2004 Subaru Impreza Wrx on 2040-cars

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2019 Los Angeles Auto Show | Autoblog Podcast #605

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Associate Editor Zac Palmer. This week, the main topic of discussion is the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show. Of course, they've gotta talk about the Ford Mustang Mach-E — and its questionable naming scheme. They also run down some other L.A. show highlights including the Toyota RAV4 Prime, Kia Seltos, Lexus LC 500 Convertible and Audi RS Q8. Then they talk about the cars they've been driving: the 2020 Chevy Silverado with the Duramax diesel engine and the 2020 Subaru Legacy Touring XT. Autoblog Podcast #605 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown L.A. Auto Show 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E (and here's a little more about the name) 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime 2021 Kia Seltos 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible 2020 Audi RS Q8 2020 Chevy Silverado Duramax 2020 Subaru Legacy Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

2022 Subaru BRZ to debut Nov. 18

The 2022 Subaru BRZ will be officially revealed to the world in production form on Nov. 18, the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday. Like most of 2020's big reveals, the 2022 BRZ will be shown online. We've known for some time that the next-generation BRZ's debut was imminent. After all, disguised prototypes have been testing on public roads in southeast Michigan, and one such prototype was also shown (still camouflaged) to attendees of a charity preview event last month, from which a few images leaked.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. To put it bluntly, we really don't know much else about the forthcoming Subaru BRZ (or its Toyota twin, the 86). In fact, Toyota has been even more tight-lipped than Subaru in this regard. What little we've heard suggests that most of the platform enhancements will come from Toyota's side of the twins' joint development program, while the powertrain will again be sourced from Subaru. This runs counter some rumors we've heard that longitudinal engines from Toyota's portfolio, which includes turbocharged four-cylinders, could potentially make their way under the hood.  An evolutionary engine offering makes more sense than any sort of revolutionary leap forward, as Toyota now has a four-cylinder Supra model in its lineup. This effectively acts as a ceiling for the 86's performance. Subaru has its WRX and STI models to consider too, but that's a fundamentally different conflict of priorities, as the Supra is far more similar to the 86 than the BRZ is to either of its performance-oriented showroom siblings.  Encouragingly, the prototype we saw on public roads was being benchmarked against a turbocharged Ford Mustang. While it would be tempting to jump to the conclusion that Subaru is targeting the Mustang for power output, it's far more likely that the comparison is more holistic, rather than focused on powertrain performance alone. The lighter Subaru and Toyota coupes won't need quite as much power to keep up with the larger, heavier pony car, so expecting the twins to compete with the EcoBoost Mustang's 300-ish horsepower is grounded more in wishful thinking than reality.  Fortunately, we only have a couple of weeks left until we find out for certain. Stay tuned! Related Video:

If your TV rats you out, what about your car?

Vizio, the TV manufacturer, recently had to pay a $2.2-million fine to the FTC recently because it was discovered that its sets were collecting data about viewers' watching habits and then using the information for its own benefit. Last year, it was revealed the Samsung smart TVs were busy listening to what was being said, even if the conversations in question had absolutely nothing with switching the channel away from the Matt LeBlanc Top Gear. Nowadays, auto manufacturers seem to be tripping over each other pointing out that they offer Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto. And more recent phenomenon are announcements—from companies including Ford and Hyundai—that they are offering Amazon Alexa capabilities. You talk. It listens. In late January, General Motors said it is releasing a next-generation infotainment software development kit (NGI SDK) to software developers to write apps for GM cars. The NGI SDK includes native Application Program Interfaces (APIs) that allow access to expected things - like oil life and tire pressure and whether lightbulbs are burned out - but unexpected things, as well. Like the presence of passengers in the vehicle. When your TV set is ratting you out, isn't it likely that your car will? In making the announcement of the NGI SDK, GM pointed out that it has the largest connected fleet on the road, some 12-million vehicles. The company also noted: "From 2015 to 2016, GM has seen data usage by customers increase nearly 200 percent. Mobile app use for GM vehicles also hit an all-time high in 2016, with more than 225 million interactions." Is it not plausible that they know more those interactions than simply the number of them? GM's privacy agreement is like most privacy policies, which boils down to: You use it (the device, software, etc.), you potentially give up a portion of your privacy. While on the subject of apps, coincident with this year's CES, Subaru announced that it has added eight cloud-based apps to the STARLINK multimedia system in the 2017 Impreza. Some are familiar, like Yelp. Some are a bit narrow in focus, like eBird, which was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for birdwatchers. And one ought to give a bit of pause: RightTrack. According to Subaru, "RightTrack Test Drive from Liberty Mutual Insurance monitors driving habits and provides customers with tips on driving safer to help lower their insurance rates and improve their safe driving skills." Or said more simply: You drive. It watches.