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Subaru calls Forester Ultimate Customised Kit Special edition 'an unfortunate situation'

UPDATE: Subaru of America reportedly found it necessary to disavow itself from the Forester Ultimate Customised Kit Special edition that was displayed at this year's Singapore Motor Show. According to The Drive, the automaker sent a letter to its American dealership network to explain that it "had nothing to do with this" and that "it obviously goes without saying that this car will not be available in the United States market." Lead image courtesy of imgur. Subaru likely brought several serious concepts to this year's Singapore Motor Show. We sincerely hope that this is not one of them.  Meet the Forester Ultimate Customised Kit Special edition (little "e"). If you're old enough to be on the Internet, you certainly know exactly where this is going, and it's not anywhere appropriate.  In this lighting, it's hard to tell, but the F***S edition appears to be finished in Subaru's World Rally Blue, and the pin-striping is very likely STI's signature cherry blossom pink, but we frankly cannot tear our eyes away from the podium, which is emblazoned with the custom Forester's name. As Top Gear Philippines points out, it's otherwise a fairly generic show car. From the body kit that gives it a low-slung attitude to the custom paint work, nothing about the F***S edition appears out of the ordinary. It's even rocking a set of 20-inch Enkei wheels over yellow brake calipers.  We're not sure what exactly is going on under the hood, but we wouldn't be surprised to find the normal host of bolt-on factory and aftermarket power-adders, or maybe even a full-blown STI powertrain just for extra cred.  Inside, it has yet more of the trappings of a run-of-the-mill SEMA build. A huge touchscreen up front controls a custom audio system backed up by Focal amplifiers and a subwoofer. There's custom blue ambient lighting in the front cabin and a set of tablet-style monitors for rear passenger entertainment.  The execution leads us to believe that either its builders had no clue, or they simply gave no... well... you know. 

Most reliable cars and trucks of 2022

Related: Least reliable cars and trucks of 2022   For years now, Consumer Reports has been one of the most prolific sources of vehicle reliability data around. The organization tests a number of vehicles each year and surveys its members on various automotive topics, including reliability. The results of its 2022 annual auto survey are in, and the list of most reliable vehicles has been revealed. Unsurprisingly, Toyota and Lexus dominated the list of most reliable vehicles, but BMW and Mini snuck into the top 10 as well. The list includes: Toyota Corolla Hybrid: 93 Lexus GX: 91 Mini Cooper: 89 Toyota Prius: 89 Mazda MX-5 Miata: 85 Lincoln Corsair: 82 Toyota Corolla: 81 Subaru Crosstrek: 80 BMW 3 Series: 80 Toyota Prius Prime: 77 In terms of the most reliable vehicle type, Consumer Reports says that sedans remain the best choice. Their average score is 58, which is notably better than SUVs’ average score of 51. Minivans and pickup trucks are lower, at 44 and 39, respectively. As Consumer Reports notes, many sedans are older models that have allowed their manufacturers to iron out the wrinkles, making them more reliable. Domestic automakers' SUVs and trucks performed better in the survey than their imported counterparts, with scores of 45 and 41, respectively. The study also showed that hybrids and plug-in hybrids are becoming more reliable, and have climbed the score ladder to the tops of their segments in many cases.  Consumer Reports says its study includes 17 trouble areas, including small stuff like creaks and rattles and much larger problems like drivetrain failures. The organization states that it weights each issue based on its severity to create its predicted reliability scores, with 100 being the best. A car must be in production for at least two model years to be considered for the list. Related video: Green BMW Lexus Lincoln Mazda MINI Subaru Toyota Car Buying Maintenance Ownership Convertible Coupe Crossover Hatchback SUV Hybrid Sedan Consumer Reports reliability

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).