready - the configurator for both the 2015 WRX and the WRX STI are live on the company's consumer website.
With three trims of the standard WRX and two of the WRX STI available, customers can price out their ideal rally rocket. Aside from choosing a trim level, there's not a whole lot for dreamers to do here. A single interior trim (black) can be paired with a decent spectrum of colors. Each trim level only comes with one optional package, which ranges from $2,000 to $2,500 and includes some combination of navigation, a Harmon/Kardon stereo or push-button start. There are also a number of dealer-installed accessories available, as well.
Hop on over to Subaru's US consumer page, and start building your perfect road-legal rally car.

Subaru secures permit to test self-driving car in California

The list of automakers that can test their self-driving cars in California is getting less and less exclusive by the minute. Its latest addition? Subaru. The Japanese company has secured an Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit from the state's DMV on February 9th, bringing the total number to 22. Some Subaru models already have assisted driving features thanks to their camera-based Eyesight system, such as adaptive cruise control, sway warning and pre-collision braking. However, the company is developing new capabilities meant to kick in while doing speeds of up to 40 mph, including the ability to auto-start and stop in slow traffic. Subaru also wants to offer lane switching and auto-steering around bends and curves -- semi-autonomous driving capabilities for highways -- by 2020. It's unclear what features Subaru will be testing exactly, and if they're any of these. All that's certain is that it's joining both big-name and little-known companies on California roads, like NVIDIA, Ford, Good and Baidu. This article by Mariella Moon originally appeared on Engadget, your guide to this connected life. Related Video: News Source: DMV Government/Legal Subaru Technology Autonomous Vehicles California