2011 Subaru Impreza Sedan Wrx Sti, 1-owner, Xenon, 6-sp Manual, Alcantara, K&n on 2040-cars

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Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

2017 Subaru BRZ First Drive

When the Subaru BRZ debuted in 2012, it was heralded as a return to the traditional Japanese sport coupe formula – a compact, lightweight, rear-wheel-drive runabout that hearkened back to greats like the original Toyota Celica, Mazda's RX-3, and the Nissan 240SX. Japan is covered in mountains, and that's where its enthusiasts honed their hooning. Cars that emphasize handling, not horsepower, make the most sense there. Now, five years on, Subaru is using the model's first facelift to further differentiate it from its Toyota cousin. The BRZ is Subaru's ultimate vision of a sophisticated driver's car, more string-backed gloves than flat-brimmed hat. To prove the point, Subaru invited us to drive the refreshed 2017 specimen, along with 2016 models for comparison, at Japan's legendary Fuji Speedway. The BRZ's revised styling makes the distinction painfully clear right off the bat. It now sports a squarer jawline, with a chin described by senior designer Yuki Kumono as aircraft-inspired. LED DRLs are embedded in the new headlamps, moved up from the space they once shared with fog lights. A side note for Subaru fans: The C-shaped DRLs are called "hawkeyes" internally, which is sure to cause confusion among Subarists who have already given that name to the 2006–07 Impreza WRX and STI. Freshened taillights and a reshaped spoiler update the badonk, and the Subie has new fender inserts. Styling is of course a subjective matter, but anyone who says the sea-creature maw of the post-Scion 2017 Toyota 86 is better looking is clearly wrong. Ultimately, though, the question on everybody's minds is, "Does the BRZ have any more danged power?" The answer to that is yes, technically, but only on certain cars. The 2.0-liter boxer four makes five more horsepower and five more pound-feet of torque only on manual-transmission cars. That brings the totals to 205 hp and 156 lb-ft. Cries for a turbocharger have gone stubbornly unanswered. In typical Japanese fashion, it's not the numbers that matter. Subaru has focused instead on the overall driving feel, that elusive metric that can't be expressed on a spec sheet or through the frothing internet comments of armchair racers. Subaru's engineers, some of whom are trained as the company's expert test drivers, have toiled away at a host of improvements for the base Premium trim, the upper Limited grade, and a new Performance Package that's available on top of the latter.

2015 Subaru WRX looks to set a new benchmark in LA

Subaru has just taken the wraps off of the new, 2015 WRX at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. The totally redesigned sedan - the five-door option won't be offered - is more powerful, more fuel efficient (with the right transmission), better looking and more intelligently designed than the car it's replacing.
A new 2.0-liter, direct-injected, turbocharged flat-four sits thumping away under the hood, its top-mount intercooler getting force-fed air by a rather prominent hood scoop. Power output sits at 268 ponies and 258 pound-feet of torque, accessible between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm. While the new car only has a three-horsepower advantage on the current Impreza WRX, it delivers 14 more pound-feet of torque and delivers peak output across a much wider swath of the rev range (the old car netted 244 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm). All this extra grunt comes at a negligible weight penalty - a 2015 WRX with the six-speed manual is just 59 pounds heavier than a 2014 model.
As we said, a six-speed manual is will be available, and as a bonus, it packs one additional cog over the current, 2014 WRX's five-speed DIY transmission. So equipped, the WRX will scamper to 60 in just 5.4 seconds. As for the previously-confirmed continuously variable transmission, it will come with both six- and eight-speed manual shift modes, but will take half a second longer to get to the magical 60-mile-per-hour mark.