We’re going to play this little game again. Close your eyes and think “rally”. (Not picket lines and protest signs, but tail-sliding, dirt road heroics behind the wheel of turbocharged four-wheel-drive monsters.) Now what company comes to mind? If you’re a sentimentalist you might be thinking Audi or Lancia, but anybody who hasn’t been living in a cave for the last decade or so (with apologies to all our cave-dwelling readers) will almost invariably think of Subaru. Never mind that its WRC team hasn’t been doing that well recently: pumped up Imprezas like the WRX and STI are nearly synonymous with rallying. But now reports indicate that Subaru is considering confusing us by entering to World Touring Car Championship.

The news is sparked by a forthcoming arrangement between the WRC and the WTCC that could see them adopting a common set of rules, not unlike the more practical Super 2000 formula that has both rally and touring car series. Now we’re always encouraged by news of carmakers – especially ones with such well-established motorsport pedigrees – going racing, but we can’t help but wonder if Subaru’s venture onto paved tracks wouldn’t confuse the message and dilute its hard-earned brand identity. Conversely, the oil-ification of the WTCC could give Subaru a chance to prove its mettle with its new diesel engines. Either way, execs from Fuji Heavy and Subaru Tecnica International are expected to visit the touring car championship when it visits Japan on October 24 to scope it out.

Just because we love you, our loyal readers, ever so much, here’s a gallery of studio-quality, high-resolution images of Subaru’s current rally contender.

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While Japan’s birth rate may be one of the lowest in the world, multi-generational homes are still common, so when granddad, grandma, dad, mom and the kids head to the ancestral home in the boonies, five seatbelts just won’t cut it. Subaru worked on a minivan for a few years, but the prototypes handled like, well, vans and the powers that be decided that they were not Subaru-rashii; they didn’t have that thing that makes a Subaru a Subaru.

Plan B was obvious: take a Legacy, stretch the wheelbase a bit, chuck a couple of seats in the trunk but keep the center of gravity nice and low. And on roads clogged with boxy MPVs ( Toyota alone make 10 different models) the result doesn’t look half bad. Most importantly it drives more like a car than any of its competitors. The only Japanese seven-seater that comes close to matching the Exiga’s handling and performance is the unimaginatively named Mazda MPV, but only when bought in 2.3-liter turbo guise.

Which brings us to the Exiga’s choice of power plants. Citing concerns about rising fuel prices and the environment Subaru only offer the Exiga with their EJ20 two-liter motor in either turbocharged or naturally aspirated forms. Now come on Subaru, is a two-liter, being flogged within an inch of its life in order to keep 2000 kgs of Exiga and occupants moving at a fair clip, any more economical or ecological than an EJ25, or better still, Fuji Heavy Industries superb flat-six 3.0 riding on their more prodigious torque curves?

The EJ20 does struggle when the car is fully loaded, particularly the non-turbo, but when you’ve got the car to yourself the Exiga feels surprisingly sprightly, even nimble. Don’t kid yourself, you won’t be seeing Petter Solberg catching big air in one anytime soon, but if you fancy a quick blast down a winding road after you drop the kids off at school, the Exiga GT will do nicely.

Inside the rearmost seats are fine for kids of childseat age and above, but anyone over 5′ 2″ won’t want to spend a lot of time back there as the seat cushions are set too close to the floor to provide under thigh support. Elbow room isn’t bad considering the scant external dimensions of the car and even with the third row full, non-NBA playing mid-row occupants won’t be jamming their knees into the driver’s back.

So how much bigger is the Exiga over the Legacy? Just 6cms longer, 4.5cms wider and 9cms taller, while the wheelbase has been stretched a full 15cms (6″), but somehow Subaru have kept its curb weight down to a nigh on identical 1,500(ish) kilos. More importantly the cabin is a whopping 88cms longer, 6.5cms wider with 8.5cms more headroom.

So would you like to see the Exiga sold Stateside? You tell us, because we can promise you that the top brass at Subaru are reading.

Today in Detroit we finally got to see the long-anticipated (by some of us at least) 2009 Subaru Forester that was revealed on Christmas Day. We’ve covered the JDM version and the US model pretty extensively, but now we have a few live shots of this fun and funky CUV for those who like that sort of thing. As we’ve already revealed, US customers will have their choice of naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions of the same 2.5L boxer four-cylinder engine that has been offered in the past, although they’ve been reworked for more low-end torque.

The new, longer press release is after the jump, and if you peruse it you’ll learn that the engines put out 170 HP/170 ft-lbs and 224/226 for the NA and turbo versions, respectively. Pretty much what we assumed, seeing as how they are virtually identical to those used in the Impreza. Although not specifically outlined in the release, we’ll probably be getting the same trim levels as in the past: base 2.5X, Sports 2.5X, 2.5X L.L. Bean Edition paired with the NA engine and the 2.5XT, Sports 2.5XT and 2.5XT Limited offered with the turbo. New features for the 2009 US-spec Forester include available satellite navigation, standard Vehicle Dynamics Control and traction control, and Incline Start Assist on models with the manual transmission. Check out the live shots of US-spec 2009 Forester that have been added to our gallery below and read Subaru’s press release after the jump.

[Source: Subaru]

From:http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/13/detroit-2008-09-subaru-forester-shows-its-us-face-in-detroit/

2007 has been a year of big announcements at Subaru. First there was the revision of the Tribeca, and while that wasn’t earth shattering, the world waited in rapt excitement for the next one. That would have been the new Impreza WRX. Here was the first step in the hot-saloon cum hot hatch revamp. Then, closely on the heals of this was the relaunch of the STI which made the world stand still. Not ready to throw in the towel, Subaru had just one more revamp up its sleeve. And here it is: the long awaited for… 2009 Subaru Forester.

Not exactly the biggest release from Subaru in the last 5 five years, but still, another all-new model for Subaru fans to either rejoice or lament over. Given Subaru’s track-record over the last year, the faithful are sure to have their beefs with this new car as well.
Gone is the shoe-box styling that made the Forester such a hit. Again, Subaru seems to be taking styling cues from the likes of Toyota as the new Forester looks to be much more Rav 4 and not so much box-back Impreza.

The Forester still shares its platform with the hot saloon Impreza and therefore also shares the all-new, more sophisticated double-wishbone rear-suspension which Subaru claims improves crash protection as well as handling feel. Whereas the senior Forester was much more car-like in stance and ride-height, this generation is taller for a more SUV feel, with up to 8.9-inches of ground clearance. Subaru claims that this Forester also has more cargo room, which comes virtue of better suspension packaging and a longer wheel base, 3.6-inches more than that of the previous car.

The drivetrain is the same as that of the Impreza, with both 2.5-liter N/A and 2.5-liter turbo models available. Both manual and automatic transmission choices are available with VDC traction and stability control being standard along with all-wheel-drive, ABS and 4-wheel disc brakes. Manual transmissions will get Incline Start Assist to prevent roll-back when starting out on a hill.

The new Forester will now offer the same gee-whiz interior goodies of the Impreza with optional navigation, satellite radio and portable media player connectivity. Subaru claims that “…new interior materials, including double-stitched fabrics and high-grade plastics, impart a feeling of higher quality.” The Forester again is offered in several different trim levels with the stripper being the 2.5 X, “offering one of the best values in the crossover SUV segment and the range-topping Forester L.L.Bean Edition, offering more luxury without compromising the vehicle’s sporty nature;” or so says Subaru.

While we take solace in the fact that Subaru has retained the hot XT version, it appears that Subaru has slipped yet another one of its quirky, marque-defining models into the mainstream with the Forester’s new pseudo off-road body-cladding. This may be an attempt to carve the Forester out of the GLBT niche that Subaru so happily made for the car, and try to make it more competitive against the likes of the Rav 4 and CRV, which it closely resembles now.

If this new car is anything like it’s predecessor, it should offer more power, performance and handling than that of either the Honda or the Toyota.

Where this new car will fit in given the history and pedigree of the Forester, what with both the Japanese STI version and previous Sports editions as the benchmark, will be interesting to see. However, given the fact that this car also shares the underpinnings of the Impreza which is no slouch in the handling and power department, we will have to see just how much padding there is between the two cars.

Hopefully, as in past generations, your own home-brewed pseudo-STI version is only a set of springs and a reflash away.

For more pictures, and the original press release, visit http://www.subiesport.com

NASIOC’s News & Rumors forum already has a thread in progress.

Thus, it’s with trepidation that we sampled the 2008 Impreza. It certainly looks different than those which came before. New duds don’t mean an expanded waistline here, the 2008 model actually twirls out considerably less measuring tape in several dimensions than its forebear, while gaining inches and tenths where they make the most difference. Better doesn’t have enough depth to fully convey the marked improvements Subaru has made in their entry-level model for 2008. Even stretching to “a lot better” leaves more to be said

the pictures come from autoblog.com

 also i get other picture from xcar.com.cn

[Source: Autoblog]

now i willing post some picture from Carscoop, all is about 2009 Subaru Forester.