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Subaru Impreza gets smarter, safer and sharper in Japan

Subaru quietly gave the sedan and hatchback variants of the Impreza a mid-cycle update in Japan. Both body styles now wear a sharper front-end design, and they receive additional tech features. The current, fifth-generation Impreza made its global debut at the 2017 New York Auto Show. The 2020 model introduced online in Japan stands out with a revised front fascia characterized by a wide air dam that stretches the entire width of the bumper, chrome-look L-shaped trim on either end of it, and a revised grille. The changes made to the rear fascia are largely limited to tweaked lights. All told, you need to be an eagle-eyed car-spotter to tell the face-lifted model apart from its predecessor. Buyers seeking a sportier Impreza will be disappointed, Subaru is still taking its time developing the next WRX, but those who want a more high-tech car that helps them drive will be thrilled. Every Japanese-spec Impreza regardless of trim level is now equipped with EyeSight Touring Assist, a suite of electronic driving aids that handles accelerating, braking and steering in a wide range of conditions. These features don't make the Impreza autonomous in any way, and the driver still needs to stay focused on the road ahead, but they help when driving becomes tedious. There are other, more minor upgrades on the menu. The door mirrors now tilt down when the driver selects reverse, for example, and Subaru added a front-view camera.  In Japan, the Impreza carries on with either a 1.6-liter flat-four rated at 115 horsepower, or a 2.0-liter flat-four with 154 horses on tap. The entry-level model is front-wheel drive, surprisingly, but all-wheel drive is standard on higher trims. Regardless, both engines shift through a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that offers seven pre-programmed virtual gears. The Impreza lost its manual transmission in its home country years ago, though the company's American division continues to let buyers give a shift. Subaru hasn't announced plans to make similar changes to the American-spec model and tells us "it's too early for us to release information" about that, but it's not too far-fetched to speculate we'll get an updated Impreza sooner rather than later. We might see the model break cover during the 2019 edition of the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, and it could arrive in showrooms during the 2020 model year.

Subaru launches production of Ascent crossover in Indiana

Subaru began production Monday of the new Ascent, its much-anticipated three-row crossover, at its plant in Lafayette, Ind. It's set to arrive at dealers in June as a 2019 model and will start at $32,970, including shipping. The Ascent joins the Impreza, Legacy and Outback as vehicles built at the plant. It'll compete with three-row utility vehicles like the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Chevrolet Traverse and Volkswagen Atlas. (Read our comparison of the Ascent to the former two here.) Subaru built around 364,000 vehicles at the Indiana plant last year and expects the Ascent to nudge that up to around 400,000 vehicles a year. The automaker spent $140 million and added 1,200 jobs at Lafayette to support the Ascent. The company in late 2016 shifted production of the Impreza sedan and hatchback to the factory, its lone manufacturing site outside of Japan, to free up room at its plant in Gunma Prefecture for the hot-selling Crosstrek, which has been singlehandedly lifting Subaru's U.S. sales lately. A Subaru spokesman told Autoblog recently that the company hopes to sell 60,000 Ascents in the first year and had already booked more than 4,000 sold orders on the vehicle from customers who hadn't seen or driven it. The Ascent will come in either seven- or eight-seat configurations, is offered in all-wheel-drive and is based on a modified version of the same Subaru Global Platform that underpins the Impreza. It's powered by an all-new 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer four-cylinder that makes 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. It fills a slot formerly occupied by the Tribeca, Subaru's last three-row vehicle, which was discontinued in 2014. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Subaru updates EyeSight system with color-detecting cameras

Subaru is giving its EyeSight driver assistance camera system a major upgrade for the 2015 model year with new color cameras, as well as reducing its size by 15 percent over the rather bulky original system.
Subaru locates its EyeSight hardware inside the vehicle at the top of the windshield, which is unlike most other camera-based systems that have their hardware mounted somewhere in the front fascia. The benefit is that these rather expensive components are protected from any detritus that may hit the car, but the original system's size ate up a chunk of the driver's outward view. Thus, the shrinkage should be appreciated by new owners.
The upgraded stereo cameras have a 40-percent longer and wider detection range than the original system's cameras, and their ability to see color allows the system to recognize brake lights at a speed differential of 30 miles per hour, instead of 19 mph before. And as before, EyeSight continues to offer adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and pre-collision breaking that can slow the car automatically if an imminent accident is detected, even bringing the vehicle to a complete stop.