2020 Subaru Outback Limited on 2040-cars

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Is your new-car warranty good at the race track?

We've all heard the horror stories. Your buddy knows a girl that was dating a guy whose best friend's brother once broke his brand-new, recently purchased performance car while making runs at a drag strip or laps at a track day, and the manufacturer wouldn't cover the repair under warranty. True story? Urban legend? Complete crap? Yes, no, maybe. One thing's for sure: Automotive warranties have always come with caveats. In 1908, an ad in the Trenton Evening Times clearly stated: "All Ford Cars Guaranteed for One Year." Although it changed over time, by 1925 the Ford New Car Guarantee only covered 90 days on material and 30 days on labor, and it clearly stated that that there was "No guarantee whatever on Fan Belts, Glass, Bulbs, Wiring, Transmission, Bands, Hose Connections, Commutator Shells, Rollers, Spark Plugs or Gaskets." Whether or not Ol' Henry would pay to fix your Model T if you broke it shaving a tenth off your lap time at the local board track seems to be lost to history. We're guessing no. But what about today? Do new-car warranties in 2017 cover cars when they are driven on race tracks? We researched the warranties of 14 auto brands to find out, and the answer is yes, no, maybe, depending on the brand, in some cases the model, and whether or not your car is modified from stock. Acura has been out of the high-performance car game for a number of years, but jumps back into the party in 2017 with its hybrid-powered $173,000 NSX supercar. And Acura's warranty, as well as Honda's, clearly states that it does not cover "the use of the vehicle in competition or racing events." View 33 Photos So we asked Sage Marie, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Honda and Acura. "If the car is stock, the warranty covers it on a track just as it does on the street. No question," he told us. "However, if the car is modified, say with slick tires or other components that would put higher stresses on the vehicle's parts and systems, then we would have to investigate the circumstances further." Marie went on to say the same would be true for any Acura model or Honda vehicle, including the new 2017 Honda Civic Si. This became a common theme. Chevrolet actually started this practice with the fifth-generation Camaro on the high-performance ZL1 and Z/28 models.

2019 Subaru Legacy, Outback cost more, but get more features

As with the Subaru Impreza, the 2019 Subaru Legacy and 2019 Subaru Outback are seeing price increases for the new model year. The starting price for the base model Legacy 2.5i starts at $23,430, an increase of $375 over the 2018 model. The Outback's starting price of $27,320 is up by $510. These prices are listed with destination charges included. The higher trim levels mostly creep up as well, with the exception of the Legacy 3.6R Limited and Outback 3.6R Limited, which have both dropped in price slightly. The full list of price changes can be seen in the table below. Although prices have gone up, Subaru compensates a bit by now including EyeSight on every single version of the Legacy and Outback, including the base trims. EyeSight includes a suite of driver safety aids such as automatic forward emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist. On the previous 2018 model Legacy, EyeSight was not available on the standard model, and was an option on all other trims. On the 2018 Outback, EyeSight was only standard on the 2.5i Touring and 3.6R Touring, and was an option for Premium, Limited and 3.6R Limited. It wasn't available at all on the base 2.5i. The 2019 Legacy 2.5i Sport also picks up blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert as standard features. Both the Legacy and Outback see a few little interior tweaks, too. All models now get an instrument panel that includes a 5-inch LCD display. The 2.5i trim gets extra lighting and a pair of front USB ports, and Premium and Limited trims get a standard auto-dimming mirror with compass and Homelink garage door opening button. These 2019 Legacy and Outback vehicles will be arriving on dealer lots over the summer, so they should be there soon if not already. Subaru Legacy 2018 2019 2.5i $23,055 $23,430 2.5i Premium $25,155 $25,580 2.5i Sport $27,205 $27,680 2.5i Limited $29,955 $30,130 3.6R Limited $32,805 $32,430 Subaru Outback 2.5i $26,810 $27,320 2.5i Premium $28,910 $29,420 2.5i Limited $33,610 $33,820 2.5i Touring $37,405 $37,770 3.6R Limited $36,310 $35,970 3.6R Touring $39,605 $39,970 Related Video:

2014 Subaru Forester XT

Power Doesn't Come Cheap
When Subaru first offered a turbocharged Forester XT model to US customers for the 2004 model year, the shoe-shaped second-gen model fell into a ready-made competitive set of small, V6-powered crossovers and SUVs. The XT might have been more of a raucous shopping-trip companion than, say, a Ford Escape V6, but the basics of the cars offered a clear differentiation from the naturally aspirated, four-cylinder models found just a bit downmarket. Here in 2013, the V6 breed of crossover in this size class is all but extinct, and turbocharged four-cylinders with the power to compete with the XT are not thick on the ground.
In many ways, the comparative analysis gets most interesting when you start looking around for CUVs to match up with the all-boxes-ticked Forester XT Touring that we had as a tester for a recent week. The top of the line Touring trim means that the Forester comes with features like 10-way power seats, leather, navigation, a Harmon Kardon sound system with HD radio, Bluetooth and more. In fact, our Forester also had the only option package available on the XT Touring; one that included keyless access, HID headlights and Subaru's EyeSight system (adaptive cruise, lane departure warning and pre-collision braking).