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2015 Subaru WRX looks to set a new benchmark in LA

Subaru has just taken the wraps off of the new, 2015 WRX at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. The totally redesigned sedan - the five-door option won't be offered - is more powerful, more fuel efficient (with the right transmission), better looking and more intelligently designed than the car it's replacing.
A new 2.0-liter, direct-injected, turbocharged flat-four sits thumping away under the hood, its top-mount intercooler getting force-fed air by a rather prominent hood scoop. Power output sits at 268 ponies and 258 pound-feet of torque, accessible between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm. While the new car only has a three-horsepower advantage on the current Impreza WRX, it delivers 14 more pound-feet of torque and delivers peak output across a much wider swath of the rev range (the old car netted 244 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm). All this extra grunt comes at a negligible weight penalty - a 2015 WRX with the six-speed manual is just 59 pounds heavier than a 2014 model.
As we said, a six-speed manual is will be available, and as a bonus, it packs one additional cog over the current, 2014 WRX's five-speed DIY transmission. So equipped, the WRX will scamper to 60 in just 5.4 seconds. As for the previously-confirmed continuously variable transmission, it will come with both six- and eight-speed manual shift modes, but will take half a second longer to get to the magical 60-mile-per-hour mark.

A closer look at the 2015 Subaru WRX

For enthusiasts, the debut of the 2015 Subaru WRX was arguably one of the more important happenings at last week's LA Auto Show. After all, the 'Rex has been one of our perennial favorite all-weather sports cars, able to offer big thrills in any clime thanks to its turbocharged engine, manual gearbox and top-notch all-wheel-drive system.
For 2015, some big changes have been made to our favorite Subie, including the removal of the hatchback body style and availability of a continuously variable transmission. Of course, there's also the new, 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, not to mention the completely revised styling.
Lots of talking points, for sure, so West Coast Editor Michael Harley chatted with Dominick Infante, national manager of product communications for Subaru USA, who promises us that this car will be the "best-handling WRX ever." As for that CVT, Infante assures us that it was "designed for a sports car" and that the company aims to change the minds of people (like us, admittedly) who have a hard time warming up to the idea of this transmission in a package like the WRX.

Scion trying to build business case for FR-S convertible as Subaru bows out

Hope may remain for a convertible version of the Scion FR-S, according to a report from Ward's Auto. You'll recall that rumors were swirling about the feasibility of a rear-drive Toyobaru convertible as early as October, and that back in November, Subaru - which makes the FR-S, Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 - essentially nixed the idea of an open-topped variant.
"We make the car, so if we don't make it, it can't happen," brand chief Yasuyuki Yoshinaga told Automotive News, according to Ward's, at the Tokyo Motor Show. "Our engineering department told me that losing the entire roof requires a complete redesign of the structure. It would need a big change."
Despite Yoshinaga-san's arguments against a droptop variant, Toyota is apparently still considering the model. Speaking to media at the 2014 North American International Auto Show, Scion's US vice president, Doug Murtha, hinted that the rear-drive droptop was in the works.