2007 Subaru Impreza Wrx Sti Sedan 4-door 2.5l Turbo on 2040-cars

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With the Subaru Viziv Performance Concept, be careful getting your hopes up

Subaru fans have reason to be excited. The company revealed the Viziv Performance Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it's pretty obvious that it's a preview of a future WRX. The big vents, hood scoop, fenders, and its sedan profile all shout WRX. Someone from Subaru's design department even confirmed that the study could influence the next model. While admiring the concept's lines and imagining the next model, we, as well as some of our commenters, realized that we should keep our hopes and expectations low. The reason for this is that Subaru pulled a bit of a bait-and-switch with WRX styling before, back in 2013. That year, the company revealed the WRX Concept. It, like the Viziv Performance Concept, was a vented, scooped, flared, low-roof interpretation of the next WRX. Everyone loved it, and they were psyched to see a Subaru that could truly be described as beautiful, rather than say, unique, or interesting, or different, or any other kindhearted euphemism. View 11 Photos Then Subaru unveiled the production WRX for 2015. To the company's credit, it did manage to include design cues from the concept such as the fender flare lines and fascia shape, and it shared very few exterior panels with the Impreza. Unfortunately, it was still based on the Impreza platform, and those lines had to be pulled in and compressed onto the tall and narrow economy car. Without the low roof, ultra-wide fenders, and long, defined trunk, the car lost a lot in translation. The result thoroughly disappointed, and on occasion infuriated, fans. Basically, we've been burned before by Subaru's concepts. Heck, if you want more proof, take a look at the Subaru BRZ STI Performance concept that had a turbocharged engine. And yet, we still have no turbo BRZ on the market. But just because we're trying to be realistic doesn't mean Subaru won't surprise us with a close-to-concept WRX in the future. And the company is showing some signs that its concepts are more realistic. Looking at the evolution of the Viziv-7 concept into the Ascent concept and production prototypes, it seems a lot of the original design has survived. So hope isn't lost, just tempered. Related Video: Featured Gallery Subaru Viziv Performance Concept Tokyo Motor Show View 12 Photos Tokyo Motor Show Subaru Concept Cars Performance Sedan 2017 tokyo motor show subaru wrx concept subaru viziv perfromance concept

Don't expect an all-new Subaru WRX until 2020

Despite Subaru completely overhauling the Impreza for 2017, it appears the WRX will stick around on its current platform for another few years. That's the word from Motoring in Australia, who spoke with an senior engineer from Subaru about a WRX replacement. For those that can't wait, the good news is that a WRX refresh is coming for 2018, which should carry the car for another few years. It should be no surprise that a full WRX redesign is a few years off. Although the fourth generation Impreza was released in 2011, the current WRX has only been on sale since the 2015 model year. Given an average five-year cycle, we can most likely expect a redesign for 2020. It's not clear how extensive the refresh will be or if the STI will finally drop the ancient EJ-series 2.5-liter turbocharged flat four engine for the more modern FA-series 2.0-liter turbocharged flat four engine found in the regular WRX. Rumors have been swirling for years of what else a full-redesign may encompass. The current model was rumored to have an electric turbocharger that obviously never appeared. There have been other rumors of a switch to a hybrid powertrain. While that may work when the WRX finally uses the updated Impreza platform, don't expect to see hybrid power in the refreshed model. Subaru says the time it would take to engineer such a system would be too great to have it available for 2018. The new Impreza's platform is designed to fit a hybrid system, so don't rule out the possibility of a WRX hybrid. Related Video: News Source: MotoringImage Credit: AOL Design/Style Subaru Hatchback Performance Sedan subaru sti

Seeing the sights with Subaru EyeSight's Touring Assist | Autoblog in Japan

Autoblog recently went to Japan to drive cars, ride trains, and talk to carmakers about automotive history and the future of mobility. This video is part of a larger series of special reports from Japan. TOKYO — The interesting thing about Subaru's EyeSight technology is that — like its name suggests — it relies mostly on the stereoscopic color cameras located behind the rear-view mirror that scan the road ahead of the car. We've had EyeSight available here in the U.S. for years now, controlling features like pre-collision braking and throttle control, and adaptive cruise control. The cameras can detect vehicles, pedestrians and lane markings, and judge their distance. It uses color images to recognize brake lights, which add another piece of important input when making critical life-or-death decisions. New for Japan, though, is an EyeSight upgrade called Touring Assist. Touring Assist builds upon the capabilities of EyeSight with more robust lane tracing, adaptive cruise control and steering assist. Before expending to other markets or other models, Touring Assist is only available on the Subaru Levorg and WRX in Japan. The capabilities of lane tracing have been expanded for use at any speed, rather than just over 37 miles per hour. Additionally, Touring Assist adds automated steering to help keep you in your lane. This uses the cameras not just to read and adhere to the lane markings but, at speeds of up to 37 mph, to also follow the car in front of you. Touring Assist doesn't allow for fully autonomous driving, but its driver assistance features automate certain functions in specific conditions, theoretically making driving safer and easier. It's a step toward fully autonomous driving, a technological foundation upon which self-driving systems can expand. We arrived in Japan in spring, expecting to see streets lined with cherry blossoms. Instead, we were met with a frigid downpour that later turned to snow on our first full day in Tokyo. While not ideal conditions for our first time driving in Tokyo traffic — or driving on the left side of the road in a right-hand-drive car — it allowed us to test out Touring Assist in less-than-perfect conditions. Check out the video above to see how that went. In all, we were pretty impressed with Touring Assist. What would have been a fraught drive in a foreign country on the wrong side of the road in crappy weather and heavy congestion was actually pretty relaxed and enjoyable.