2007 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Wagon 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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2015 Subaru Legacy

Subaru has a problem on its six-starred hands, but you wouldn't know it at first glance. Sales are up; in fact, the Japanese automaker has recorded 28-straight months of increased sales in the United States, leading to the best first-quarter Subaru has ever recorded, and 2014 will almost assuredly be the seventh straight year it has posted improvements. So, what's wrong? The answer is simple, though clearly complicated to resolve. Sedans - specifically, midsize examples - have proven a tough nut for Subaru to crack.
The vast majority of those impressive sales statistics have come from just a few models, namely the Forester, Outback and XV Crosstrek. The Impreza continues to sell at a respectable pace, but it's telling that the XV, after just three years on the market, is already Subaru's third-best-selling nameplate, outpacing the aforementioned Impreza (on which it's based), its high-performance WRX sibling and the Legacy, which is now entering its sixth generation, having been first introduced way back in 1989. It's that last model we're examining today.
Despite the fact that the Legacy plays in a hotly contested market segment that includes such stalwart sales champions as the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima, Subaru's competitor registers as a barely visible blip on the radars of new-car buyers. Graphically illustrated another way, Toyota sells 17 Camry sedans for every new Legacy that Subaru moves.

2015 Subaru Outback offers more room and better econ behind that new face

While its new front fascia makes the biggest obvious impact, Subaru says changes to the entire 2015 Outback package make it roomier, more powerful, more efficient and quieter. The hexagonal grille gets it in line with the corporate template, to go along with a new shape to the lower grille and fog light cladding, a sharp crease for a shoulder line and a faster rake to the windshield. The rocker panel cladding and its 'toothed' molding remain, but it now also doubles as a step for when you want to place items on the roof rack.
Under the aluminum hood will either be a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine with 175 horsepower and a carryover 174 pound-feet of torque, or a 3.6-liter inline-six-cylinder with 256 hp and 247 lb-ft exclusively in the 3.6R Limited model. Paired to the lower-friction Lineartronic CVT that is the only shifting choice, and aided by features like the active grille shutter system and electric power steering, Subaru estimates fuel economy for the four-cylinder at 25 miles per gallon city, 33 highway and 28 combined, an increase of 1/3/2 mpg over the outgoing car. The sixer is pegged at 19 city, 27 highway and 22 combined, an increase of 2 mpg across the board.
The Outback has grown in every dimension, but never by more than 0.7 of an inch. The passenger cabin grows by 2.7 cubic feet, though, so occupants have more shoulder, hip, elbow and legroom. The cargo hold is enlarged by 1.2 cu-ft with the rear seats up, by 2.0 cu-ft with them down and the load floor is flatter. Accessing it is made easier by the memory height function on the power tailgate and new release handles for the rear thrones. Cabin ambiance is improved by sound abatement measures like an acoustic windshield, thicker panels and more noise-insulating foam.

Buy a Toyota GT86 and your wife will hate you

Marketing can be a very strange business. Convincing a man or woman (or child, really) that they absolutely cannot live without the latest, greatest new bit of technology oftentimes takes a unique approach. In the "online film promoting the Toyota GT86" you'll see below, created by agency Happiness Brussels, men are reverse-psychologied into thinking a new sports coupe will make them more masculine by getting their loved ones to hate them. Or something like that. We think.
In any case, we suggest you watch the video below to see how much fun men can have with a GT86 - or Scion FR-S or Subaru BRZ, presumably - at the expense of their significant others. Fair warning: There's a potential Not Safe For Work moment in the ad: beware of a brief male butt shot about 44 seconds in.
Marketing. Gotta love it. Unless you're married to a man. Or something like that. We think. Whatever, just watch.