2009 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited Wagon 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Subaru sets Guinness world record with Subiefest car parade

Over 1,700 motorists were stuck in traffic in Southern California on October 4, 2020, but it wasn't due to one of the region's horrendous traffic jams. They got together to form the largest parade of Subaru cars ever recorded. Certified by Guinness as a new world record, the two-mile-long parade included 1,751 cars made by Subaru. Photos from the event show a diverse selection of models ranging from a late-model WRX STI to a 1980s GL. It doesn't look like the parade included a 360, the first car Subaru sold in America, but we spot a bright yellow Baja. Surprisingly, it wasn't the first time a Subaru-only parade earned a spot in the Guinness book: 549 vehicles got together on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, in 2015 to set the previous record. Now, 1,751 is an impressive number, it beats Mini's 1,450-car record, but a handful of carmakers have managed to organize even bigger parades: 2,325 Porsche owners participated in a parade in Germany in 2008, and the Volkswagen Aficionado Club of Brazil put 2,728 examples of the original air-cooled Beetle on the same stretch of road in 1995. Subaru's record wasn't set just for bragging rights and marketing fodder. The parade was part of an annual gathering named Subiefest that brings together enthusiasts from all over North America. Instead of selling tickets to the 2020 edition, it asked participants to make a donation to Feeding America, a charity created to end hunger. Subaru pointed out attendees paid for 241,800 meals, and its American division will donate the equivalent of 258,200 meals to bring the total number to 500,000. They'll be split among two food banks in California. Subiefest is also where Subaru previewed the next-generation BRZ for the first time. It's expected to make its debut before the end of 2020, and it will arrive in showrooms in 2021 as a 2022 model.

Toyota 86 most likely to get more power through more displacement? [w/poll]

The Sydney Morning Herald has spoken to Tetsuya Tada, chief engineer of the Toyota 86 (our version of it, the Scion FR-S, is pictured above), and they've been promised that more power is on the way. We've heard a lot of speculation about a more powerful Toyobaru since before the standard model was even launched. The only question now is how the power will be delivered, and among the engine concepts we've already heard about - turbo, supercharger, twin-charged, hybrid - is a new one: more displacement.
Tada said that an engine with more displacement than the current coupe's 2.0 liters is being tested alongside a turbocharged and a hybrid-assisted motor. The SMH cites "inside sources" as saying the displacement option is the one likely to get the go-ahead, and suggests increased bore and stroke will see the engine grow to 2.5 liters, horsepower to about 250 - a 50-hp increase over the present car.
While that's apparently the betting man's solution for the long-awaited increase in gumption, what happens with the next generation could be more wide open than we suspected. According to the report, Tada "hinted that [a successor] could be a radically different car, potentially dropping the boxer engine altogether." He said once they've sorted out the concept for the second generation car, then they'll sort out an engine. That's where a turbo option could come to market, perhaps the turbocharged four-cylinder Toyota is developing for the Lexus NX crossover or a hybrid system that uses a capacitor.

Subaru WRX hatchback back off the table

It's fair to see we're rather fond of the new Subaru WRX. That's not to say we don't have a number of issues with the budget sports sedan, though. Foremost among those complaints is that it's short exactly one door. Yes, the sedan-only WRX is just fine, but we'd be lying if we said we weren't missing the long-roofed, five-door model of years past. More pressing than our sentimentality, though, is the business case for a WRX wagon - half of the 2013 WRX and STI models sold had five doors. As a general rule, ignoring half of your former customers isn't the best strategy for long-term success. There was some hope, as recently as a few weeks ago, though, that Subaru would right this wrong and offer a real, five-door WRX. An Australian reporter managed to corner project manager Masuo Takatsu, who said strong interest from the US meant that the Subaru mothership was considering a WRX with a hatch rather than a trunk. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case, as Subaru USA is dashing any and all hope of a second body style. According to Motor Trend, the company's US arm reached out to Japan and, despite the statements made by Takatsu, confirmed that there were no plans for a WRX wagon. Sigh...