Subaru 05 Impreza Sti Sport 76 6-speed Manual Xenon Turbo Premium Performance on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2019 Subaru Ascent First Drive Review | A three-row do-over

McMINNVILLE, Ore. — The brand-new 2019 Subaru Ascent could very well be called the Mulligan. You may have heard the term used by amateur golfers as a sort of do-over for an egregiously bad first shot. But in the case of the Ascent, Subaru's largest-ever vehicle, it means that the Japanese automaker gets one more chance to build a successful three-row crossover for America. Instead of trying to forget the unloved and slow-selling Tribeca, we get the sense that Subaru wants to keep that massive failure at the top of its collective mind. And we also got the sense that Subaru's engineers and product planners are confident that this time, they've hit a perfect drive off the tee — if not at Pebble Beach, then at least at one of the thousands of reasonably priced golf courses dotting the landscape of suburban America. All the pieces of the crossover puzzle are in place: seven- and eight-passenger seating options, a sizable cargo area, standard all-wheel drive, and class-appropriate fuel mileage estimates. But, this being a Subaru, the manner with which the Ascent hits its targets varies a great deal from many of its competitors. In place of a naturally-aspirated V6, as found in the Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander, is a turbocharged four-cylinder. And instead of sleek styling meant to attract eyeballs at the expense of usability, the Ascent is boxy, upright, and, well, kinda boring. In person, the Ascent looks like an Outback-shaped balloon that's been blown up a bit too much. An oversize grille is flanked by big headlights at the top of the fascia and faux air intakes molded from matte black plastic at the bottom. It's bland, sure, but it's also not at all surprising that Subaru would err on the side of inoffensive after the design tragedy that was the face of the original B9 Tribeca. And while it definitely shares a strong family resemblance to the Outback, it's sufficiently different enough that buyers aren't likely to confuse the two on the showroom floor. There are some interesting creases and bends in the Ascent's bodysides that add visual interest to what would otherwise be big, flat, sheetmetal stampings. And we have to commend Subaru for its restrained use of plastic underbody cladding, especially since the original Outback helped popularize that trend in the mid-1990s. There's a reasonable glass-to-metal ratio that helps the interior cabin feel airy and bright. Getting into the Ascent's third row is made easier by a large, squared off rear door.

2021 Subaru WRX STI to pack 400 horsepower?

The next-generation Subaru WRX STI may boast as much as 400 horsepower from a re-tuned, 2.4L turbocharged boxer engine, making it the most powerful factory STI ever to be offered in America.  Forbes reports that an upgraded version of the engine currently offered in the three-row Subaru Ascent crossover will power the new model, rather than the 2.0-liter unit that powers the current WRX or the 2.5L found in the current STI.   According to the report, which cites an unnamed source close to Subaru, the company's engineers are hard at work beefing up the FA24 turbocharged boxer to coax 400 horses and 361 pound-feet of torque from an engine that currently offers just 260 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque in family-hauling tune.  While Subaru has been building high-output WRX and STI models for its home market for decades, this would be the first time a 400-horsepower STI would be offered for sale in the U.S. In fact, it would become the most powerful Subaru sold here, period. That honor currently belongs to the 341-horsepower 2019 STI S209, which is incredibly rare (and correspondingly expensive). It followed closely on the heels of the STI Type RA, which was similarly difficult to obtain, but not nearly as powerful or expensive.  Limited (as its name suggests) to just 209 units, the S209 was offered for only one model year at an eye-watering MSRP of $64,880. Customers are still taking delivery of their cars, as STI's tuning shop can only crank out a small handful per day. If it seems like Subaru has been taking its sweet time introducing a new WRX and STI, that's because development of the hotter models diverged from that of the base Impreza prior to the launch of the latter's latest generation. Subaru considers them independent models, and while they still share platform commonalities, they are no longer treated as a single product line. Current models are still loosely based on the last-generation Impreza, and the best hint we have as to the future of the WRX and STI is the Viziv Performance STI concept, which debuted at the Tokyo Auto Salon back in 2018. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid gets top IIHS safety rating

The IIHS has finally evaluated the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid, the plug-in version of the subcompact crossover, and it performs just as well as its fully gas-powered twin. Its high marks earned it the organization's highest award of Top Safety Pick +. In every crash test, the Crosstrek earned the highest "Good" rating for protection, including both driver and passenger small overlap collisions. Forward collision prevention also earned top marks, stopping the vehicle before a crash at speeds up to 25 mph. This is one area where the Hybrid improves on the standard model, not for better results, but for the fact that the forward collision prevention system is standard on all Hybrid variants. It's an option on base and Premium non-hybrid Crosstreks. The headlights are a similar situation. The Hybrid's standard headlights also received the "Good" rating like top-trim Crosstreks. Where the non-hybrid Crosstreks trip up is that the base and Premium trims have headlights that have the worst "Poor" rating. Parity resumes with LATCH child seat anchor accessibility, which gets a "Good+" rating for having easily reachable anchors and having extras for seating flexibility.