subaru

The highly anticipated sports car collaboration between Subaru and Toyota gets STI performance additions for Los Angeles.

Subaru says at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show this month it will show the BRZ STI concept, a version of the new BRZ sports car due next year. Subaru fans will know that those three letters, STI, mean outstanding performance from Subaru Tecnica International, the tuner division of Subaru.

The photos released by Subaru show a very slick-looking sports coupe, with similarities to the Nissan 370Z and Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The BRZ comes from a collaboration between Subaru and Toyota. For Subaru, it represents a unique rear-wheel-drive car in its lineup, which is currently exclusively all-wheel drive.… Read more

TOKYO--Subaru plans to introduce turbocharging, new transmissions, and hybrid drivetrains in a bid to boost its fleetwide fuel efficiency 30 percent between 2010 and 2015.

The technology blitz also includes a new, lightweight vehicle platform that will be introduced by 2015 and will replace the platform now used for all Subaru nameplates.

Motohisa Miyawaki, head of product planning and engineering, said there will be one full model change each year from 2012 through 2015 on top of this year's introduction of the XV small crossover in Japan and next year's debut of the BRZ sporty car.

The XV … Read more

With the Outback growing up to become more of a crossover and less of a wagon, the 2012 Subaru Impreza is angling to fill its bigger sibling's shoes with a roomier and more fuel-efficient small vehicle to compete in the growing compact car segment.

Bigger than the subcompacts millennials may have bought during or just out of school, and more refined than their parents' hand-me-downs, Subaru wants the Impreza to be a car buyers' first real car.

And what constitutes a "real car?" Something that's nice enough to impress a boss or date, but still functional enough to cater to the transient and active lifestyle that is much of a person's 20s. A vehicle that offers hints of the bells and whistles seen in upmarket luxury cars, but steeped in enough utility to take a solid beating from weekend warriors.

Basically, it's as close to a midsize vehicle as you can get without coming standard equipped with car seats and conversation mirrors. Available as a four-door sedan or a five-door hatchback, the Impreza is like the buyers it targets: semi-grown-up. To make a point at a press event, Subaru demonstrated that it could pack a ~200 sq. ft. studio apartment full of Ikea furniture into a five-door model, complete with faux art wall hangings, iPod docking station, and requisite fuzzy slippers. … Read more

We help you find an American made fixer-upper car, build a waterproof stereo system for you off-roaders out there, and get the skinny on low rolling resistance tires on this episode of CNET Roadside Assistance.

• LOLcars (photos)

In preparation for Chevrolet's centennial celebration, set for November 3, 2011, GM Korea gathered 1,143 of its customers in Pyeongchang, Gangwon, to create the largest Chevrolet bow tie and set a new Guinness World Record.

The motorcar mosaic was made up of Spark, Aveo, Cruze, Orlando and Captiva models and measured 688 feet (209.9 meters) in length and 221 feet (67.6 meters). The design was recognized as the Largest Car Logo.

The Chevy brand launched in Korea on March 1, 2011, with a nationwide brand unveiling event in Seoul. Since then, GM Korea has introduced several … Read more

Drag Racing for Android puts you in the driver's seat of your favorite street racer. With more than 50 real cars to choose from, dozens of upgrades, and a nearly unlimited pool of opponents, don't be surprised to find yourself behind the wheel for hours at a time.

The game offers four racing modes to choose from. You can Race Offline against the computer, Quick Race one-on-one against an online opponent, join the Pro League against a group of online competitors, or race against Friends. Also, you can choose either quarter-mile or half-mile races, with the shorter distance … Read more

Subaru announced it will unveil a production version of a small SUV based on its Impreza platform at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show in September. Earlier this year, Subaru previewed the new vehicle with the XV Concept at the Shanghai auto show.

Subaru released a teaser sketch with its announcement, but the XV Concept shown at Shanghai looks near production. The body design is very similar to the hatchback Impreza, and the vehicle is lifted for greater ground clearance.

The concept lacked side mirrors and had outsize wheels, but those are typical concept car design cues.

The production version will most likely have all-wheel drive, a hallmark of Subaru's current model lineup, and be powered by the same 2-liter flat four-cylinder engine used by the Impreza. It will probably also be offered with a diesel engine in the European market.

The vehicle to be shown at Frankfurt confirms a European version of the car. Subaru has not announced a U.S. version yet, although it could be a competitor to the Honda CR-V and Toyota Rav4. … Read more

Speculation is running high in Japan that two models built in the United States, Subaru's Tribeca SUV and Mazda's Mazda6, will be axed so the companies can use U.S. capacity better--or, in Mazda's case, perhaps move south to Mexico.

The Nikkan Kogyo business daily said Subaru will stop R&D on the next-generation Tribeca, a low-selling model that's taking up valuable space at its Lafayette, Ind., plant. Subaru sold just 910 Tribecas through April, and it's hungry for more capacity to build the popular Outback and Legacy.

Nikkan Kogyo says Mazda plans to … Read more

At the tail end of the international auto show season, automakers still have a few tricks up their sleeves, new models and concepts to unveil at the 2011 New York auto show. Many small cars got significant updates during the first day of the show, and more efficient engines entered the mix.

Check out our first day's coverage of the 2011 New York auto show.