Subaru

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Subaru doubles the battery range on its electric car concept

November 2, 2007 Bucking the industry trend towards Hydrogen fuel cells, Subaru has released a vastly improved second cut at a plug-in a battery-electric commuter car. The 65-kilowatt, 5-seater G4e’s new high energy-density lithium-ion batteries give it a 200km range from a charge (more than double the previous R1e’s range) and using a quick-charger it can be topped up to 80% in only 15 minutes. The new Subaru’s stats make it an instantly viable commuter, while underlining the exciting potential this fledgling sector will offer. Read More

Subaru's new Impreza WRC contender

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March 4, 2007 The Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) has released details of the latest evolution of its rally challenger, the Impreza WRC2007, which will make its competitive debut in the fourth WRC round of 2007 next weekend at Rally Mexico in the hands of Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson. Although outwardly similar to its predecessor, a number of key engineering improvements have justified the production of a new car for the remainder of this season. As the basis of a rally winning machine, few cars can match the competitive pedigree of the. First launched in 1992, the Impreza road car has developed in tandem with its rallying counterpart and over the last 13 seasons, has scored 46 WRC victories and lessons learned on the rally stages have been fed back into the production model. The targets were to produce a car with a more responsive front end with better traction and more balanced tyre wear, particularly on longer stages. To achieve that, SWRT applied a different philosophy into areas such as weight distribution, suspension geometry and differential set-ups. Read More

Subaru selling made-to-order, race-ready rally cars

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January 5, 2007 There was once a time, and it wasn’t very long ago, that going rallying meant having a detailed knowledge of every aspect of construction and repair. As major manufacturers become more adept at catering to an array of marketplaces, those manufacturers with a proud sporting heritage are beginning to make complete race cars available, and Subaru Australia is now offering a complete service to race drivers, producing a range of custom motorsport vehicle packages based on the popular Impreza WRX STI spec.C – the Group N FIA homologated car developed by Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan. Customers can order the car to any desired specification, from the base Impreza WRX STI at AUD$69,990 (US$55,000) to the full Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) version at AUD$195,000 (US$153,000). So now all you need an ingenious support crew and someone crazy enough to sit beside you and read you instructions while you point the 230 kW projectile at the horizon. Finally, just to be clear, the WRC cars of Solberg and Atkinson are a slightly higher spec again – if they were available, they’d cost US$1.5 million apiece. Read More

Subaru develops horizontally opposed Turbo Diesel engine

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September 29, 2006 Subaru Europe President Hiroyuki Ikeda dropped an unexpected announcement in his Paris motor show speech when he mentioned that the company was working on a SubaruBoxer Turbo Diesel and that development is nearly complete. The horizontally opposed engine layout made famous by Volkswagen has long been favoured by Subaru and has been the mainstay of its fleet for more than three decades with its latest effort winning first place in the 2.5-liter class of the International Engine of the Year Awards. Though it’s logical that the company would develop the world’s first horizontally opposed diesel engine, there are many technical difficulties to overcome, so it was by no means regarded as a given. Anyway, we have the drawings in high res and we suspect it’ll be a beauty. Read More

Subaru to commence electric vehicle production

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August 20, 2005 Subaru makes kickbutt small cars – the WRX pocket-rocket started a cult and still more than holds its own in the World Rally Championship (WRC). But the news this week that the niche auto manufacturer plans to produce the R1e electric car is some of the most mouth-watering news we can imagine for EV fans. The R1 is already on sale in Japan with a traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) but since the R1e electric concept car was first shown at the Tokyo Motor Show 18 months ago, the fans have been begging for the car to go into production. Interestingly, the news from Japan yesterday that Subaru would commence electric and hybrid vehicle manufacture in 2009 saw share in Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI - Subaru’s owner) rise more than 4%.

The R1e electric vehicle will be powered by an advanced, high energy density, manganese lithium-ion battery that FHI developed in conjunction with NEC and in Japan the battery can be charged by taking power from single-phase 22V AC outlets traditionally used for home air conditioners in Japan. Utilising advanced power control technology, the R1e is designed to travel more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) on a charge, and with its 2+2 layout in such a small-car form factor, the R1e looks to be immensely practical and an ideal alternative to ICE vehicles which are expected to be feeding a heroin-like (keep you poor and make you sick) addiction for fossil fuels which could be costing US$10 a gallon by 2009. Read More

New Subaru Impreza unveiled - with bold aeronautical styling

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June 17, 2005 The new Subaru Impreza was unveiled in Japan yesterday and it’s a sleeker, smoother-looking Impreza than ever before that will become available beyond Japan later this year. The big news for WRX fans is the addition of a 2.5-litre, turbocharged version of the horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine in the top-of-the-line WRX.

Subaru is hoping the new Impreza will raise its product appeal by redefining its sporty looks and further improving the drivability. The looks have been radically altered from existing Imprezas and is part of the new Subaru design DNA introduced by new chief designer Andreas Zapatinas which will eventually flow across the entire range – the new face is designed to recollect Subaru’s aeronautical heritage - it’s a bold move because existing Impreza aficionados may not like the significant changes to the overall look, the front bumper, grille, headlights, as well as what may become a signature second rear spoiler at the top of the rear window. Read More

WRC - Subaru/Solberg win Rally Mexico

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March 13, 2005 Petter Solberg and the Subaru World Rally Team team claimed an emphatic victory in Corona Rally Mexico today. The Norwegian/Welsh pairing led from start to finish, winning by 34.5 seconds and now top the FIA World Rally Championship points table after a second successive win. Their success also marked Subaru's 46th WRC victory, the 45th with an Impreza and was the perfect result for the debut of the new Subaru Impreza WRC2005 – Solberg’s win in Sweden in the previous round had been with the 2004 car. Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin finished second and third respectively, claiming all-important points for Peugeot, which now leads the Manufacturers’ Championship by eight points over Ford. Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb put in a staggering final day performance taking an average of half a second per kilometre out of his two main rivals to leap frog into fourth place after a disastrous first day had dropped him back to 18th place in the second round of the World Rally Championship. Read More

Subaru's 2005 World Rally Car to Debut in Mexico

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March 2, 2005 The latest evolution of Subaru's Impreza World Rally Car will debut on March 11 at Rally Mexico, the third round of the 2005 World Rally Championship. Jointly developed by the Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT), Fuji Heavy Industries (the maker of Subaru vehicles), and Subaru Tecnica International (STI), the brand's performance arm, the Impreza WRC2005 will be debuted in the hands of Petter Solberg. Read More