2002 Subaru Impreza Wrx Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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2018 Subaru Forester joins the black-out bandwagon with Black Edition

People apparently love black-painted trim. Nissan, Chevrolet, and Honda have all recently offered special-edition packages to ditch chrome and color-coded parts for the dark hue, and Subaru is the latest to join the party. Its offering comes in the form of the 2018 Forester Black Edition. The package is only available on the 170-horsepower, naturally aspirated, Forester 2.5i Premium. It also costs an extra $1,150. For that money, you get the following in the eponymous color: 18-inch wheels, fog light trim, badges, mirror caps, and the grille. Inside, the interior is also black. The steering wheel and shifter are leather-wrapped, and the upholstery is cloth with faux leather bolsters. The package isn't all aesthetics, though. It also comes with steering LED headlights and paddle shifters for the CVT, allowing the driver to pick from six preset ratios. The latter feature was previously exclusive to the turbocharged Forester 2.0XT. The package also comes on the heels of the 2018 model introduction. There aren't many notable updates to this year's Forester, however. All trim levels except Touring increase in price by $200. All Touring models jump by $1,795. The Touring's large price jump comes with now-standard reverse automatic emergency braking and high-beam assist. The 2.0XT Touring also now has torque vectoring similar to that in the WRX line. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Subaru Forester Black Edition Image Credit: Subaru Subaru Crossover Economy Cars

Subaru plans to electrify entire range by the middle of the 2030s

Nipping infinite rumors in the bud, Subaru confirmed the Outback, the Forester, the BRZ, the WRX STI, and every other car it makes will go utilize some form of electrified powertain or disappear by the middle of the 2030s. The Japanese automaker announced it plans to kick exclusively gasoline-powered cars out of its global portfolio in about 15 years' time. The announcement comes in the wake of ever-stricter emissions regulations around the globe, notably in China and in the European Union. The firm isn't going to turn the tap off overnight, though. Toyota owns an 8.7% stake in Subaru, and the two partners are jointly developing a pair of electric cars due out during the 2020s. Others will inevitably follow. By 2030, hybrid and electric models will represent at least 40% of Subaru's annual global output. In the meantime, Subaru is funneling an immense amount of money into adapting Toyota's hybrid technology to its vehicles. The gasoline-electric variant of the Crosstrek introduced in 2018 a product of this collaboration. Executives outlined plans to release a "strong hybrid" again built with Toyota parts, though they stopped short of providing more details. They also stressed their goal isn't to achieve mere badge-engineering. "Although we're using Toyota technology, we want to make hybrids that are distinctly Subaru. It's not only about reducing CO2 emissions. We need to further improve vehicle safety and the performance of our all-wheel drive," affirmed Tetsuo Onuki, Subaru's chief technology officer, during a briefing Reuters attended. His comments suggest all-wheel drive will continue to define the members of Subaru's range in the electric-only era. The configuration has been one of the brand's strongest selling points for decades, and it helped it grow from a niche brand peddling obscure cars to a major mainstream automaker in the United States, so giving it up would be marketing suicide. The horizontally-opposed engine is Subaru's second signature, it's what the C-shaped daytime running lights seen on its cars are inspired by, but Onuki confirmed it will no longer be the only way Subarus are motivated.

Japan is the only country to get this WRX S4 tS

Before the Impreza switches to a new platform, Subaru is wringing more limited editions out of the old one. The most recent, the Subaru WRX S4 tS, is a Japan-only special that is based off of the WRX S4 model released a few years ago. Underneath the hood, the WRX S4 tS gets the same modified 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four from the WRX S4 that generates 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The modified engine produces 28 horsepower and 37 pound-feet of torque more than the standard WRX, and is only five horsepower off the turbocharged 2.5-liter Boxer engine in the WRX STI, while making more torque. The handling has been improved thanks to a similar setup to the one on the WRX STI S207, another Japan-only model released last year, that features adjustable DampMatic II front suspension from Bilstein, along with other goodies. The exterior gets 19-inch BBS forged aluminum wheels, red pinstripes on the front grille and rear bumper, and a large front spoiler. On the inside, the WRX S4 tS benefits from Recaro bucket seats and a luminescent speedometer. The sedan is also equipped with Subaru's advanced safety features in the form of EyeSight. Japanese enthusiasts can also choose a more hardcore option with the NBR Challenge Package that commemorates the automaker's victories in the SP3T class of the Nurbrugring 24 Hours in 2015 and 2016. The sportier model gets 19-inch wheels from BBS, a carbon-fiber rear wing, special badging, and a suede-lined steering wheel on the inside. We reached out to Subaru to see if the vehicle would be sold in the US, but the spokesperson refused to comment. With the WRX S4 and the S207 being Japan-only models, we doubt the new limited edition WRX S4 tS would be offered outside of Japan. Related Video: