2024 Subaru Xv Crosstrek Premium on 2040-cars

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Subaru takes another look back, this time at the 2004 WRX STI

Here we have the followup to the rally-mimicking Impreza 22B STI that Subaru recently chronicled in its Vintage Garage series: the 2004 Impreza WRX STI. Displacement for the boxer four was upped from 2.2 liters to 2.5, and after noticing how many buyers had installed larger turbochargers on their WRXs, Subaru decided to bolt on one in-house. That gave the final product 300 horsepower and a 0-to-60 mile-per-hour run of just 4.6 seconds.
It was stiffer, it's body from nose to front doors was penned by Peter Stephens, he of the McLaren F1, it came with a driver-controlled center differential, driver-activated cooling spray for the turbos and 300 pound-feet of torque. This is a curio from a time when, after a new WRX STI came out, you started poring through magazines to see how the Mitubishi Evo was going to respond. You can find out more about it in the video below.

Here's the story with the Chicken Tax

Quiz America's auto enthusiasts about the vehicles they most want to see in the US market, and for every one that doesn't respond with a French hot hatchback or some diesel-powered offering, there'd be at least three that ask for some small, imported pickup truck. That won't happen, though, and we have the Chicken Tax to thank. This damnable bit of legislation affixes a 25-percent tariff to any light truck not built in the United States. That's why Honda, Toyota and Nissan build all their trucks in the United States, and it's also why pickups like the foreign-built Volkswagen Amarok, shown above, or the long-rumored Mahindra pickup aren't offered here. Wired has the story on the roots of the Chicken Tax, including how one Japanese manufacturer got around it and even delivered a vehicle to one of our country's presidents. Head over and check it out.

2014 Subaru Forester gets big nod of approval from Consumer Reports

While more and more buyers seem to be opting for the functionality of car-based crossover vehicles every day, it's rare that your read much in the way of passionate praise for one. And, while Consumer Reports doesn't exactly lavish written paeans on the Subaru Forester in its latest review - that's just not its style - it did give the CUV a remarkably high overall score.
Praising its excellent fuel economy, visibility, roomy interior and a whole lot more, the testing publication bestowed an overall score of 88 out of 100 on the Forester. That's a really excellent number for just about any vehicle, but it's also a top-of-the-class mark for the Forester's small CUV division. Just about the only major gripe was that of ride quality.
Most of the direct competitors to the Forester have earned CR marks in the mid-70s. The Honda CR-V is some 11 points behind, for instance, while the Toyota RAV4 and the Mazda CX-5 earn scores of 75 and 74, respectively.