1997 Subaru Outback Limited With A 2.5 Liter Engine That Needs To Be Replaced on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2018 Subaru Forester joins the black-out bandwagon with Black Edition

People apparently love black-painted trim. Nissan, Chevrolet, and Honda have all recently offered special-edition packages to ditch chrome and color-coded parts for the dark hue, and Subaru is the latest to join the party. Its offering comes in the form of the 2018 Forester Black Edition. The package is only available on the 170-horsepower, naturally aspirated, Forester 2.5i Premium. It also costs an extra $1,150. For that money, you get the following in the eponymous color: 18-inch wheels, fog light trim, badges, mirror caps, and the grille. Inside, the interior is also black. The steering wheel and shifter are leather-wrapped, and the upholstery is cloth with faux leather bolsters. The package isn't all aesthetics, though. It also comes with steering LED headlights and paddle shifters for the CVT, allowing the driver to pick from six preset ratios. The latter feature was previously exclusive to the turbocharged Forester 2.0XT. The package also comes on the heels of the 2018 model introduction. There aren't many notable updates to this year's Forester, however. All trim levels except Touring increase in price by $200. All Touring models jump by $1,795. The Touring's large price jump comes with now-standard reverse automatic emergency braking and high-beam assist. The 2.0XT Touring also now has torque vectoring similar to that in the WRX line. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Subaru Forester Black Edition Image Credit: Subaru Subaru Crossover Economy Cars

Ford tumbles to second worst in Consumer Reports reliability survey, list dominated by Japanese [w/video]

It's no secret that MyFord Touch has had its share of problems since being introduced, but the most recent reliability survey from Consumer Reports shows just how much this infotainment system has affected Ford. Just two years ago, the automaker was in the top 10 for the institute's reliability rankings, but since then, it has tumbled to the second-lowest rung just above dead-last Jaguar. In addition to MyFord Touch, CR also attributes a handful of new products that have had issues right out of the gate.
Compiled from 1.2 million subscriber surveys, this year's auto reliability survey heavily favors Japanese automakers, with eight of the 10 spots hailing from Japan. Toyota brands grabbed the top three spots (Scion, Toyota and Lexus - in that order) with Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Acura filling the next four spots. The only non-Asian automaker cracking the top 10 was Audi at number eight.
Audi climbed a total of 18 spots from last year, and Cadillac and GMC round out this year's top gainers breaking into the top 15. Helping Cadillac's upward movement, the CTS Coupe was named the most reliable domestic car. Lincoln, Volvo and Chrysler join Ford on this year's biggest loser list.

2019 Subaru STI S209 Drivers' Notes | An old-school sports sedan unites two of our editors

The 2019 Subaru STI S209 is peak Subaru for America. It’s the most powerful and most expensive vehicle with the Subaru badge on it, and there will only ever be 209 of them sold. ItÂ’s put together in STIÂ’s small shop in Kiryu, Japan, where workers build approximately 2-3 cars per day.  SubaruÂ’s long-used 2.5-liter EJ25 turbocharged flat-four is back for another round, but itÂ’s been modified to make more power than a regular WRX STI. The redesigned intake, larger HKS turbocharger and better-flowing exhaust system ramp output up to 341 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque, gains of 31 and 40 respectively over a regular STI. It can hit 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and tops out at 162 mph. A huge number of changes were made to the suspension, steering, aero and brakes to make the S209 drive better and produce quicker lap times on track. You can read a full deep dive into all of the intricate changes in our First Drive story here. A couple of Autoblog staffers, News Editor Joel Stocksdale and Senior Producer Chris McGraw, happened to spend some time in S209s in their respective portions of the country. Check out their thoughts in the discussion below. Chris McGraw: So how was the 2019 Subaru STI S209? Joel Stocksdale: When the S209 showed up, I was excited to drive such a special car, but I was also unsure I would like it. It's massively expensive, and I already had mixed feelings about STIs to begin with. They have an ornery, old-school nature that has frustrated me before, especially the slow-spooling engines. But man, I'm in love with this thing.  CM: That's interesting to hear. For those who don't know, you and I rarely see eye to eye when it comes to cars, so I was eager to hear your thoughts on the S209. I drove this back in early November, and it had been awhile since I had driven an STI in general. The frustrating, ornery, old school nature is something I love about the STI, and I adored driving it from the start, especially in the mountains. Though I wish it had been on winter tires for the cold weather at the time.  JS: That's totally understandable. The summer tires on this thing are not happy with snow and cold. But thankfully it's been dry and warm enough here that they're still good. And that's one of the things I love about this car. Between the tires and the all-wheel drive, it has astounding grip. Turn the wheel, put the hammer down, and let it claw you around corners.