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Autoblog Minute: VW Q3 financial woes, 2015 Tokyo Motor Show

Consumer Reports pulls its Tesla recommendation, the U.S. Copyright Office offers a ruling affecting car owners, VW gets hit hard with third-quarter losses, and lots of exciting news from Tokyo. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Consumer Reports pulls its Tesla recommendation, the U.S. copyright office offers a ruling that affects car owners and gear heads, VW gets hit hard with third-quarter losses, and lots of exciting news from Tokyo. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. After a week away testing vehicles for Autoblog's Tech of the Year award, we're back in the office to recap the week in automotive news. [00:00:30] One of the things you might have missed was Consumer Reports pulling its recommendation of Tesla's Model S sedan. The blemish for Tesla comes after a tally of reviews from customer surveys. The most common problem areas for the Model S as cited by survey takers included: the drivetrain, power equipment, charging equipment, body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks. So lots of stuff. Though they could not ignore a score of "worse-than-average", Consumer Reports still [00:01:00] highlighted the fact that the Model S was "the best performing car" they've ever tested. Telsa CEO Elon Musk took to social media to defend his sedans saying: "Consumer Reports reliability survey includes a lot of early production cars. Already addressed in new cars." And, "Tesla gets top rating of any company in service. Most important, CR says 97% of owners expect their next car to be a Tesla (the acid test)." In Financial news, Volkswagen took a hit and reported an operating loss of [00:01:30] $3.84 billion. This is the first such loss for VW in 15 years. Toyota reclaimed the crown as the world's largest automaker as well. It's important that it's not all doom and gloom for VW though in Q3. Sales revenues were up and the company's automotive division boasts $30 billion dollars in liquid assets. It's a sizable war chest that will no doubt come in handy, as the company has yet to feel the full brunt of the diesel emissions scandal. Good news for gear heads. The US copyright office [00:02:00] ruled in favor of mechanics and car owners by granting an exception to existing copyright law. The law was originally meant to prevent software pirating and bootlegging of Hollywood movies.

Subaru's BRZ STI Sport Concept is not quite what we've been waiting for

Subaru announced its lineup for the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon, and at the tippy top is yet another STI-badged BRZ concept car. But unlike the Performance Concept from the 2015 New York Auto Show, the new BRZ STI Sport Concept isn't so extreme. While it's hard to predict what this car means based on the limited information Subaru has released, we can get an idea of where the company is going by looking at its last STI Sport production model – the not-for-US Levorg. Essentially, the BRZ STI Sport Concept sounds like a lukewarm example of the lovable rear-driver, taking parts of the tS driving experience and marrying it with some interior and exterior enhancements. We can see those latter elements in the sole image the company released – the silver concept car gets a fresh body kit that's less aggressive than 2015's Performance Concept. The sole exterior image shows a subtle chin spoiler and a more prominent upgrade to the side sill. Smaller changes include STI badges in the lower grille and side grilles. In the cabin, Subaru apparently added dark red upholstery. All of this gels with the aesthetic the Levorg pioneered. On the performance front, we see what look like Brembo-branded red brake calipers, but that's about as certain as we can get with mechanical upgrades. What we can't see are likely modest performance tweaks, focusing on the suspension. The Levorg STI Sport, for example, got adjustable Bilstein dampers, firmer springs, and a tweaked power steering system. A similar STI Sport concept, based on the WRX S4, will share the Tokyo show stand with the BRZ. Subaru's racing entries in Super GT, Japan Rally, and the 24 Hours of Nurburgring will also go on display. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Choose the right tool | 2017 Subaru BRZ Performance Package Second Drive

There's something to be said for using the right tool for the job. It's not always possible, but you know that when you whip out the Vise Grips, deep down inside, it just feels wrong. There's satisfaction, joy, even dignity in using the proper instrument to execute a task accurately on the first try. Our attempt to wield the updated 2017 Subaru BRZ on Fuji Speedway last year were stymied by summer fog that rolled into the base of Mt. Fuji, reducing visibility to just a couple of car lengths. But it's an extremely fast circuit with a nearly mile-long front straight so even on a clear day, it's not the ideal venue for the BRZ. Which is why we accepted Subaru's invitation to take another go at it, this time at Circuito Guadix, an off-the-beaten-path track near Granada, Spain. (If you go, try the paella.) The Performance Package is the highest spec available on the chassis to date in the US, and that includes its Toyota and Scion brethren. The setup is exclusive to the BRZ line and has no Toyota counterpart. With a price of $1,195 on top of (and only available on) the $28,465 Limited trim level with a manual, it gets you a host of upgrades to its unsprung components, all of which would cost several times more if procured piecemeal in the aftermarket. Sorry, there are no power upgrades, save for the bump of five horsepower and five pound-feet of torque on manual-transmission 2017 models. The most noticeable of the enhancements are sharp, gunmetal-finish 17-by-7.5-inch wheels, inspired by the famed RS-Watanabe design that adorned Japanese touring racers of the 1970s. The extra half-inch of width accommodates larger Brembo brakes — four-piston calipers up front biting down on rotors that have grown by 0.95 inches in diameter and thickness to 12.8 by 1.18, and two-pot calipers pinching 12.4-by-0.79-inch rotors, up from 11.4 by 0.71, out back. These are the same brake dimensions as you'll find on the car Subaru still considers the flagbearer of its enthusiast lineup, the rally-ready WRX STI. Performance Pack BRZs are suspended by Sachs ZF dampers and incur a weight penalty of just 20 pounds over the Limited. The Series.Yellow seen here takes all the goodies of the Performance Package and adds exclusive yellow paint that Subaru is quick to point out is entirely different from the yellow that appeared on the 2015 Scion FR-S Release Series 1.0. We'll concede that it's less boy-racer, but only slightly.