2012 Subaru Forester 2.5x, Super Low Miles on 2040-cars

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Subaru comes out on the right side of history, stands up against Indiana law

Well, I may as just get it out there straight up and let some percentage of you dear readers take your shots in the comments below: I find Indiana's new "religious freedom" law that opens the door to discrimination against gay people to be reprehensible, along with all the other laws across the country that do the same thing but with different wording. So I was thrilled today when Subaru, which has a plant in Lafayette, IN, came out and said it finds the new law pretty awful too. The statement, issued by Michael McHale, the company's director of corporate communications, says that while the company recognizes that each state gets to decide its own laws, the automaker does "not agree with any legislation that allows for discrimination, or any behavior or act that promotes any form of discrimination. Furthermore, we do not allow discrimination in our own operations, including operations in the state of Indiana." Although McHale told Autoblog Subaru is not considering leaving Indiana, the newly passed legislation has prompted others to say they want to take their business elsewhere. The NCAA said Monday it is taking a look at the law and trying to determine if it will be able to continue holding large sporting events in the state, according to ESPN. In a piece in The Washington Post, Apple's Tim Cook warned that these kinds of laws are being passed in dozens of states across the country and they are bad for business. He spotlighted one proposed law in Texas that would strip pension benefits from clerks who issue marriage licenses to gay people, even if the Supreme Court declares gay marriage legal. "Opposing discrimination takes courage," he wrote. "With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it's time for all of us to be courageous."

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.

Subaru BRZ tS makes its brief video debut

Ever since Subaru released the BRZ, fans have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the STI version. But despite the recent release of the tS package, the brand faithful will have to wait a little longer, because the tS stops short of the full STI treatment. But at least it looks the part.
Though the BRZ tS doesn't encompass any major engine mods to speak of, it does benefit from a number of enhancements: a new driveshaft, aero kit, Brembo brakes, Recaro buckets and more. Which may be more than enough for some, but to tip the scales of disappointment, Subaru will only make 500 such examples, and they'll only be available in Japan. So chances are you won't be getting your hands on one, but at least you can admire it from this brief video clip below. It's not much to go on, but that seems about par for the proverbial course.