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2021 Toyota Camry AWD vs. midsize all-wheel-drive sedans | How they compare on paper

Just as crossovers have become the dominant body style in the car market, the all-wheel drive they frequently feature has become more popular. In fact, all-wheel drive is so popular that automakers are increasingly putting it in traditional cars. The latest car to add driven wheels is the 2021 Toyota Camry. It will offer all-wheel drive on most of its trim levels, though only with the four-cylinder engine. It isn't alone in this market, though. So we've compiled the Camry's specifications, along with those of a couple of its competitors for comparison. For the purposes of this analysis, we're sticking with the AWD veteran 2020 Subaru Legacy equipped with a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter engine and the relative newcomer 2020 Nissan Altima. Both are similar in pricing and power to Camry. We've skipped the turbocharged Legacy and the turbocharged Ford Fusion with all-wheel drive as both have higher base prices and significantly more power. We'll take a look at these three sedans engine output, fuel economy, pricing and space. Below is a chart with all the raw numbers, and below that is more in-depth discussion of the cars. Performance and Fuel Economy These sedans are very closely matched, but one area where a clear winner emerges is in output. The Camry has a solid 21 horsepower and roughly 10 pound-feet of torque over the Subaru and Nissan. This, despite all of the engines having the same displacement. That power should make it quicker than the approximately 50-pound-heavier Subaru, though the Nissan Altima may stay with it thanks to its curb weight being about 100 pounds less than the Toyota. Also worth noting is that only the Toyota offers a traditional automatic transmission, whereas the Subaru and Nissan rely on CVTs. Subaru and Nissan have both dramatically improved their CVTs to the point they're quite unobtrusive, but if you strongly prefer the feel of softly shifting gears, the Toyota is your choice. In our experience, all three of these sedans are pleasant to drive with suspension and handling clearly tuned in favor of comfort over quickness. Fuel economy is close to a dead heat. Toyota hasn't announced official fuel economy numbers for the all-wheel-drive model, but we can estimate that, as with most all-wheel-drive variants, mileage will be slightly lower than normal models. We're betting it will only about 1 mpg worse than front-drive variants. That puts it in the same 29 to 30 mpg overall range as the Subaru and Nissan.

2015 Subaru WRX looks to set a new benchmark in LA

Subaru has just taken the wraps off of the new, 2015 WRX at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. The totally redesigned sedan - the five-door option won't be offered - is more powerful, more fuel efficient (with the right transmission), better looking and more intelligently designed than the car it's replacing.
A new 2.0-liter, direct-injected, turbocharged flat-four sits thumping away under the hood, its top-mount intercooler getting force-fed air by a rather prominent hood scoop. Power output sits at 268 ponies and 258 pound-feet of torque, accessible between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm. While the new car only has a three-horsepower advantage on the current Impreza WRX, it delivers 14 more pound-feet of torque and delivers peak output across a much wider swath of the rev range (the old car netted 244 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm). All this extra grunt comes at a negligible weight penalty - a 2015 WRX with the six-speed manual is just 59 pounds heavier than a 2014 model.
As we said, a six-speed manual is will be available, and as a bonus, it packs one additional cog over the current, 2014 WRX's five-speed DIY transmission. So equipped, the WRX will scamper to 60 in just 5.4 seconds. As for the previously-confirmed continuously variable transmission, it will come with both six- and eight-speed manual shift modes, but will take half a second longer to get to the magical 60-mile-per-hour mark.

Subaru investigation confirms vehicle data tampering in Japan

Subaru has admitted that alteration of fuel-economy and emissions data took place in its Gunma and Yajima manufacturing plants between December 2012 and November 2017. Some 900 vehicles were affected by data tampering, which Subaru says was done in the vehicles' final inspections by factory-floor inspectors. In a report, Subaru says "non-conforming" final vehicle inspections were identified in late 2017, and that the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism demanded that Subaru undertake an internal investigation of the matter. Almost 7,000 vehicles were subject to inspection in the investigated time period, and the measurement equipment retained test data for some 6,500 of those. It showed that 903 vehicles had had their data "inappropriately altered," partially so that average data values would meet quality control standards. Subaru says that the decision to do this was made among vehicle inspectors and their foremen. As Subaru's statement reads: "Inspectors engaging in sampling of fuel economy and emissions were instructed by their seniors that, if results for each vehicle did not meet such standards, measurement values should be altered to those that meet such standards, and, according to such instructions, the inspectors altered measurement values. [...] Even if there were no problems in comparison with the internal quality control standards, inspectors altered measurement values with the intention of reducing variance in measurement values in order to avoid questions from the Group Chiefs and the Section Chief on such variance. It should be noted that alterations were made not only to make results better, but also to make them worse." It appears that everything was done to keep the average values right. Subaru adds: "Although the relevant laws and regulations stipulate that, in certain limited cases, measurement values could be altered in order to adjust errors caused by measurement equipment, inspectors misunderstand such adjustment method because of deficient internal rules and inadequate training. Inspectors altered measurement values by adjustment methods not stipulated in the relevant laws and regulations, without understanding that their methods were inappropriate." Test equipment did not contain data from earlier than 2012, but Subaru suspects such tampering took place as long ago as 2002. However, the matter will not result in recalls.