Normally, station wagons don’t do much for me. But station wagons that are tricked out by STI (Subaru’s skunk works/racing arm/rally parts bin) and trimmed out in WRC blue … OK, I might be interested, sure. Anyway, the wagon you see here just rolled out at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show. It might get missed amongst all the general weirdness that is rampant at the show, or overshadowed by stuff like the Lexus LFA … but then again, a high performance wagon might go unnoticed by certain types of other people too.

“Why, no officer. It couldn’t have been ME that was speeding, it must have been those hoodlums over there with that racy looking car with the huge wing on it!”

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Strange rumors in these strange days: Subaru is considering the return of the SVX. The SVX, although weird, was the upmarket replacement for Subaru’s XT, a car that looked like something George Jetson would have driven (had he needed a car). Although the SVX was popular with a certain segments of my friends and acquaintances, it was not without its quirks either.

The SVX was intended as, and could work quite well, as something of a long distance tourer. As an executive sort of car that could get you down the road a couple of hundreds miles for a meeting with speed comfort and style. It was, mainly due to its size and weight, what you could call a sports car though.

That doesn’t mean that Subaru should turn it’s back on the idea though.

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Not everyone can survive owning an smaller economy car, but can’t afford something high-end. Nor can they use an impractical sports car for the everyday slog. That doesn’t mean that this increasing group suffer by driving something drab. So here are some cars that are priced right for their markets and offer some enjoyment of driving to the owner.

2010 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ

The Fusion and MKZ brand new for 2010 to better compete with the offerings from Honda, Toyota, and Chevrolet for the Ford while the Lincoln goes after Infiniti, Lexus and Cadillac.

The Fusion is priced to compete and even undercut its rivals, with a base price of under $20,000. Most other competitors a few thousand more. The MKZ is a bit more expensive, with $34,600 buying you leather, wood and chrome accents on the exterior.

Both cars are all-new this year, riding on the new Mazda6 platform again. The Fusion retains the three-bar front grill to keep in line with the previous-gen car, but now has a more pronounced front-end and Terminator-like headlights. The rear gets more styling cues in the bumper and trunk lid while the LED taillights dip in one corner to give the rear more of an appeal. Continue Reading…

Is Subaru Moved Into German Territory? Or more precisely, “Has the 2010 Subaru Legacy Moved Into German Territory?” was the brief question offered up by the fine folks at Edmund’s the other day. Whether it was a coincidence or not, I happened to be thinking the same thing.

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Ever since man began making cars for more than just getting from A to B, two-door coupes have been a sign of automotive enthusiasm and overall sportiness that a four-door sedan simply could not fulfill. A recent wave of sport sedans and four-door coupes have been introduced to the market, but for us sports car enthusiasts, they just aren’t good enough.

For the purposes of this article, we’re referring to a sedan as a car with four doors, and coupe as a car with two doors, even though the technical definition of the two terms are slightly different. Please see Coupe vs Sedan for more information regarding the technical differences.

So which new cars are produced as sedan-only, when they should be offered as coupes? Keep reading… Continue Reading…

That’s a right nice Merry Christmas for Petter Solbereg & Chris Atkinson, Subaru just fired them … OK, not fired them, but it just recently came out that Subaru has decided to not compete in the WRC (the World Rally Championship) any longer.

They site the usual reasons these days: World economic downturn.

But there’s more to it than meets the eye. See what that is, after the jump.

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