2007 Subaru Legacy on 2040-cars

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2021 Subaru Crosstrek updated with new engine, refreshed styling

For the 2021 model year, the Subaru Crosstrek is getting some mechanical and aesthetic updates, along with a new Sport trim (pictured above). The biggest difference you’ll find for 2021 is the addition of a new engine to the lineup. While the base and Premium trims will continue to use the 152-horsepower, naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder carried over from 2020, the Sport and Limited trims will employ a new-to-Crosstrek 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer engine. Borrowed from the Forester, and also found in the Outback, this naturally aspirated 2.5-liter provides 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque. That power is put to the wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and SubaruÂ’s torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system. The base and Premium trims, with the holdover motor, still come with either a six-speed manual or optional CVT. In terms of efficiency, the new 2.5-liter offers 27 miles per gallon in the city, 34 mpg highway and 29 mpg combined. The 2.0-liter still provides 22/29/25 mpg with the six-speed manual, or 28/33/30 mpg with the CVT — just one mpg better across the board than the 2.5. That aforementioned Sport trim is new to the Crosstrek, and it has more to set it apart than just the engine. ItÂ’s the only version with the dual-mode X-Mode system, with Snow/Dirt and the additional Deep Snow/Mud setting. Standard X-Mode — which essentially offers better traction in snow and dirt — with hill descent control comes on the rest of the CVT-equipped Crosstrek trims. The Crosstrek Sport also gets unique visual touches to set it apart from the other trims, like more prominent wheel arch moldings, dark grey 17-inch alloy wheels, and a gunmetal finish on the grille, side mirrors and badges. Inside, it gets StarTex synthetic upholstery, yellow stitching and other yellow accents throughout the cockpit, and gunmetal and faux-carbon fiber accents. Sport Trim exterior paint colors include new Plasma Yellow Pearl and Horizon Blue Pearl finishes. 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Limited View 9 Photos Speaking of looks, all 2021 Crosstrek trims (like the Limited pictured above) get refreshed grilles and an updated front bumper, with fog light insert covers on the base model, and other trims getting new fog light covers.

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.

Subaru WRX STI EJ20 Final Edition a Japan-only goodbye

Just before Subaru stopped selling the WRX STI in the UK and Continental Europe, the automaker released 150 examples of a WRX STI Final Edition for the UK. Now that the Japanese-market WRX STI is about to give up its 2.0-liter EJ20 flat-four engine, the company's repeated the gesture. Subaru will produce 555 of the WRX STI EJ20 Final Edition for buyers in Japan, celebrating the motor that's served for 30 years in turbo and non-turbo forms in a bag of Subie models ever since it found a home in the 1989 JDM Legacy sedan. We'll guess the production figure recalls Subaru's blue and yellow World Rally Championship livery when State Express cigarette brand 555 sponsored the multiple-championship-winning team from 1993 to 2004.  This take on the turbocharged EJ20 rocks 304 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. Those aren't output numbers to make a statement, seeing as they're less than the 325 horses and 318 lb-ft in the special edition WRX STI S208 from two years ago, and the 320 hp and 320 lb-ft in the S207 from four years ago, both with the same EJ20 engine. The Final Edition does get engine tweaks like mass-balanced pistons, upgraded clutch and flywheel, and a plaque reading "EJ20 Final Edition." Power's sent through a six-speed manual to four 19-inch, gold BBS wheels held back by Brembo brakes. As the automaker did with the S208, the EJ20 Final Edition will only be available through via a lottery application on a local Subaru site between Oct. 24 and Nov. 11, priced at JPY4,521,000 ($41,620 U.S.). After that, orders for other versions of the WRX and STI with the 2.0-liter will only be taken until Dec. 23, 2019. As the WRX STI endgame continues, we're left to wonder what's headed this way in the next-generation model. The EJ25 2.5-liter boxer-four specific to our market will bow out, but competing narratives suspect larger and smaller engines could replace it. At least one report thinks the Levorg wagon's 1.8-liter turbo might power the next WRX — our WRX currently uses the FA20 2.0-liter with 268 horses, and a report from August predicts the next WRX STI to get a more powerful FA20 with 315 horsepower. The new-gen sedan is expected to bow next year before launch in 2021.