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Automotive April Fools' joke roundup [w/videos]

Happy April, everyone. And we all know what this first day of the month means: April Fools' Day. Today is a national holiday for pranksters with the Internet acting as a serious enabler, and it's always fun to see what kind of vivid imaginations exist out there in the automotive world. The abundance of fake news gets a little old as the day rolls on, but we did manage to get in a few chuckles thanks to a handful of major automakers and automotive news outlets that got into the pranking spirit this year
Some of our favorites this year includes Subaru showing what happens when you combine a bunch of rumors, a Corvette some may have already thought was a joke or Honda providing some in-car innovation circa the late 1980s. Honestly, we're still waiting for official confirmation from Mitsubishi that the recently introduced 2014 Mirage is an elaborate April Fools' joke using a failed design intended for the 1995 Geo Metro. We dug up as much "official" OEM foolishness we could find, as well as some of our other favorites, and posted them all below.

Listen, the Type R and the WRX STI don't look alike. Here's why.

So following the reveal of the new Honda Civic Type R, we've seen quite a few commenters issuing all kinds of accusations about the Type R looking like a WRX STI. And you know what? They're right. Both cars have four wheels, four-passenger doors, big wings, and scoops. In all seriousness, aside from a passing similarity because they're both flashy sport compacts, they really don't look alike. Let's start with the front and the profile. These areas are technically the most similar, since both cars feature high beltlines and have lower fascias defined by large inlets and a deep chin spoiler. And admittedly, the little kick-ups on the lower rear portion of the side windows are reminiscent of each other. But that's where the similarities end. Up front, the grille is by far the clearest indicator that the Honda is most certainly a Honda. The wide "blade" shape that spans the nose from light-to-light is unmistakably from the company that gave us VTEC. After all, just about every Honda today uses some form of that grille. The Subaru, on the other hand, has a traditional grille that is distinctly separated from the lights. It's not a bad thing, Subarus have had rather anonymous designs in the past, and we've still liked them. It's a Subaru thing. Moving to the scoops, we find more differences. For once, the Type R is more restrained, with a small, low-profile inlet far back on the hood. It will not be mistaken for the massive one on the STI, which looks like it could suck up low-flying fowl. View 58 Photos Along the side, the distinctions continue to pile up. The key here is in the fenders. While the STI has proud, pumped-up fenders compared with its distant Impreza cousin, they aren't nearly as pronounced as those on the Type R. The Honda's flares clearly show that they protrude from the standard hatchback's sheetmetal and closely follow the curve of the wheelarches. The STI's fenders proceed along the body's lines more closely and blend in more. Finally, we come to the rear, where no one should ever get these two vehicles confused. Yes, they both have enormous rear wings and diffusers, but that's it. For starters, one car is a hatchback, and the other is a traditional sedan. Not only that, but the Type R's hatch has a distinctive split rear window. I mean, based on the criteria people have used to compare the Type R with the STI, they should've actually been comparing the Honda to a Prius.

Refreshed Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ spied running around the Nurburgring

The Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ are officially confirmed for a second generation, but it looks like this current car will not go softly into the night. One of our spy photographers just caught a camo’d up BRZ/86 pounding around the Nurburgring with a few changes in store. This tester only has camouflage on the front and rear of the car, indicating a light refresh is the extent of the styling changes. In examining the car as a whole, itÂ’s a rather conflicting tester. Both the grille and headlights tell us itÂ’s an 86, but the badge on the rear clearly says “BRZ.”  The Toyota 86 has a different grille than the BRZ, and we can see that style grille flanked by some massaged vents on both sides. Toyota uses a different style of headlight for the 86, and these look similar to those used in the current car. New front-design features are covered up by the camouflage, but the sheet metal doesnÂ’t appear to be changing. Another area of potential change is at the rear of the car. More camouflage on the trunk lid covers the obvious BRZ badge and the taillights. We donÂ’t see much in the way of differences between the taillights on this model and the current BRZ/86 twins, but the manufacturer obviously wants to keep something secret back there. What weÂ’re most excited about is seeing the extra vent behind the front wheels. Current BRZ and 86 trims donÂ’t feature such intense cooling additions. Above it sits what appears to be a badge or protrusion of some sort. The window-level badging is still visible under the wrapping, but the tire-level badge is a new one — itÂ’s similar to the design we see on the WRX and WRX STI.  All things considered, this one is a little confusing. Subaru could be adopting a more Toyota 86-esque design, but we suspect a special edition is in the works. Hopefully it involves more than just design tweaks, and gives this model a hearty send-off before the new generation arrives.