All Wheel Drive * Manual* Well Maintained * Timing Belt Replaced * Low Reserve on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch Mark Higgins whomp the Isle of Man TT course in a 2015 WRX STI

Subaru has made another trip to the infamous Isle of Man TT, bringing along its all-new 2015 Subaru WRX STI. The goal? Best the already impressive time set by rally ace Mark Higgins and the 2011 Impreza WRX STI on the same swirling, high-paced ribbon of tarmac. Of course, you already know how that went.
What we didn't know when the story first broke, though, was that Subaru was monitoring data. Specifically, Higgins' data. He was fitted with a monitor that would record his heart rate, breaths, skin temperature and the g forces he was faced with as he lapped the 37-plus-mile road course. While Higgins and Co. were aiming to best their 2011 time (19:56.7), this year's effort also saw a push to beat the time of the sidecar racers.
You can get a recap of the entire event, with plenty of footage and data from Higgins' lap in the exhilarating video below. Take a look.

A closer look at the 2015 Subaru Legacy

The Subaru Legacy might not have been the hottest debut at the recent Chicago Auto Show, but for the Japanese automaker, it's hugely important. Much as we'd love to focus on Subaru's more engaging WRX, STI and BRZ models, the truth is, its the mainstream Forester, Outback and Legacy that make up the vast majority of the brand's sales, not to mention the Impreza and XV Crosstrek.
This new Legacy looks to gain a lot more traction in the mainstream market than its predecessor, with handsome, if familiar, styling, standard all-wheel drive, and more efficient powertrains. Under the hood, customers can choose between a 2.5-liter boxer-four, or a more powerful six-cylinder engine. Subaru says that the four-cylinder setup actually boasts class-leading fuel economy for all-wheel-drive vehicles in the Legacy's class.
West coast editor Michael Harley stopped by the Subaru stand for a closer look at the 2015 Legacy. Check it out in the video below.

2014 Subaru Forester XT

Power Doesn't Come Cheap
When Subaru first offered a turbocharged Forester XT model to US customers for the 2004 model year, the shoe-shaped second-gen model fell into a ready-made competitive set of small, V6-powered crossovers and SUVs. The XT might have been more of a raucous shopping-trip companion than, say, a Ford Escape V6, but the basics of the cars offered a clear differentiation from the naturally aspirated, four-cylinder models found just a bit downmarket. Here in 2013, the V6 breed of crossover in this size class is all but extinct, and turbocharged four-cylinders with the power to compete with the XT are not thick on the ground.
In many ways, the comparative analysis gets most interesting when you start looking around for CUVs to match up with the all-boxes-ticked Forester XT Touring that we had as a tester for a recent week. The top of the line Touring trim means that the Forester comes with features like 10-way power seats, leather, navigation, a Harmon Kardon sound system with HD radio, Bluetooth and more. In fact, our Forester also had the only option package available on the XT Touring; one that included keyless access, HID headlights and Subaru's EyeSight system (adaptive cruise, lane departure warning and pre-collision braking).