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Subaru BRZ has higher manual take-rate than 86, and other Subaru manual facts

Automakers are continuing to give us a peek at the popularity, or lack thereof, of the manual transmission. Our latest information comes from Subaru, which kindly shared its manual transmission take-rate numbers for 2018. One of the most interesting tidbits was that 78% of Subaru BRZs sold had a manual. What makes that so curious is its stark contrast to its twin, the Toyota 86, where only 33% of those sold in 2018 had a manual. On top of that, the BRZ has a stronger manual take-rate than the enthusiast darling Mazda Miata; the soft top had 76% of buyers going for a stick, and the RF had 52%. If we had to speculate, it seems the Subaru BRZ is attracting the hardcore sports car fans. Although the BRZ manual sales are strong, it isn't the model that sells the most. The Subaru WRX tops it with 90% of buyers picking the manual over the CVT option. We of course suspect that plenty of regular WRX buyers are opting for the manual, though the number is likely partly boosted by the fact the STI version is only available with a manual. Things aren't quite as rosy with Subaru's more mainstream offerings, but that's to be expected. The Impreza follows the BRZ with 8% of Imprezas selling with a manual. The Crosstrek comes in second-to-last at 6%, and the Forester comes in last at 3%. And the Forester has now dropped the manual transmission. One final interesting note to Subaru's manual take rate. Subaru told us it sold over 47,000 manual-equipped cars. That's roughly 2,000 more than Honda sold in the same year. And with Subaru's total sales numbers being less than Honda, that means the percentage of total sales that were manual is larger at 7% versus 2.6% for Honda.

Subaru confirms 2015 WRX STI to grace Detroit show stand

Now that we've seen and driven the 2015 Subaru WRX, it's time to set our sights on the car's more powerful and traditionally massively winged counterpart: the STI. And while a few rumors about the new STI have already leaked, Subaru today confirmed that we'll be seeing the hotter 'Rex at the Detroit Auto Show later this month. Hot diggity.
Last we heard, the new STI will still use a turbocharged, 2.5-liter boxer-four (remember, the standard WRX uses a version of the 2.0-liter engine found in the Forester) producing something like 300 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque. What's more, don't expect the STI to hatch a five-door variant - Subaru recently told us that there are no plans to offer anything beyond a sedan bodystyle for both versions of the WRX. Sad trombone, we know.
That said, if our time with the 2015 WRX sedan is anything to go by, this new STI should be pretty rad. The new WRX is significantly sharper than the outgoing model (in terms of driving dynamics, anyway - it's still a pretty ugly little thing), and we fully expect the STI to be a bulgier, harsher, more powerful and aggressive version of the already awesome street-legal rally car. We're just hoping it will be offered with WRC-correct gold wheels, too.

2020 Toyota Highlander vs other 3-row crossovers: There can only be one!

We've done quite a few spec comparison posts involving three-row family crossovers, and when included, the Toyota Highlander has always been the runt of the group. While the rest increasingly seemed to be benchmarking each other toward greater girth, the Highlander was the outlier.  That changes a bit for the 2020 Toyota Highlander, but only a bit. It's now larger and more competitive, specifically in regards to the amount of cargo space aft of the third-row seat. As you can see below, this aligns the Highlander most closely to its long-time competitor the 2020 Honda Pilot. However, let's see how it stacks up to others in the segment, which is heavily populated now, so for the sake of space, we've selected the newest entries: Kia Telluride, Hyundai Palisade, Subaru Ascent and Ford Explorer. The order in which they are presented is random.  Performance and fuel economy The 2020 Highlander is more than 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor, but has the same 295-horsepower V6 engine that was already one of the strongest in the segment. We'd say that would give it a leg up, but the Pilot and Explorer have proven to be sprinters, delivering 0-60 times in the low-6 range by some publications' stopwatches (or VBoxes, whatever). We don't expect the Highlander to beat them, but it may dip into the 6's. The heavy, less-powerful Subaru Ascent is most likely to take up the rear. It's fuel economy of 23 mpg combined also matches the Highlander and Explorer for segment-best. Remember, however, that the Explorer's turbocharged inline-four engine is likely more susceptible to differences in driving style (read: a heavy foot).  Of course, if you're really interested in fuel economy, the Highlander and Explorer are the only vehicles in the segment to offer hybrid versions. The Ford Explorer Hybrid puts a greater emphasis on performance, however, resulting in lower estimates of 25 mpg combined (AWD) and 28 mpg combined (FWD). By contrast, the new 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is estimated to return 36 mpg combined.  Passenger and cargo space According to Highlander chief engineer Yoshikazu Saeki, he had a choice of two directions with the new Highlander. He could have indeed made it bigger, matching these very competitors, especially in terms of third-row and cargo space. Or, he could have maintained a smaller-than-average size. He obviously chose the latter. First, it was the size customers had come to expect. Would they be put off by something bigger?