Friday, July 3, 2009

Subaru Outback fuel economy figures released, hits 29 MPG


2010 Subaru Outback - Click above for high-res image gallery

Subaru's new-for-2010 Outback ought to silence a few critics who contend that all-wheel drive sucks up too much fuel to be a worthwhile purchase for most consumers. According to the Japanese automaker, the tip-toe all-weather wagon has studied up for the EPA test, netting 29 miles-per-gallon on the highway. That's smaller front-driver territory from many automakers, albeit with a big dash of Subaru load-lugging capacity.

The good table manners are delivered by the combination of the new Lineartronic CVT and 170 horsepower 2.5 liter boxer four. Subaru's EPA numbers for the 2010 Outback are tops for such a roomy wagon, besting the typical SUV competitors, as well as the higher-end AWD wagons offered by Audi and Volvo. The $23,000 price of entry is attractive, too, although given our recent experience with the 2010 Legacy upon which it is based, we don't imagine it being a terribly spirited drive when so-configured. Even still, for all those bloviators who keep calling for a good-sized wagon that returns reasonable fuel economy for a sensible price, here's your car wagon thing. Official press release after the jump.




[ Via:

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Subaru Impreza WRX STI Travis Pastrana Edition

 
Tucked away in a corner of McCormick Place was this custom WRX STI built in as part of a cooperative effort between Subaru and Travis Pastrana's race team, Vermont SportsCar. The car commemorates Pastrana's third consecutive Rally America National Championship, and although a one-off, many of the parts on the car can be purchased through your local authorized Subaru dealer.
The exterior features custom yellow paint, a carbon fiber hood and rear spoiler, front chin spoiler, and a set of PIAA 2100 HID driving lights. Handling is improved thanks to an SPT strut tower brace, lower chassis brace, and BFGoodrich G-Force Super Sport A/S tires wrapped over satin black Work Evolution XD-9 wheels.
Under the hood, the 2.5-liter boxer engine gets an upgraded ECU and custom downpipe, while the interior now sports custom blue Alcantara seats with yellow piping, short-throw shifter, Kicker sound system and... an XBox 360. Full details in the press release after the break, and high-res photos from the show floor in the gallery below.

[ Via: Autoblog (Aftermarket) ]
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

2009 Subaru Tribeca Limited

Add the Tribeca to the list of vehicles I completely forget about, but actually like once I'm behind the wheel. This has to be Subaru's nicest interior, and the 3.6-liter boxer-six provides plenty of power. I'd complain that the looks of the Tribeca are just as bland as the rest of Subaru's current lineup, but bland is much better than the Tribeca's previous design, which was universally chastised.The Tribeca never feels quite as large as it is, which is a good thing on country roads. It's not nearly as athletic as the cars in the Subaru family, but that's to be expected. I like the seating position and there's pretty good visibility.Looking at the price and fuel economy for this Tribeca, my interest starts to wane. My main complaints about the Ford Flex are the price and fuel economy, but the fuel economy for the Tribeca is virtually the same as an AWD Flex and this tester's $37k sticker pushes it almost to the price of a luxury vehicle, which is certainly not how I'd describe the Tribeca. Not that the Tribeca is a bad choice, it just works better when you're not optioning it to the max.
[ Via: Automobilemag ]
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Detroit 2009: Subaru Legacy Concept shows its face


The official unveiling doesn't take place until later this afternoon, but Subaru has already released the details on the Legacy Concept it's introducing this year at Detroit. We only have the head-on shot at the moment, but what you're seeing here is likely the new face of the Legacy, complete with funky-shaped headlamp lenses and a trapezoidal theme to the prow. According to Subaru's, that paint color is called "Ultimate Silver" and the overall design theme is "High Definition," for what that's worth. Power comes from the automaker's 3.6L six-cylinder boxer mated, of course, to an AWD system.
Inside, you'll find a technology carnival, with a multitude of displays available to the four occupants, including the driver. The instrument panel gets a multifunction touchscreen display instead of a traditional center control stack -- no mechanical controls are present -- and those teensy side mirrors house cameras that display the view aft on the widescreen rearview "mirror" in the cabin. Rear passengers get their headrest-mounted LCD screens and their own touchscreen control interface. Outside of the obvious show-car tech, the shapes you see inside are likely what to expect when the production car makes its eventual debut.
[ Via: Autoblog (Subaru) ]
[ Tag: breaking, detroit 2009, detroit auto show, detroit auto show 2009, Detroit2009, DetroitAutoShow, DetroitAutoShow2009, legacy concept, LegacyConcept, naias 2009, Naias2009, subaru ]

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Subaru to buck trend, report overall sales increase for 2008

The year is finally drawing to a close, and most automakers will look back at 2008's dismal sales figures with disdain. Crumbling market share for domestic U.S. brands led to the year's biggest story -- that of a Federally-funded automotive bailout. Import brands didn't fare much better, with Toyota, Nissan and Honda all posting distinctly lackluster sales figures towards the end of the year.

At least one automaker is set to buck the overall negative trend, as Subaru executive vice president Tom Doll says that its U.S. arm will post a modest sales increase for 2008, and incentives weren't a big part of Subaru's success. New products like the Impreza and Forester led the way, and an increased marketing push helped the aging Legacy improve on its 2007 numbers. Regardless of its minor victories for '08, the Japanese automaker isn't expecting any miracles in 2009 with its New Year's resolution of simply maintaining current levels. Good luck.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: subaru, subaru sales, SubaruSales, us subaru sales, UsSubaruSales ]