News & Reviews- Make: Subaru

The Auto Journalist Association of Canada's "Best New Small Utility"? Forester owners know such accolades are deserved, as do the folks working at the company's Mississauga-based headquarters, not to mention those selling and servicing the compact SUV at the Japanese brand's 92 Canadian dealerships, but they'll no doubt be smiling just the same.

I've never been on Subaru's payroll or a Forester owner, although full disclosure requires me admit to selling new Justys, Imprezas, Brats, Loyales, Legacys, Outbacks, SVXs, and yes Foresters way back in 1994. I've also had the pleasure of living with every Forester generation for weeks at a time over the last 16 years of my auto journalism career, and therefore have experienced them grow in size and sophistication first-hand, from their tall wagon-like roots to their current fully-fledged compact SUV status.

Incidentally, the 2017 Forester wasn't the only compact SUV qualified to enter the AJAC competition, a significant update Read Full Story

The FR-S might be getting more attention for 2017, as a revised version transforms from now the defunct Scion brand to become the Toyota 86 in our market, but Subaru's arguably purer version of the car has been thoroughly updated too.

The BRZ received a bevy of improvements for 2017, starting with obvious styling enhancements that include revised front and rear fascias featuring new standard full LED headlamps and LED taillights respectively, interior refinements with added features like upgraded Starlink infotainment that includes a standard rearview camera, plus engine performance and handling upgrades highlighted by an all-new VDC Track mode.

I like the subtle changes made front and back, the new headlights adding some sophisticated detail and the more complex lower fascia getting F1-style aerodynamics at each corner, my upgraded Sport-tech tester featuring new LED fog lamps as well. The body-colour fender vents get a more windswept look too, while the rear deck Read Full Story

Subaru completely redesigned its mid-size Legacy sedan for the 2015 model year and fortunately I was able to spend a week with one, learning its ins and outs and appreciating its unique character when compared to more commonplace competitors. So when opportunity to test a 2017 version arrived, I could hardly pass it up.

As you may know already, Subaru isn't the type of brand that whimsically tweaks styling details every couple of years, probably one of the reasons its resale values stay so high, so the 2017 Legacy 3.6R Limited I recently drove is outwardly identical to the 2015 Legacy 3.6R Limited tested previously, even down to its stunning machine-finished 10-spoke 18-inch alloys with grey painted pockets and 225/50R18 Goodyear Eagle LS2 all-season tires. Likewise inside, I couldn't find a single difference. Always practical, Subaru seems to understand that change for the sake of change costs money that inevitably needs to be passed onto consumers, leaving less remaining for Read Full Story

Subaru holds a unique position within the car industry. It has maintained steadfast core values centered on reliability, practicality, safety, and environmental leadership on one hand and extreme performance on the other; it makes its trademark Symmetrical all-wheel drive system standard on almost all of its models; and it's stayed 100 percent loyal to a horizontally opposed "boxer" engine design only otherwise used by Porsche (and occasionally Ferrari) that reduces a vehicle's centre of gravity to improve handling; but strangest of all Subaru seems to limit the availability of its vehicles so that resale values remain incredibly high.

Most Subaru dealers I've spoken with say they could sell twice as many vehicles if they could get their hands on them, and on top of this most Subaru owners hold onto their cars longer than average, all contributing to strong residual values, but this also makes for niche like sales volumes.

This is especially true in Canada where, despite Read Full Story

The Outback remains an anomaly, and that's probably just the way Subaru and its owners like it. It's the Seiko 5 of crossover SUVs. An honest car-based utility that's considerably more competent than its obviously wagon-derived outward appearances let on. It was initially created long before the term CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle) was even coined, provides all the capability of most modern-day SUVs yet isn't trying to visually emulate a truck-based sport ute in the slightest, while it generally keeps on ticking accurately well past its prime.

I see older Outbacks everywhere. A gold first-generation drove past on the highway yesterday afternoon and I parked in front of a two-tone green third-gen example at the dollar store on the way back home that night (yes, Subaru owners are practical). The Outback has been with us since 1994, the first model described having made way for the second generation in 1998, so you can appreciate they have a habit of lasting for decades, like that Read Full Story