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2018 Subaru Crosstrek First Drive | Tall in stature, short on power

When the first-generation Subaru XV Crosstrek launched a few years ago, I was skeptical that more ground clearance and fender flares is all it would take to get more buyers. But sell it has. According to Subaru representatives, it's the company's third-best-selling line, and is second in the country for compact and subcompact crossover sales (first is the Jeep Renegade). Most Crosstrek sales are in America - 60 percent of them. So if lifting an Impreza can yield such impressive sales results, it's no surprise that Subaru kept the formula the same for the new Crosstrek. The end product is served well by all the improvements to the new-generation Impreza, while equally hampered by its issues. One of the few ways the Crosstrek is distinct from the Impreza is on the outside. Though the main body is the same, the front and rear bumpers are a little chunkier, and the front grille is different. It also features the tried-and-true addition of black plastic fender flares to signal its crossover and dirt road intentions. Every Crosstrek comes standard with roof rails and alloy wheels with a machined finish and black-painted accents. Those wheels are available in either 17- or 18-inch varieties. The body sits atop a raised suspension that brings ground clearance up to an impressive 8.7 inches over the Impreza's 5.1 inches. That also matches the Jeep Renegade Trailhawk for clearance. The Crosstrek's fresh bod is propelled by the same 2.0-liter flat-four as the Impreza, which, at 152 horsepower, makes four more ponies than the old engine. Torque remains the same at 145 pound-feet. The engine, which Subaru says is 80 percent new, is much less coarse and clattery than its predecessor, letting more of the pleasant boxer engine's rumbling noises through. You'll likely hear those noises plenty, because you'll need to work the car hard to get anywhere. Just as we found in the Impreza, what power the engine makes is all high in the rev band. And even when you're in the meat of it, it still takes an agonizingly long time to get up to speed. There were a number of overtaking episodes on two-lane roads during the test drive, and each was a nerve-wracking experience. Even with the foot to the floor, the Crosstrek took the tortoise's approach to forward momentum, and I was constantly fearful of a hare coming up the other lane. Brutally slow acceleration isn't particularly out of the ordinary in the subcompact and compact crossover class.

2020 Subaru Outback Suspension Deep Dive | More than meets the eye

The 2020 Subaru Outback is a completely redesigned car. It has a lot to offer in terms of new convenience features, and the driving experience is much improved. A good deal of that comes from chassis improvements, and indeed a lot of work went into making the body shell and suspension subframes more rigid so the suspension attachment points could be more robust and stable. Don’t let all of that rigidity talk make you think the ride itself is stiff. It isnÂ’t. Any suspension tuning engineer will tell you that a stable platform is necessary even if a smooth ride is the goal. Rigid attachment points make it easier to control ride motions and road imperfections within those components designed for that very job – the springs, dampers and suspension bushings. So letÂ’s take a look at what Subaru has done under the new Outback. What weÂ’re about to see doesnÂ’t just apply to the Outback wagon, but to the closely-related and also-redesigned 2020 Legacy sedan as well.   ItÂ’s no surprise that a vehicle like the Subaru Outback uses strut front suspension, but from here, a couple of details do look curious.   Like any strut suspension, the steering axis (yellow line) is defined by the pivot bushing at the top of the strut and the center of the lower ball joint. The entire affair will pivot about this line when the wheels are turned. The lower control arm (red) of the newly redesigned 2020 Outback is now a lightweight aluminum piece instead of the steel hunk that was used last year. As before, thereÂ’s a “direct-acting” stabilizer bar link (green) that attaches to the strut housing, an arrangement that maximizes the efficiency of the stabilizer bar because the motion ratio is 1-to-1 motion with respect to wheel movement. As for the stabilizer bar itself, itÂ’s now hollow to save a bit of weight.   This spacer (yellow) raises the body relative to the suspension. The Outback has one, but the lower-riding Legacy sedan does not. The spacer pushes the arm down (or the body up - take your pick), so that means the OutbackÂ’s reinforcing bracket (green) will also differ from that of the Legacy. While weÂ’re here, look at the round rubber bushing just below the spacer. That void space and square nub you see pointing directly at you will make sense in a short while.   Subaru couldnÂ’t simply put a spacer on the OutbackÂ’s rear lower control arm pivot and call it good. They had to do something of similar magnitude at the front.

Forgotten 1990s Subaru showroom is still full of new ghost Imprezas

Every now and then, stories and photos surface of car dealerships simply forgotten by time. Sometimes it's due to the dealer in question ceasing trading, for one reason or another, sometimes it's because of political tensions in the area — like with the Cypriot Toyota dealership which still has 1970s J-tin laying dormant, ravaged by opportunistic parts hunters. Years ago, photos appeared of a complete, 150-car, zero-miles Chrysler Neon shipment in Singapore. And no matter what the backstory, it's always fascinating to see completely everyday cars remaining undriven for decades, as if they were frozen in time while the world revolved around them. How about these as-new, unregistered, first generation Subaru Imprezas? Somewhere on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean, as reported by CarsAddition.com, there's a forgotten Subaru dealership with new mid-1990s stock still on the showroom floor. Judging by the unpainted bumpers and steel wheels, the right-hand-drive cars on display are absolute base spec, with likely the 90-horsepower 1.6 flat-four powering just their front wheels. They are almost all white, which adds to the appliance appearance. A couple Justy 4WD hatchbacks keep the Impreza saloons and wagons company, along with some Kei car vans and pickups. But the star of the showroom is the still-dazzling, late-'80s XT Turbo 4WD coupe, which has probably had been there originally to draw attention. It still does, and it's likely barely used. There are Subaru posters on the walls, all faded to blue, depicting Subaru's rally program and Leone/Loyale models which were originally replaced by the rounder Impreza in 1992. It's likely that all other base-model, first-generation Imprezas ever made have faced a quarter of a century of careless use, dents and rust. They were no fancier than a similarly priced Corolla, and it's unlikely any others have been preserved in a condition anywhere near these. Were the dealership owner ever to sell these, they would need complete overhauling after sitting for 25 years with their factory liquids and lubricants, but something tells me they won't leave the place anytime soon. It's unclear what the story behind this seemingly forgotten dealership is. CarsAddiction.com, the source for these photos, says it's probably due to a competing Maltese Subaru dealer upstaging this one, and the cars' era places them in the time of the 1990s economic downturn, which might have thrown a spanner in the works for this "Fuji" dealer.