2005 Subaru Outback 2.5i on 2040-cars

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Subaru recalls new Forester over pedal entrapment fears

Pedal entrapment and unintended acceleration are hot-button topics these days, so automakers are always staying alert for potential problems. For Subaru and its newly introduced 2014 Forester, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a recall due to improperly manufactured floor mats that could become an obstruction for the gas, brake or clutch pedals. The good news, of course, is that even if drivers experience this problem, the 2014 Forester comes standard with brake override.
At issue with the floor mats on 10,137 Forester models built between January and March of this year is that the resin material used on the underside of the mats can curl when exposed to heat. If the leading edge of the driver's mat curls enough, it can come in contact with the pedals making acceleration, braking and shifting more difficult - possibly resulting in a crash. To fix the problem, Subaru is replacing the entire set of floor mats in all of the affected units. The official NHTSA recall notice is posted below.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

2015 Subaru Forester tS Quick Spin

When Subaru invited me to Japan and the famed Suzuka racing circuit to drive its BRZ tS, there was more on the menu than sporting coupes. The STI buffet also included the Subaru Forester tS. If you caught my BRZ tS review, the Forester follows the same idea: modified for better, more precise handling but without any increase in power. As I shared in the first tS review, and with Subaru's news at the New York Auto Show, the company plans to increase the awareness of Subaru Tecnica International – STI – over the next five years. In the case of the BRZ tS, a similarly-conceived car is coming to the US in the next few years. Such is not the story with the Forester tS. The JDM-only product was on hand to drive as further proof of what STI can do, but not as a preview to an upcoming model for sale in America. Subaru execs wouldn't go so far as to rule the idea out completely, but there was plenty of wink-nudging admitting the limited market for something like the Forester tS over here. Firmly ensconced in the "forbidden fruit" category, then, I still thought it'd be fun to report on the hot-ish, wagon-ish Forester. This one's for the other car nerds like me. Driving Notes So, what's new on this tS? Basically STI made the Forester stickier and less prone to roll under high cornering load. The same type of flexible tower brace previously found under the hood of the WRX is used here, and "flexible draw stiffeners" connect the body to the front and rear subframes for added body stiffness. The braces incorporate a very strong coil spring, and add lateral stiffness with enough give to allow the tires to stay in perfect contact with the road surface. The tires in question are 245-section Bridgestones, riding on attractive 19-inch STI wheels, both increases from the 225-section tires and 18-inch wheels that come standard in the US on the Forester 2.0XT model. The tS also has a more-powerful Brembo braking package; handy when hauling a 3,600-pound vehicle down from straightaway speeds. Subaru benchmarked the tS versus other 'sporty' SUVs and CUVs, including out and out performance variants. (Japanese professional modesty prevented Subaru reps from naming specific names, but suffice it to say that the Germans were involved.) In terms of roll rates, yaw response, slalom time, g-force and more, the Subaru's tS package shows massive improvements versus the standard Forester, and holds up to the competitive targets too.