2014 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium on 2040-cars

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2019 Subaru Forester vs. 2020 Honda CR-V Car Seat Test

We've had our long-term 2019 Subaru Forester Touring for some time now, and I've had my large son's car seat in it — and out of it, and back in it — a fair number of times. Installing a car seat over and over is a pain, but the Forester is actually a pretty good car for it. The rear seat is roomy, the door opening is large and the car seat is generally easy to install. For a few short days, though, I also had a 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid in the driveway alongside the Subaru. Mostly stuck at home in quarantine, I wasn't getting a lot of chances to drive the two cars back to back, but comparing something like a child's car seat in each car is easy enough without unnecessary trips and potential exposure to coronavirus. So, with my son along for moral support, I lugged his car seat out of the garage and got to strappin'.  In terms of backseat roominess, the Forester and CR-V are competitive. On paper, they're very close, with the Forester offering 39.4 inches of rear legroom and 39.6 inches of headroom, and the CR-V providing 40.4 inches of legroom and 39.2 inches of headroom (the fact that I tested a Hybrid makes no difference). For each, I moved the front passenger seat forward to a reasonably comfortable seating position, keeping a sizeable gap between my knees and the dashboards, and eyed them up. They look damn near the same, each offering lots more space in the second row than my wife's 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK that I'm usually putting the car seat into. Even the openings are close in size and shape, perhaps with the Forester getting a slight advantage in ingress/egress for one's feet, which matters little when installing the boy's Chair Force One (officially a Britax Frontier ClickTight). First, I tried the car seat in the Subaru. It's really easy. There's no angling the seat to wedge it in the door. Just walk up and plop it down. I thought for sure the Forester would take the win here, but when I went to put it in the CR-V, it was equally simple. Once installed, both still offer plenty of room behind the front seat for a child to swing their legs around without kicking the seat back. With just one child, we often find ourselves putting one of the rear seats down to accommodate more items, like when we're hauling gear up to our cottage for a vacation — or just going to Costco. If we're picking a side of the car, we usually put our boy on the passenger side.

Subaru Impreza shows off 360-degree passing technique

Leave it to a Subaru WRX to find a new way to improve the art of passing. This dash cam vid shows a white WRX pirouetting past our recording car and somehow straightening out before either sliding off the road or slamming into the car ahead. If this were a standard move in rally racing, the WRC would be bigger than NASCAR.
Like most dash cam vids, we don't know where it was shot (Russia's always a good bet) or what the circumstances were (did the driver spin on purpose or was the 360-degree slide accidental?), but the remarkable feat was caught on camera and uploaded to YouTube, preserving it for an Internet eternity. Scroll below to watch the twist yourself, and don't try this at home!

Some 2019 Subaru Outbacks and Legacys recalled, owners could get new cars

Update: Subaru provided us with some updated details pertaining to this recall. Here's what the company had to say: "The cars in question can be and will be repaired; they will not be junked or scrapped. We are offering a replacement vehicle as to not inconvenience the owners. We expect the number of affected cars actually in owners hands to be between 12-20. We are checking the entire population, but the defect rate is low and we estimate just 200 cars are affected." Subaru is recalling a total of 2,107 brand-new vehicles due to faulty welds located on the duct below the cowl panel that could compromise the vehicle’s body strength, increasing the risk of injury in a crash. The 2019 Outback and 2019 Legacy are the two models involved with the recall. However, there are only 142 Legacys impacted, whereas 1,965 Outbacks are being called back. Subaru says customers will have a few options if they have one of the affected vehicles. YouÂ’ll be able to exchange the vehicle, let Subaru buy it back, or return the car for some intensive repairs. Perhaps this recall reminds you of the situation the Ascent was in last year. The large Subaru SUV was recalled due to it missing a series of spot welds on the B-pillar, weakening the structure. Subaru said it planned to destroy all 293 Ascents that were thought to be affected at the time. These new faulty welds are described differently than the ones we saw previously. HereÂ’s SubaruÂ’s explanation for what went wrong: “During the manufacturing process at the supplierÂ’s factory, the spot-welder tip is cleaned and re-shaped by a dresser (grinding machine). During production of potentially affected parts, the grinding machine may have been blocked by excess metal chips/powder, thus reducing the effectiveness of the welder.” Subaru reportedly told Consumer Reports that most of the vehicles being recalled havenÂ’t even reached the dealerships yet, with fewer than 20 of the vehicles in customer hands. That makes sense, as Subaru says the affected vehicles were built between May 31 and June 6, 2019. Subaru said a bodyshop employee initially noticed the defect on June 6, which prompted an internal investigation, leading to the recall. We asked Subaru if it could provide any more detail about the recall beyond what the official documents show — the latest information can be found at the top of the post. If you have a 2019 Outback or Legacy affected by this issue, expect to receive a letter in the mail soon.