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Subaru teases the 2019 Forester ahead of New York reveal

Following Toyota's romantic RAV4 silhouette teaser shot yesterday, Subaru is officially joining in the compact crossover titillating game with a glimpse of the 2019 Forester. Subaru has toyed with pincer-shaped taillights for a few years on its Viziv concepts. The Ascent concept wore another version of the design, but the production Ascent got fitted with a set of highly unoffensive lamps. Looks like the Forester earns the retail nod for the conceptual units, and with it, a wider cargo opening. The taillights on the present Forester impose a scalloped shutline on the tailgate. The split units in this teaser let designers push the tailgate edge just a few inches from the edge of the car. The Ascent could make its presence felt elsewhere, though. We've made out a couple of the flowing character lines underneath camouflage on Forester prototypes that match the Ascent's flanks. Up front, the 2019 Forester gets a much more upright schnozz reminiscsent of the Ascent. The two vehicles differ in grille treatment — the Forester carries over its general design from the current car, but replaces the thick geometric bars with thin strakes similar to the Ascent's. Although larger than the current Forester, we don't expect huge growth anywhere. Migrating to Subaru's Global Platform will make the most of the incremental gains; the much smaller Impreza added three additional cubic feet of cargo room after its switch to the SGP. We don't know if engines will be included in the under-the-skin overhaul, but a welcome swap would be adding the Ascsent's 2.4-liter turbo to the lineup. That lump produces 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque, trumping the 250 hp and 258 lb-ft in the current top-tier Forester 2.0XT Premium. Spy photographers caught the Forester testing alongside a new Honda CR-V and a Volkswagen Tiguan, which means we could be in for a new level of feature and dynamic polish. What we can rely on is a selection of four-cylinder boxer engines and CVTs, plus updated EyeSight driver assistance tech. The debut happens in exactly two weeks at the New York Auto Show, the showroom appearance late this year. Related Video: Image Credit: Subaru New York Auto Show Subaru Crossover Wagon Future Vehicles

2019 Subaru STI S209 Drivers' Notes | An old-school sports sedan unites two of our editors

The 2019 Subaru STI S209 is peak Subaru for America. It’s the most powerful and most expensive vehicle with the Subaru badge on it, and there will only ever be 209 of them sold. ItÂ’s put together in STIÂ’s small shop in Kiryu, Japan, where workers build approximately 2-3 cars per day.  SubaruÂ’s long-used 2.5-liter EJ25 turbocharged flat-four is back for another round, but itÂ’s been modified to make more power than a regular WRX STI. The redesigned intake, larger HKS turbocharger and better-flowing exhaust system ramp output up to 341 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque, gains of 31 and 40 respectively over a regular STI. It can hit 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and tops out at 162 mph. A huge number of changes were made to the suspension, steering, aero and brakes to make the S209 drive better and produce quicker lap times on track. You can read a full deep dive into all of the intricate changes in our First Drive story here. A couple of Autoblog staffers, News Editor Joel Stocksdale and Senior Producer Chris McGraw, happened to spend some time in S209s in their respective portions of the country. Check out their thoughts in the discussion below. Chris McGraw: So how was the 2019 Subaru STI S209? Joel Stocksdale: When the S209 showed up, I was excited to drive such a special car, but I was also unsure I would like it. It's massively expensive, and I already had mixed feelings about STIs to begin with. They have an ornery, old-school nature that has frustrated me before, especially the slow-spooling engines. But man, I'm in love with this thing.  CM: That's interesting to hear. For those who don't know, you and I rarely see eye to eye when it comes to cars, so I was eager to hear your thoughts on the S209. I drove this back in early November, and it had been awhile since I had driven an STI in general. The frustrating, ornery, old school nature is something I love about the STI, and I adored driving it from the start, especially in the mountains. Though I wish it had been on winter tires for the cold weather at the time.  JS: That's totally understandable. The summer tires on this thing are not happy with snow and cold. But thankfully it's been dry and warm enough here that they're still good. And that's one of the things I love about this car. Between the tires and the all-wheel drive, it has astounding grip. Turn the wheel, put the hammer down, and let it claw you around corners.

Production Mazda Vision Coupe concept, GRMN Supra, new BRZ/86 coming

After writing about what's in store for the next-generation Subaru WRX, Japan's Best Car magazine is back with more spy work on what's ahead for the coming Mazda sedan, fighting-spec GRMN Toyota Supra, and next-generation Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86. All three are supposedly headed for previews at this year's Tokyo Motor Show before rolling out in 2021 and 2022. Mazda showed the Vision Coupe concept at the 2017 Tokyo show, then sneaked a mention of a rear- and all-wheel drive "Large Architecture" and two inline-six engines into a 2019 investor's report. Best Car says that concept's production version will house a 3.0-liter Skyactiv-X SPCCI inline-six with "M-Hybrid" 48-volt assistance. Output figures remain a mystery, but the mag says engineers are aiming for 345 horsepower. The real deal isn't slated for dealers until 2022, bringing what Mazda bills as a "BMW, Audi quality car at the price of Volkswagen." A further treat: Best Car says the Hiroshima automaker is laying out a two-door version on the same platform. Not even a month after 2020 Toyota Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada told us, "With a sports car, the promise is to offer more performance with each additional version," this report says the full-fat GRMN Supra will raise the stakes. Expected in the latter stages of 2021, the current 335-hp Supra will get an "output eventually close to 400 ps" (about 394 horsepower) from its BMW-source 3.0-liter straight-six. Along with that will come a lighter, stiffer body, and a sportier suspension tune to manage and make the most of the 60-horse increase. Best Car says the next-generation Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ will move to a new platform, without specifying whether it would be Toyota's TNGA platform suggested by a report in April — not that there are many other options. Neither the footprint nor the body dimensions are predicted to change, and transmissions will continue to include a six-speed manual and a six-speed automatic. The new platform will hold a new engine, although it won't be the revelation many fans want. The magazine says the Subaru 2.0-liter FA20 will retire, making way for the Subaru 2.4-liter FA24. The FA24 is the same engine in the Subaru Ascent crossover, where it produces 260 hp and 277 lb-ft. There'll be no such fireworks for the sporty twins due in the first half of 2021, output reported to be "improved to 220 ps," or 217 hp — a 12-hp bump over the current figure.