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Subaru WRX S4 gets big power bump in Japan

A month after originally teasing it, Subaru is finally unveiling its WRX S4 model for Japan. It's a bit more than just a plush take on the sport sedan, because Subaru is fitting a more powerful version of the 2.0-liter, turbocharged boxer four-cylinder engine than we get on these shores.
The company says that S4 stands for "'Sports performance', 'Safety performance', 'Smart driving' and 'Sophisticated feel," and it certainly looks like this Rex ticks all of those boxes. The most surprising feature is the Japanese model's 2.0-liter turbo engine boasting 296 horsepower (221 kilowatts) and 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters) of torque in this application. That's quite a healthy upgrade over the 268 hp and 258 lb-ft that Americans get in the standard WRX, and it's even nipping at the heels of the 305 hp and 290 lb-ft from the STI with a 2.5-liter mill that we get over here.
While extra power is always welcome, enthusiasts might not be so thrilled that Subaru's Sport Lineartronic Continuously Variable Transmission is the sedan's only available gearbox. However, it offers a simulated eight-speed shifting mode when drivers notch the car into Sport# driving mode. Of course, the S4 also packs Subie's trademark all-wheel drive with Vehicle Dynamics Control and Active Torque Vectoring as standard.

Police bravely rescue mannequin from cold car

Police in an upstate New York town broke into a car last week to save an elderly woman only to discover she was a lifelike mannequin. Police in Hudson, NY, got a troubling call on Friday, December 16, that a woman had frozen to death in a car, ABC News reported. HPD rushed to the scene and found what appeared to be an elderly woman unresponsive in a snow covered Subaru. The weather was bitter cold, and police feared the worse. Sergeants leaped into action and smashed out the car's rear passenger window. That's when first responders realized that the supposed victim in the front seat wasn't a person at all, but an extremely lifelike, life-sized mannequin. The mannequin was dressed in a sweater, blouse, slacks, and shoes and had an oxygen mask covering its nose and mouth. Glasses, lifelike hair, teeth, and even a smattering of liver spots on the hands and face completed the illusion. Eventually, the Subaru's owner showed up and explained the strange situation. He told police he was a sales manager for a medical supply company, and that the mannequin was a CPR training device. He told the officers that he regularly transports the mannequin buckled into the front seat of his car. The HPD was not particularly happy with this explanation, while the Subaru owner was annoyed that his car was smashed open. "I can't put what he said on air, but he was not very happy with the police department for forcing entry into his car," Hudson Police Department Sergeant Randy Clarke told WTEN. "If it was a joke, it was a very poor tasteful joke. If it was a matter of convenience for him, it was a station wagon, carry your mannequin a little bit better. The mannequin was in the front seat with a seat belt and appearing to be a passenger in the car." There are no charges pending in the incident, HPD said. Related Video: News Source: ABC News, WTEN Auto News Weird Car News Subaru hudson

Subaru sells its 10 millionth car in the United States

No longer a niche automaker known for quirkiness, Subaru has sold its 10 millionth car in the United States a little over a year after its American division celebrated its 50th birthday. The milestone illustrates how quickly (and how much) the Japanese firm has grown in the United States. It took Subaru 41 years to sell the first five million cars on our shores. Its line-up evolved considerably during that time period; it went from peddling the 360, a tiny kei car damned by Consumer Reports as America's most unsafe car, to spear-heading the rugged wagon segment with the original Outback. It entered the 2010s with a clear idea of how to achieve maximum growth and sold an additional five million cars in a little more than a decade. Its formula is simple: expand while staying true to its roots. The milestone car, a white 2019 Impreza, isn't destined to spend the rest of its life in a museum. It was purchased in Salt Lake City, Utah, at Nate Wade Subaru, the brand's oldest American dealer, by Dr. Craig Harmon. He didn't know he had bought his daughter a historically significant Impreza until he noticed an arch made of balloons in front of the dealership. Nate Wade parked a fully restored 360 from its private collection next to the Impreza to illustrate how far Subaru has come in 50 years. Harmon's Impreza is a run-of-the-mill Rocky Mountains-spec hatchback: white with roof rack. It'll be covered in Utah's finest road salt in just a few weeks. Nothing about it reveals the threshold it represents, and Subaru isn't planning a limited series to mark the 10-million car milestone. Instead, it's focused on keeping its streak of sales records going into the foreseeable future.