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Mazda CX-5 named Japan's Car of The Year, Subaru BR-Z wins "Special Award"

The Mazda CX-5 stamped its Kodo design and SkyActiv technology authority all over the Japan Car of the Year awards, taking the top prize ahead of the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT 86. It is Mazda's second victory in the last ten years, the 2005 MX-5 claiming the same trophy, and the fourth time the Hiroshima company has won.
The award is decided by 60 local "automotive experts and journalists," and open to any passenger car released in Japan from November 1, 2011 to October 31, 2012 that has sold more than 500 units. Each judge gets 25 votes, his or her top vote getting 10 points, the rest of the points being spread among the judge's choice for the next best four cars.
The second-place getters were the Toyobaru twins with 318 votes, the surprise being they didn't beat or get any closer to the crossover. The Subaru BRZ did claw some mojo back, earning the Special Award given to cars that have made "an exceptional impact." The BMW 3 Series was third overall and won the Import Car of the Year award with plenty of room between it and the second place Range Rover Evoque.

Choose the right tool | 2017 Subaru BRZ Performance Package Second Drive

There's something to be said for using the right tool for the job. It's not always possible, but you know that when you whip out the Vise Grips, deep down inside, it just feels wrong. There's satisfaction, joy, even dignity in using the proper instrument to execute a task accurately on the first try. Our attempt to wield the updated 2017 Subaru BRZ on Fuji Speedway last year were stymied by summer fog that rolled into the base of Mt. Fuji, reducing visibility to just a couple of car lengths. But it's an extremely fast circuit with a nearly mile-long front straight so even on a clear day, it's not the ideal venue for the BRZ. Which is why we accepted Subaru's invitation to take another go at it, this time at Circuito Guadix, an off-the-beaten-path track near Granada, Spain. (If you go, try the paella.) The Performance Package is the highest spec available on the chassis to date in the US, and that includes its Toyota and Scion brethren. The setup is exclusive to the BRZ line and has no Toyota counterpart. With a price of $1,195 on top of (and only available on) the $28,465 Limited trim level with a manual, it gets you a host of upgrades to its unsprung components, all of which would cost several times more if procured piecemeal in the aftermarket. Sorry, there are no power upgrades, save for the bump of five horsepower and five pound-feet of torque on manual-transmission 2017 models. The most noticeable of the enhancements are sharp, gunmetal-finish 17-by-7.5-inch wheels, inspired by the famed RS-Watanabe design that adorned Japanese touring racers of the 1970s. The extra half-inch of width accommodates larger Brembo brakes — four-piston calipers up front biting down on rotors that have grown by 0.95 inches in diameter and thickness to 12.8 by 1.18, and two-pot calipers pinching 12.4-by-0.79-inch rotors, up from 11.4 by 0.71, out back. These are the same brake dimensions as you'll find on the car Subaru still considers the flagbearer of its enthusiast lineup, the rally-ready WRX STI. Performance Pack BRZs are suspended by Sachs ZF dampers and incur a weight penalty of just 20 pounds over the Limited. The Series.Yellow seen here takes all the goodies of the Performance Package and adds exclusive yellow paint that Subaru is quick to point out is entirely different from the yellow that appeared on the 2015 Scion FR-S Release Series 1.0. We'll concede that it's less boy-racer, but only slightly.

Subaru announces 2019 Crosstrek pricing

For the 2019 model year, the Subaru Crosstrek doesn't get a big refresh, but it does have a couple changes coming down the pipeline. One of those changes is in the pricing. For 2019, the MSRP is up by $100. That means the base price for the Crosstrek 2.0i equipped with the six-speed manual transmission — the most bare-bones version — is $22,870, which includes the $975 in destination fees. So what's new for 2019? For one, Subaru's EyeSight driver assist technology — which includes adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, pre-collision braking and lane departure and sway warning — is available on the CVT-equipped base model. It's an $845 option, totaling $28,745. The Crosstrek Premium, which begins at $23,870, now comes with the 6.5-inch multimedia as standard. The Crosstrek Limited, at $28,170 has EyeSight, automatic braking and high beam assist as standard equipment. The Subaru Crosstrek, regardless of trim level, is all-wheel-drive, and powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder providing 152 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque. That is mated either to a six-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission. The CVT in Premium and Limited trims also offers a seven-speed manual mode with paddle shifters mounted to the steering wheel. CVT models also come with X-Mode and Hill Descent Control for loose or slick roads or off-road driving. The Subaru Crosstrek offers fuel economy figures of 23 miles per gallon city/29 highway/25 combined for manual-equipped models. The CVT-equipped version offers 27/33/29 mpg. If that's not good enough for you, you won't have to wait long for something better. Subaru has announced that the 2019 Crosstrek will be its first model to receive a plug-in hybrid powertrain, available by the end of this year. We don't know what the pricing will be on that, yet, though. Related Video: