1998 Subaru Forester on 2040-cars

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2020 Subaru Legacy, Outback earn IIHS safety picks

The redesigned 2020 Subaru Legacy sedan and Outback wagon both earned kudos from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but the news was not equally good for both models. The Legacy sedan walked away with the highest award, Top Safety Pick+. The Outback was one rung down, a Top Safety Pick. Sadly for the Outback, the previous, 2019 model had nabbed the TSP+ score. Why the difference in the Legacy and Outback? In a word: headlights. The IIHS structures their awards around several elements: crash tests, crash-avoidance systems, and headlights. Both Subarus aced their crash tests, earning Good results for the entire battery of tests (small and moderate front overlap on both sides, roof crush, side-impact, and head-restraints). Their standard EyeSight accident-avoidance automated emergency braking systems also performed well, successfully avoiding crashes at 12 and 25 mph, netting Superior ratings. (The pedestrian-detection function similarly earned a Superior rating, although pedestrian detection doesn't count toward the IIHS total score.) Headlights have to earn a Good rating in order for a car to qualify for TSP+; headlights deemed merely Acceptable limit a car to a maximum TSP award. Headlights that are Marginal or lower knock a car out of TSP contention. The Legacy's optional curve-adaptive headlights were deemed Good, while those same headlights in the Outback were only Acceptable, resulting in the different awards for the two models. For both cars, the base headlights also were Acceptable, meaning either model with the standard headlights would be a TSP (except that the IIHS grants a single model only its higher-level award).

A pair of Mitsubishis, the Mazda CX-30 and electric incentives | Autoblog Podcast #673

This week's Autoblog Podcast features Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore and Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski as they debate the merits of the redesigned Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 coupes and whether or not they are distinctive and powerful enough to attract buyers. The duo spends some time discussing ongoing EV and infrastructure legislation before turning their attention to a trio of crossovers. Greg muses about the 2021 Mazda CX-30 before Jeremy talks about the refreshed 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and completely redesigned Outlander. We get nostalgic as we remember the dearly departed Pontiac GTO before wrapping the podcast up by making one more suggestion to a longtime listener who is shopping for a vehicle to replace her aging Honda Pilot. Autoblog Podcast #673 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 Cars We're Driving 2021 Mazda CX-30 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander News 2022 Subaru BRZ revealed with 228 horsepower New Toyota GR 86 breaks cover as the Subaru BRZ's friendly rival Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ stay the course ... thatÂ’s OK. Biden aims to juice EV sales with tax credits, rebates: Will it work? 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO | Used vehicle spotlight Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2019 Subaru Forester Long-Term Update | Road trip to New Orleans

Our 2019 Subaru Forester long-term tester is rounding second base in its stay at Autoblog’s Michigan HQ, yet the blue-painted, gold-wheeled crossover hadnÂ’t left the Midwest throughout its first six months here, so I sought to change that by taking it down to New Orleans. The goal: Determine if the Forester is a good road trip car. Of course, my girlfriend and I also wanted to go to Mardi Gras, but either way, we were in for some long days of driving. There are a few umbrella categories a vehicle should excel in to make a vacation and road trip better for all involved. For me, those include comfort, utility and its driver assistance systems. Comfort I was fairly certain this category would be a boon for the Forester going in. It sops up Michigan potholes well, and it did an excellent job on the various road surfaces I encountered on the way to New Orleans, too. SubaruÂ’s passive dampers on the Forester are tuned to make rough roads more livable as opposed to whipping around a highway clover leaf. That makes for soft and rolling eight-plus-hour days behind the wheel. The cabin at highway speeds was loud, though. A lot of that has to do with the Michelin X-Ice winter tires current fixed, but there's also a noticeable amount of wind noise that follows that. Plus, if you ever need to get going in a hurry, the thrashy boxer-four makes its presence known above all other noises as the CVT pegs the needle near the 6,000 rpm redline. Our Forester has the high-end Harman Kardon audio system equipped, but we still had to jack the volume way up to hear podcasts and quieter music. The cabin noise was never overwhelming, but it did become tiresome after a few hours with this many sounds competing with each other. Since we were driving due south or due north, those crosswinds werenÂ’t just audibly annoying. Gusts were plenty capable of blowing the Forester around in its lane due to its tall, upright stance. ItÂ’s not like a big panel van, but it was still disconcerting at times. There were only two of us on this road trip, so the front seats were the only ones in use. I was plenty comfortable for the trip's entirety. The driver seat's electric lumbar adjustability left my back in good shape, and the upright seating position is a bit like sitting in a chair at a kitchen table. The seatÂ’s cushioning was supportive enough to keep me from complaining, but never too stiff so as to be uncomfortable.