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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

2019 Subaru Forester Long-Term Update | It's gold wheel time!

Our long-term 2019 Subaru Forester is heading into the new year with a new set of shoes. Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system works perfectly fine, but all-wheel power is no replacement for a set of winter tires. And so our search for winter rubber began. However, the search didnÂ’t take that long, as a set of wheels and tires that fit our Forester happened to be laying around Autoblog HQ collecting dust. The wheels just so happened to be lightweight, gold 17-inch Sparco wheels we had previously fitted to our 2015 Subaru WRX long-term tester. Imagine our glee when we pulled these bad boys out of storage.  ItÂ’s only fitting that the blue Subaru in our long-term test fleet is also fitted with gold wheels as a tribute to all the gold-wheeled Subaru rally legends. The new Forester is nothing like a WRX or STI, but this setup has us smiling every time we walk out to the car. Take a nice, long scroll through the gallery above. We canÂ’t stop obsessing over how much better they make the new Forester look. Maybe a special edition package Â… just a thought, Subaru. Mounted on these wheels are new Michelin X-Ice winter tires. WeÂ’ve already driven it through a couple snowfalls in the midwest region, and the tires make this crossover a nearly unstoppable winter force. We hope to get some serious snow this winter that allows us to really take advantage of the new tires and the ForesterÂ’s high 8.7-inch ground clearance. More on that and the ForesterÂ’s performance to come. Unfortunately, the spare set of wheels we had lying around didnÂ’t have tire pressure monitoring sensors for the Forester sitting next to them. Until the little yellow light in the dash starts annoying us, weÂ’re going to forego the expense of buying a new TPMS at the Subaru dealer — we imagine many owners skip the extra $150 or so for the sensors and check their tire pressure the old-fashioned way with winter wheels, too. After all, the tire pressure gauge still exists, and it works splendidly. Watch out for another Forester update soon, as we get into some of the things weÂ’ve liked and disliked over the past few months. Related video:

Next-gen Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ could arrive by 2021

If these rumors are true, a small but dedicated core of fans could be in for a treat. According to Japan Times — and citing unspecified "sources" — Toyota and Subaru are developing a next-generation 86 and BRZ, with a possible launch around 2021. The new car(s) would reportedly have more power, improved handling and newer safety features. According to the report, the rear-drive sports coupes could do away with the current 2.0-liter engine in favor of one with a larger 2.4-liter displacement. The Japan Times sources say the next-gen 86 will also have a lower center of gravity, which will translate to an improvement on the car's already impressive cornering stability. Theoretically, the 2.4-liter in question could be the new FA24 mill used in the upcoming Subaru Ascent crossover that's turbocharged to produce 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet. That output would be a mammoth jump from the current Toyobaru pair, and it seems doubtful that's what possible second-generation cars would get. Nevertheless, it's at least consistent with recent comments from Toyota engineer Tetsuya Tada that indicated a more powerful, turbocharged 86/BRZ would not be possible unless there was a new, next-generation model. In an interview with Australia's CarAdvice, Tada said, "I do like turbos, however if we come up with a turbo version of the 86 and boost up the power that would result in the necessity of changing the basic configuration completely, to come up with a car that I would be satisfied with." "One characteristic of the 86 is that in terms of the front balance it's slightly front loaded so it makes the handling more fast and agile," he continued. "So if we were to come up with a turbo version, we would have to go change the weight balance between the front and the rear. That means we have to come up with a completely new platform, so it's not about just changing or slight modification in the engine parts." Note that "we have to come up with a completely new platform" does not equal "we are coming up with a completely new platform." He could be talking strictly hypothetically, it could be a wink-wink nudge-nudge implication that his team is already hard at work, or things could've just been a bit fudged in translation. In any event, as hopeful as we are about the possibility of a new generation of Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86, we can't help but maintain a healthy dose of skepticism that the partnership will continue as the Japan Times report suggests.