2020 Subaru Forester Touring on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2020 Subaru Outback and Legacy pricing announced

Pricing for the 2020 Subaru Legacy sedan and Outback crossover are now available. Both models were completely redesigned for the model year, but base prices have barely gone up. The 2020 Subaru Legacy starts at $23,645, just $215 more than the old model. The 2020 Subaru Outback now starts at $27,655, which is $335 more than the 2019 Outback. Price differences vary depending on trims, but for the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder models, the prices have only gone up a few hundred dollars. You can see the breakdown of Legacy prices below, and the Outback prices below the next paragraph.   As for the turbocharged models, the price increase is quite a bit more compared with equivalent 3.6R 6-cylinder examples from 2019. The cheapest turbocharged Legacy is $35,095, which is $2,665 more than its flat-six predecessor. With the Outback, you can technically get a turbo model for less than the cheapest 2019 six-cylinder model. It starts at $35,905, whereas the entry-level 6-cylinder Outback for 2019 started at $35,970. But keeping trims matched up, the same trim turbo model is $38,755, an increase of $2,785. Regardless of Legacy or Outback trim, buyers will get more power and torque. The base 2.5-liter inline-4 makes 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque, up from 175 and 174, respectively. The turbo engine makes 260 horsepower versus 256 from the old 6-cylinder, and 277 pound-feet of torque instead of 247. Both vehicles are completely redesigned boasting lighter, stiffer chassis and a much nicer interior with a massive center touchscreen available. Be sure to check out our first look articles on the Outback and Legacy for additional details on the new cars. Update: The Legacy pricing chart has been changed to correct a mistake 2020 Subaru Legacy View 15 Photos

The 2019 Subaru STI S209 has an intercooler sprayer, here's what it looks like when you activate it

The 2019 Subaru STI S209 gets a lot of features that distinguish it from your average WRX STI including wide body work, a giant wing, additional chassis braces and an extra 31 horsepower. It also brings back a performance gizmo that hasn't been featured in a U.S. market Subaru since 2007: the intercooler sprayer. As the name implies, it sprays cool water onto the air-to-air intercooler when pressing a button. In the case of the S209, that button is one of the paddles on the back of the steering wheel. That triggers the water nozzles hidden in the hood scoop to spray water. You can see what happens in the video below. Note that when the car is in motion, air would carry the spray farther back covering more of the intercooler. Now why would you want an intercooler sprayer? Well, the S209, like all WRX and STI models, uses an air-to-air intercooler to cool off hot air coming from the turbocharger on its way to the intake manifold. The cooler your air, the denser it is, meaning more oxygen to combine with fuel to turn into more power. The effectiveness of the intercooler depends partly on the temperature of the outside air flowing over the intercooler. If it's really hot out, it's not as effective. So spraying water onto the intercooler can counter this to ensure that the car is making maximum horsepower even in toasty conditions. This also means that although this may feel like some special secret performance-boosting weapon, it's really only effective in specific circumstances, and will just get you back to normal power, rather than make the car noticeably faster on the street. Long track days in the summer and after waiting in line at the drag strip or autocross are the kinds of situations where you could see power diminish due to hot air and a lack of moving air. Normal driving won't necessitate its use nor will driving in cool temperatures. In fact, the S209's owner's manual specifically says not to use the sprayer in temperatures below 41 degrees Fahrenheit because of the risk of frozen water in the tank. That brings us to another aspect of the intercooler sprayer: maintenance. In fairness, there isn't much to maintain, but if you want to use the system, you do need to keep the tank filled. It's located in the trunk where the spare tire would normally be. Inside of course is a water pump that connects to hoses that run water to the front. There is a warning light that will illuminate on the instrument panel if it runs low.

Subaru of Indiana produces its 4 millionth Subaru, but that's not all

Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA), the only Subaru plant outside Japan, just celebrated building its 4 millionth Subaru. On Monday, April 22, at 10:51 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, a silver 2019 Outback rolled off the line to mark the milestone. The facility was the product of a joint venture between Subaru and Isuzu, producing about 67,000 cars per year. Devoted solely to Subarus since 2016, yearly output by the more than 5,700 factory associates hovers around 370,000 cars. Those with a head for arcane minutiae might recall that in 2013 Subaru announced having produced the 4 millionth vehicle at the plant. An Outback also celebrated that milestone, that time a 2014 model in Dark Indigo Blue. Subaru answered our question about the previous highlight by explaining, "in the past, the plant produced Isuzu vehicles (and at one point, even the Honda Passport and Toyota Camry)." The 2013 vehicle tally counted everything rolling out the doors. This week's marker counts just the Subarus. The facility also builds the Ascent, Impreza, and Legacy for the North American market. Things are going so well for the Japanese carmaker that we were also told, "While this week we're celebrating our 4 millionth Subaru vehicle (since beginning production in 1989), in early September we expect to produce our 6 millionth overall vehicle." Seems those seven sisters of the Pleiades, Subaru's constellation logo, are shining at full strength.