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2015 Subaru WRX STI goes for the gold [w/video]

If the all-new 2015 Subaru WRX has taken a good thing and made it great, then this should be, well, greater. Meet the range-topping WRX STI, packing more power, a decidedly more aggressive suspension tune, beefier looks, a giant wing and (woo!) gold wheels.
Those spiffy BBS wheels and WRC rally-ready matching WR Blue paint won't necessarily be around forever, though - Subaru is offering this package (along with unique interior trim) on the STI Launch Edition, limited to just 1,000 units. And cool as it may look, there's far more to love about the new STI package.
Power comes from a 2.5-liter turbocharged boxer four-cylinder engine, sending 305 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. (Launch Edition models even get a short-throw shift kit, which will likely be available as a dealer-installed accessory thereafter). Unlike the standard WRX, a do-it-yourself 'box will be the only transmission available. Subaru is employing its new - *ahem* - Multi-Mode Driver Controlled Center Differential version of the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, which, in addition to a standard 41/59 torque split, uses things like torque vectoring, and, when put in manual mode, allows the driver to select one of six center differential locking levels. In other words, the STI should be incredibly sharp on the road - sharper than ever before.

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.

Toyota GT86 engineers explored shooting brake and sedan variants, are they still in the cards?

According to the Toyota UK blog, engineers for the automaker were so excited developing the GT86 coupe that they investigated producing a whole family of models based on the rear-wheel drive sports car. And at least one engineer - product chief Tetsuya Tada - still hopes it can happen, even if not everyone at Toyota is onboard. Tada: "Actually we tried to do this secretly but the executives found us out. They said: 'What are you doing? Will you please focus on the coupe.'"
Those mooted variants included both a four-door sedan and a shooting brake. Why? Aside from the pure excellence of a lightweight, brilliantly handling hatchback, Toyota was keenly aware of the fact that it may need to spread the cost of development out across several models. Tada says that's part of the reason why it was so easy to create the convertible. The company knew from the outset that a softtop version was in the cards, and built the machine's structure to accommodate having the roof sliced off.
Tada also made mention of the already-announced collaboration between Toyota and BMW. The engineer said that the GT86 was particularly helpful because it demonstrated just how successful a product conceived and designed by two different companies can be. While he didn't say exactly what Toyota and BMW are up to, it's clear the two are looking into a number of possibilities. It's an interesting read with a lot of