Archive for the ‘all-wheel drive’ Category

When we hear "Subaru", we're more likely to think of world rallies than world records. But last Saturday, Subaru of America set a new Guinness World Record for the largest parade of Subaru cars in the world: 339 of them, to be precise.

The Guinness organization even sent an official adjudicator, who gave Guinness World Record certificates to Tom Gehrke, from Subaru of America, and Deputy Police Chief Bob O’Connor, representing the Village of Itasca, Illinois.

The company donated $15 for each car that showed up to PAWS Chicago, which takes in homeless pets, and Salute Inc., a nonprofit group that supports military personnel, veterans, and...

In the more upscale models of the outgoing Subaru Legacy, there was a controller that bore a strong resemblance to the one used for BMW's iDrive.

For 2010, it's gone. That elegant controller, for a feature called SI-Drive, looked like it was meant for navigation functions, while in reality it helped fine-tune powertrain performance.

SI-Drive was an unduly complicated name for a simple concept—giving the driver a choice of modes for different types of driving. With a twist, the center-console controller accessed three different modes—Intelligent, Sport, and Sport Sharp. Each mode altered the engine control maps, along with the response curve...

At nearly every media brief on new models, for years now, your editors at TheCarConnection.com have become accustomed to asking the weight question. Automakers have had to increase safety features, add standard equipment, and meet higher standards of refinement. And something has to give. So usually in product presentations, weight is quickly glossed over, and someone will simply ask, "How much heavier is it?" But Subaru has a story here; officials point out—without being pressed—that the new 2010 Legacy models are no more than 65 pounds heavier than equivalent 2009 models, while some variants are actually lighter, and fuel economy is up.

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