2014 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 Subaru WRX to get CVT option?

The 2015 Subaru WRX will make its debut at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show next week - that much we know for sure. We'll have all of the official specs very soon, but it seems Jalopnik has stumbled upon an official-looking document that spells out some of the 'Rex's finer details, including the availability of a continuously variable transmission.
Now, before you throw your laptops and phones out the window, know this: a proper manual transmission will still be available. Do remember, the WRX has always had an automatic option, and the move to a CVT for the 2015 model isn't terribly surprising. According to the document, the new WRX will use a 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four - a change from the 2.5-liter engine in the current car. Subaru also employs a 2.0T boxer engine in the Forester, where it's mated to a CVT. What's more, the Impreza on which the new WRX is based also uses a CVT in favor of a conventional automatic.
Jalopnik points out that the more hardcore WRX STI will use a 2.5-liter turbo-four, and will only be available with a manual transmission. Additionally, there will reportedly be a "launch edition" of the STI, painted in the car's signature WR Blue (fingers crossed for gold wheels!).

Subaru Forester, Legacy and Outback earn IIHS Top Safety Pick+ ratings

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced its more rigorous standards for the Top Safety Pick+ crash test rating back in September, and has recently called out some new models that have attained this highest rating. Last year, the TSP+ category was created for vehicles passing the then-new small overlap crash test; this year the top award has been amended to include crash prevention technology.
Thanks to its EyeSight technology, the Subaru Legacy, Outback and Forester are among just 22 vehicles to have been named a 2014 TSP+ by the IIHS. Without this technology, all three vehicles - and the Impreza and XV Crosstrek - were still named a Top Safety Pick (without the +).
To test the crash prevention technology, the IIHS uses two tests (one at 12 miles per hour and one at 25 mph) to see how well the systems do to lessen the severity of an impact. or prevent an impact altogether. Vehicles are then given a rating from Superior (best), Advanced or Basic, and cars that do not offer forward collision warning or auto braking are not given a rating in this category. To be named a TSP+, a car must achieve at least a Basic score for crash prevention, but all three Subaru models earned a perfect score to receive a Superior rating. Scroll down for Subaru's press release.

Subaru looks back on record-setting WRX STI from 2011 Isle of Man

In what we can only presume/hope is a precursor to the launch of the next-gen WRX STI, Subaru has released three videos now giving us a look back at the history of the STI-badged WRX models. In this third video, Dominick Infante, national manager of product communications at Subaru of America, got ahold of the automaker's 2011 WRX STI that broke records for the Isle of Man TT Challenge a couple of years ago.
In 2011, rally driver Mark Higgins piloted this car to a lap speed record of 115 miles per hour and a lap time record of 19:56.7 around the 37.8-mile course. The race-prepped STI, which Infante refers to as an "STI on steroids," features a beefed-up suspension, a wonderful-sounding open exhaust and the removal of the speed limiter to go with full roll cage and racing seats and harnesses.
Scroll down to see - and hear - new driving footage of this 2011 WRX STI with Infante behind the wheel as well as some race footage from 2011 - including a near-disaster Higgins averted at 150 mph. Also, be sure to check out the previous videos from Subaru for the 1998 Impreza 22B STI and a 2004 WRX STI.