1993 Subaru Impreza Ls Sedan 4-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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2020 Subaru Outback Touring Quick Spin | Balance of power

Driving an Outback in Subaru-crazy Seattle is just about as incognito as one can get. You can further disappear into the Evergreen State background if your Outback is Autumn Green Metallic. And that’s how we blended in for a week in a town where the Outback has been the top-selling vehicle several years, and where Subarus constitute 12% of all vehicles sold (2.5 times the brandÂ’s market share nationwide). A few cars are outselling the Outback so far this year — but that's OK, because one of them is the Subaru Forester. Our disguise for a week was a 2020 Outback Touring, the top trim level, which starts at $38,355 including destination fee. For that sum, which is nearly $12,000 more than a base Outback, you get a quite-nice interior done up in warm Java Brown Nappa Leather, with sunroof, 18-inch black aluminum alloy wheels, satin-chrome side mirrors, body-color door handles, heated steering wheel, and driver-distraction mitigation system. ItÂ’s a handsome package, especially the 11.6-inch Starlink touchscreen built into a monolithic, smooth black glass center stack, though the HVAC controls in particular are a curious mix of analog and digital. And it all rides on a new, stiffer platform — making the Outback inwardly new from the ground up, even though it was outwardly designed to look pretty much like it always has. ItÂ’s a conservative, donÂ’t-mess-with-success design approach that Subaru also used on the new Forester. What you donÂ’t get, at least not on this Outback tester nor the one we drove a few months ago in our first-drive review, is a whole lot of power. Both cars were equipped with SubaruÂ’s base 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder engine that doesnÂ’t reach its peak 182 horsepower until 5,800 rpm, with peak torque of 176 pound-feet at 4,400 rpm. Curb weight on the Touring is 3,772 pounds. Horsepower is up by a mere seven over last year, torque by two pound-feet. Here in Subaru city, IÂ’ve known Outback owners who praise their car's virtues but almost apologetically slip in a qualifier: A little more power wouldÂ’ve been nice. Subaru has a solution for that — the optional XT engine, a 2.4-liter turbocharged engine putting out a thatÂ’s-more-like-it 260 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. The turbo four takes the place of the 3.6-liter flat-six that was offered through 2019. But the MSRPs for the XT trims are a big step up – $4,300 to go from Limited to Limited XT, $2,350 from Touring to Touring XT – to a total ranging from $35,905 to $40,705.

2020 Subaru WRX Series.White Road Test | Making the case for an STI

For 2020, Subaru has launched another round of color-themed limited-edition WRX and STI models. They’re called Series.White, and, big surprise, come in a bright white paint scheme. TheyÂ’re also limited to 500 units a piece, and in the case of the WRX model we tested, it comes with a variety of performance upgrades including an exclusive Bilstein suspension. ItÂ’s an attractive model that makes a strong case in a vacuum, but itÂ’s a questionable value even against other Subaru variants. The 2020 Subaru WRX Series.White is basically a WRX Premium with the Performance Package, plus a few extra things. That means it has the Recaro power seats, Brembo four-piston front calipers and two-piston rear calipers, and no sunroof for weight savings. Specific to the Series.White is the aforementioned Bilstein suspension as well as the exclusive Ceramic White paint, dark bronze wheels, steering-adaptive LED headlights and LED fog lights. The price for all this is $34,895. ThatÂ’s just $1,450 more than the Performance Package-equipped WRX Premium, and youÂ’re getting exclusivity, a stylish color combo and ostensibly better suspension, so things seem pretty good starting out. The good feeling sticks around when you take the WRX Series.White out for a spirited drive. What really shines is the chassis and drivetrain. ItÂ’s solid as a rock and super responsive. Every little input from the fast, accurate steering gets an immediate and eager response from the car. It feels neutral on back roads, something helped by the all-wheel drive that has a splits power 50/50 front/rear and features a viscous limited-slip center differential. With minimal body roll and maximum grip, the WRX eggs you on, asking you to push it harder and faster through corners. And when itÂ’s time to slow down, the Brembo brakes provide excellent feedback and a solid, firm pedal feel. Speaking of pedals, theyÂ’re laid out nice and close to each other for easy rev-matched downshifts. Be careful of the clutch, though, as itÂ’s on the long side and has light-switch engagement, but works great when youÂ’re driving hard. And yes, the six-speed manual is the only transmission available. The engine is more of a mixed bag. With the same 268 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque as any other WRX, the 2.0-liter turbo flat-four puts up good numbers, but the delivery isnÂ’t great. At low rpm, it feels sluggish as you wait for the boost to build, and at high rpm, you can tell itÂ’s running out of huff.

Autoblog goes on an African safari, Subaru-Style

... And Learns To Love The Ostrich
Subaru may be the ostrich of the Japanese auto industry.
When one thinks of a safari, they naturally draw pictures in their mind's eye of wild animals, like lions, elephants and giraffes. I'm no different, and it was with visions of long telephoto lenses over vast runes and dunes that I embarked on a 19-hour plane ride from Phoenix, Arizona to Plettenberg Bay in South Africa, camera gear in tow.