2008 Subaru Forester on 2040-cars

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2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid priced from $25,995* [w/video]

Subaru revealed its 2014 XV Crosstrek Hybrid at the New York Auto Show earlier this year, and with the high-riding hybrid hatchback arriving at dealers by the end of this year, pricing has finally been set. Starting at $25,995 (*not including at least $825 for destination charges, which may vary in certain states), the new hybrid model represents a $4,000 premium over the standard 2014 XV Crosstrek models equipped with the continuously variable transmission.
Stepping up to the XV Crosstrek Hybrid Touring model, which adds navigation, leather seats and a moonroof, raises the price to $29,295. Subaru has still yet to release many key details for the XV Crosstrek Hybrid including fuel economy, combined horsepower and all-electric driving range, but the powertrain consists of a 2.0-liter four-cylinder Boxer engine mated to a 13.4-horsepower electric motor integrated into the CVT. We expect to get official data closer to the car's on-sale date, but until then, scroll down for more info about the 2014 XV Crosstrek Hybrid as well as some b-roll driving footage of the car.

Toyota GT86 GT4 racer is ready for UK competition

It's about time we saw someone cook up a legitimate race version of the delectable Toyota GT86, and now it looks as if GPRM has done just that. The Buckingham-based race engineering team has built the creation you see here, complete with a turbocharged 2.0-liter, direct-injection four-cylinder boxer cooked up by Nicholson McLaren Engines. The team says the new mill delivers between 360 and 400 horsepower to the rear wheels depending on final testing, which is a sight bit more than the 197 horses the naturally aspirated stock mill offers.
The car will compete in GT4 events, including the Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Technically, the GPRM effort isn't factory backed, but the team says the effort "has the blessing of Toyota Great Britain." How could it not? You can check out the brief press release below below, and be sure to take a closer look at the machine in our gallery.

2018 Subaru BRZ Quick Spin Review | Curves required

I had a 2018 Subaru BRZ Limited with a six-speed manual and half a day to play on wet, windy roads hemmed by pine trees in the foothills of a massive mountain range. But Michigan was on my mind. Some cars work everywhere. Michigan's the perfect place to find those that do: The roads are flat and pockmarked, and the seasonal extremes are brutal. It's easy to love a car on one of those bucket-list Alpine passes, but on Michigan roads the car has to work hard to win you over. For example, the MX-5 Miata works in Michigan just fine. It's fun in all conditions in which you can get the rear tires to hook up, and some that you can't. It cheerfully entertains in traffic, on city streets, undulating but uninteresting country roads. Some grand tourers work perfectly well there, too, soaking up enough punishment from the atrocious roadways without battering the occupants. The more voluptuous Aston Martins are particularly good at this trick, and they're plenty entertaining to cruise around in — or mash it flat after a scan of a country intersection shows nothing doing for at least 50 miles in every direction. These cars have more than just compliance — they have a subjective, elusive charm in suboptimal conditions. And the 86 twins, well, aren't Miatas. The car isn't lacking in dynamic ability, of course, but there's a flatness, a one-dimensionality to it. It's simply suffocated, starving for a little bit more. It doesn't have to be this way. Put the 86 in a better situation and its foibles recede but don't disappear. Straight, pock-marked slabs are the death of the thing. So I grabbed one out West, in Washington state where I now live, and fed it revs and curves until I was satisfied that the BRZ works as intended when you keep it happy. And when it's happy, you're happy. The BRZ was on high-performance summer tires, and some of the best roads in Washington are up in the hills currently blanketed by slush and ice, so that was a nonstarter. But there's a windy, weedy little farm road bending through a river valley just 20 minutes from my house. It's got lots of sudden, blind bends — not to mention working farms — so it's not the place to exercise a Corvette Z06. But there are enough turns you can see all the way through to make it fun, and three unbelievable uphill hairpins right at the end. We're talking 15 mph posted speed limit turns, and those signs aren't far off.