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2020 Subaru WRX STI S209 Prototype First Drive Review | The best is just for us

We're about 70 miles southwest of Tokyo on the grounds of Fuji International Speedway. Yoshihide Yano puts his hand on the camouflaged carbon fiber roof of the 2020 Subaru WRX STI S209 prototype we're about to drive and smiles. "This will never make a business case," says the assistant manager of Subaru's North America Business Planning Department. "We don't want to make more than 250. The more we make, the more money we lose." From the wince of his co-workers, Yano is clearly off the script, but his statement isn't a huge surprise. Building the STI S209 is complicated and time-consuming, with most of its extensive engine, suspension and aerodynamic modifications being installed by hand at STI's small off-site headquarters just outside Toyko. Founded in 1988, Subaru Technica International is the automaker's motorsports division and employs only 120 people. It can produce just two cars a day. Subaru STI Car Show View 30 Photos And why not show off your fastest street car ever on Fuji's world-class 2.8-mile road course? Especially today, while the track is packed for its annual STI Motorsports Day, a yearly pilgrimage for the brand's faithful. The place is flooded with WRXs, BRZs, and models we don't get in America like the Levorg STI Sport, a hot rod version of its mid-size wagon. Although STI's new Super GT and Nurburgring race cars are making hot laps on the main circuit, our drive of the inexplicably camouflaged S209 (which was fully revealed at the Detroit Auto Show) is on a small half-mile road course tucked away in a remote corner of Fuji's massive acreage. And we get just three laps. 2018 Subaru WRX STI S208 View 15 Photos STI's S-Line of cars have been the brand's most capable machines since the S201 launched in 2000, but the S209 will be the first S-Line model sold in the United States – and exclusively in the United States, for that matter. It will also be the first S-Line WRX that won't be powered by a modified version of the brand's venerable 2.0-liter EJ20 engine family, which Subaru introduced in 1989. The company says the EJ20 cannot meet emissions and make more than 300 horsepower on our low-octane fuel. The fix for this is a version of the turbocharged EJ25 series, which has powered every U.S.-spec WRX STI since we got it in 2003. To create the S209, STI's engineers started by mixing together certain parts from both the S208 and the 310-hp WRX STI RA Subaru sold in America last year.

Subaru boxers offer a different type of flat-four thrum

If there's one number you'd associate with the Subaru Impreza, surely it'd be Four. Four generations, four doors, four-wheel drive, four cylinders in a boxer configuration. But in this Japanese market promo clip, Subaru has brought in another kind of boxer: the beat boxer.
Bringing in performers Kouteisennin and Time Machine, along with beat boxers Tatsuya and Rinka, the three-minute video clip below reinterprets the spirit of the Impreza through a mix of interpretive dance and human-generated beats that's rather hard to describe and needs to be seen - and heard. So pump up the volume and click on down below to see this clever and funky video for yourself.

2019 Subaru Forester Sport vs 2019 Toyota RAV4 Adventure: How they compare

The 2019 Toyota RAV4 is not only completely redesigned, but reimagined as well. As we detailed in our first drive review, the new RAV4 ditches the more car-like and uber-utilitarian nature of its predecessor for something that's more SUV-like and characterful. It's a new direction exemplified in the RAV4 Adventure trim, which specifically targets those folks who plan to actually take their compact crossover to the great outdoors. People who will get it dirty, use the extra ground clearance and store things on the roof. You know, the sort of people who would consider the 2019 Subaru Forester. It too is redesigned for 2019, but its transformation is almost unnoticeable compared to the RAV4's. Forester customers were obviously quite happy with the way things were. We got a chance to drive both the 2019 RAV4 and 2019 Forester back-to-back last week both on-road and off-road, so let's take a look at how they compare, including a look at their on-paper specs. 2019 Toyota RAV4 Adventure View 31 Photos Performance and fuel economy The Forester got a new, more powerful 2.5-liter flat-four engine for 2019, and it now comes standard with a continuously variable transmission. It produces 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque, which is pretty much mid-pack among compact crossovers. Crucially, though, throttle response is so sharp that it makes the Forester actually feel quicker than it is when accelerating from a stop — a sensation enhanced even further by selecting the Sport Sharp mode button on the steering wheel. However, in either mode, the engine's remarkable power reveals itself as the tachometer and speedometer wind toward higher digits. One must also deal with the Forester's CVT. Perhaps some may appreciate the smooth, uninterrupted acceleration that results from a lack of gear changes (nor even simulated ones as in some other company's CVTs), but others may find it unusual and irritating. Subaru's CVT is certainly not our favorite example. By contrast, the 2019 RAV4 is conventional with its 2.5-liter inline-four engine and eight-speed automatic transmission, which behaves just as normally and effectively as one expects. The RAV4 is also considerably more powerful at 203 hp and 184 lb-ft — both compared to the Forester and to the entire segment as well. As a result, its acceleration is stronger (likely a difference of a half-second in 0-60-mph time) even if it may not initially feel like it.