2012 Subaru Forester 2.5x P on 2040-cars

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Subaru's first hybrid drawing close

In 2011 Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries confirmed that a hybrid Subaru would debut this year. Ever since, there's been speculation about what kind of technology the gasoline-electric hybrid would use - Subaru's own or some version of the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive, which car would debut the new system - Forester, Legacy, or Outback - and whether it would come to America or be a Japan-only model.
A report in The Detroit Bureau says that whatever that first model is, it could be shown as soon as the New York Auto Show, and while the company feels it's a must-have offering for the Japanese market it will also come to the US. It will have a Subaru-developed mild hybrid system that could have been previewed by the Hybrid Tourer concept shown at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, and is not expected to be able to drive on electric power alone. The Hybrid Tourer used a direct-injected, 2.0-liter boxer engine connected to a CVT and assisted by an electric motor rated at 13 horsepower. Subaru has yet to give anything away about the details of its hybrid plans, so we'll look to New York for the long-awaited unveil.

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.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.