2008 Subaru Outback Wagon 5-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Subaru Levorg STI Sport should get us closer to the future WRX

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Subaru showed a "prototype" of the next-generation Levorg, itself a Japanese-market wagon derivative of the Subaru WRX sedan. While it gave us a good idea of what to expect from the next WRX, the Levorg STI Sport that will be shown at Tokyo Auto Salon in January should give us an even better look at the hot Subaru we'll get. This is based on the fact that among current Levorg trims, the STI Sport has a front bumper fascia that's more aggressive and that echoes the design of the WRX, whereas the standard trim is more mellow. So far, Subaru has only released a teaser video of the sportier Levorg. It shows STI badging on the back of the car and on the exhaust tips. There's also a glimpse of the tachometer that shows a redline of just over 6,000 rpm. Since that's lower than the WRX's turbo 2.0-liter engine's 6,500-rpm redline, this is probably the new 1.8-liter turbocharged engine Subaru announced will replace the current base turbo 1.6. It will probably make at least 170 horsepower to match the outgoing model. Based on the current STI Sport engine offerings, this should be the base engine, while the WRX's turbocharged FA20 will be an option. The full reveal of the Levorg STI Sport will come on January 10. Expect further details on mechanical changes as well, which will hopefully include information on a more powerful engine that could appear in the WRX. We wouldn't be surprised if it ended up using a slightly updated version of the current WRX's 2.0-liter FA20 engine, since even the WRX STI is expected to get a more powerful - probably over 300 horsepower - version of that same engine.

Junkyard Gem: 1998 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport Wagon

Ever since the 2005 model year, only the Subaru Legacy-based station wagon has worn the Outback name. That makes it tough to recall that not only did Subaru sell Legacy Outback sedans (through 2004, although by that time the Legacy badges had been dropped from the Outback wagon) but Impreza Outbacks as well. This isn't as confusing as Oldsmobile selling three unrelated models badged as Cutlasses at the same time, or Toyota calling the Tercel a Corolla Tercel for a few years, but it's a bit of automotive history that can be illuminated via a junkyard visit. Because you'll find examples of just about every vehicle Subaru built during the last 25 years in every Denver junkyard, it didn't take me long to find this Acadia Green Impreza Outback here. The Impreza Outback wagon had been around since the 1995 model year, becoming the Impreza Outback Sport in 1997. All North American Subarus went to all-wheel-drive for 1997, so the Impreza and Legacy Outbacks became more outdoorsy-looking at that point, to distinguish themselves from the non-Outbacks. While the advertising for this car called it just the "Outback Sport" (to distinguish it from the Legacy Outback), the Impreza name appeared on the rear bumper and in all the documentation. This sort of airport-gate-carpeting pattern became very popular on cars that were supposed to appeal to young people during the late 1990s. You'll see similarly busy fabric in Volkswagens Jetta Trek Editions and Plymouth Expressos from around the same period. I've always admired Subaru's hood scoops of this era. This one appears to have been lifted from the Japanese-market WRX. This 2.2-liter boxer-four made 137 horsepower. If you wanted the 150-horsepower 2.5 engine in an Impreza in 1998, you had to buy the RS Coupe. With the 5-speed manual transmission in a 2,835-pound car (the current Impreza doesn't weigh a whole lot more, which is unusual in our era of Model Bloat), the 1998 Impreza Outback Sport was quick enough to be fun. The automatic version was… well, not quite as much fun. This appears to be a genuine 1990s Jack in the Box antenna ball. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. When pursued by baddies in a RAV4, the Outback Sport had you covered. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Jeep Gladiator Mojave and Acura MDX A-Spec | Autoblog Podcast #627

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they're driving a Jeep Gladiator Mojave, Acura MDX A-Spec, our long-term Subaru Forester and a Honda CR-V Hybrid. A little stir-crazy from quarantine, they also derail the conversation for a little bit to talk about beer before launching into this episode's "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #627 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2020 Jeep Gladiator Mojave 2020 Acura MDX A-Spec (Here's one of those "Off The Clock" episodes we reference in our derailment about beer) Our long-term 2019 Subaru Forester gives us a moist surprise 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: