2005 Subaru Impreza Wrx Sti on 2040-cars

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Even Ferrari swept up in latest Takata recall expansion

The scope of Takata's deadly airbag problems continues to widen. Eight manufacturers announced recalls Friday that affect more than 12 million vehicles, according to documents filed with federal regulators. The automakers include Honda, which is recalling 4.5 million units, Fiat Chrysler with 4.3 million, Toyota with 1.65 million, and Subaru, which is recalling almost 400,000. Some of these cars include the Saab 9-2x and Pontiac Vibe that Toyota and Subaru made for General Motors. Mazda will recall 730,000 vehicles and Nissan has 400,000 affected units. The smallest numbers were posted by Mitsubishi, with 38,000 Lancers manufactured from 2006 to 2007, and as a noteworthy high-end manufacturer, Ferrari is calling back 2,800 vehicles. These are all US-market cars. Beyond America, the Japanese Transport Ministry has announced seven million additional vehicles will be recalled, which means 19.6 million vehicles across the globe are affected by recalls announced. The defects have been traced to an insufficiently manufactured airbag inflator, which lacks a drying agent that would prevent the inflators from deteriorating over time. Thirteen deaths have been linked to the faulty airbags, which have become unstable and are prone to exploding and showering vehicle occupants with lethal amounts of metal shrapnel. A private equity firm, KKR & Co., has been named in a possible buyout of the struggling Takata. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Shutterstock Government/Legal Recalls Ferrari Honda Mazda Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Pontiac Subaru Toyota Saab Safety

Subaru will show a WRX STI Type RA, possibly with a BRZ STI, on June 8

Subaru just released another teaser photo today of a World Rally Blue STI model, and they also provided us with some information about what the car is. Apparently it is a new WRX STI Type RA, a name that Subaru fans will recognize as an indication of an ultra-hardcore version of the all-wheel-drive legend. As you can see from the teaser photo, this Type RA will have a carbon fiber roof without a sunroof. This WRX STI has more than that, though. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. According to Subaru, the rear wing will also be carbon fiber, and the car will have gold-colored forged BBS wheels measuring 19 inches in diameter. Inside, occupants will find Recaro seats. Mechanically, the suspension has been updated and now features Bilstein shock absorbers. The engine and transmission also see updates, but Subaru wouldn't give specifics at this time. Expect all the details to be revealed on June 8, the date Subaru has been teasing on Twitter. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Now with this new teaser image and confirmation of a Type RA, one might think that the previous teaser of a winged blue Subaru was of this special WRX STI. However, we're not so sure. We've been studying the trunk lid of the car in the Twitter teaser alongside those of production BRZs and WRXs. If you look closely, there's a long arching crease in the trunk lid of the teaser car and a production BRZ, but it doesn't appear on the WRX. The WRX has a very flat trunk lid. As such, we believe the teaser image is still of a BRZ STI, and we suspect Subaru may reveal both it and the WRX STI Type RA on June 8. Related Video: Image Credit: Subaru Subaru Coupe Performance Sedan subaru brz sti

Subaru turns a WRX STI into a bobsled and (barely) makes it work

When asked how confident he felt of a successful full run down the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun in his specially prepared Subaru WRX STI, professional rally and stunt driver Mark Higgins responded, "50/50." In reality, he was probably being generous. It wasn't supposed to be so death-defying. In fact, Subaru's original plan was to have Higgins make several runs down the icy slope, some with journalists in the passenger seat. We were among those who traveled all the way to Switzerland for the chance to experience an automotive bobsled ride. One look at the run's famous Horseshoe Corner was all it took for us to second-guess that idea. Well, that and our pesky sense of self preservation. Higgins, though, is one of those rare humans to have been born without that fear-of-death gene. Not only is the Manx driver a professional stuntman – his resume includes sequences for Daniel Craig's James Bond – he also won the British Rally Championship three times and is the four-wheeled record holder at the famed Isle of Man Snaefell Mountain Course. So, when Higgins says some sort of vehicular stunt has only half a chance at success, well, let's just say that most mortals would say something more akin to "a snowball's chance in hell." On the topic of snow and balls, it's worth noting that the timing of Subaru's bobsled run wasn't set by choice. The Olympic Bobrun hosts regular events every winter through late February or early March. Since the track at St. Moritz is the only run in the world without an artificial cooling system, warm weather means no sledding. Combine those two facts and you end up with a very narrow window in which Subaru could go about making the modified track and a WRX STI actually fit together. Enter the boffins at Prodrive. The British engineering firm first started modifying vehicles for racing in 1984. By 1990, Prodrive was focused on turning turbocharged Imprezas into championship winners for the likes of Colin McRae, Richard Burns, and Petter Solberg. So it comes as little surprise that Subaru turned back to Prodrive to figure out how to modify a 2015 WRX STI in a way that would make it survive the pounding it would sustain on a bob run. For the record, this isn't just any 2015 WRX STI. It's actually the same car Higgins used in 2014 to set a lap record at the Isle of Man.