2004 Subaru Outback Base Wagon 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Mazda CX-5 named Japan's Car of The Year, Subaru BR-Z wins "Special Award"

The Mazda CX-5 stamped its Kodo design and SkyActiv technology authority all over the Japan Car of the Year awards, taking the top prize ahead of the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT 86. It is Mazda's second victory in the last ten years, the 2005 MX-5 claiming the same trophy, and the fourth time the Hiroshima company has won.
The award is decided by 60 local "automotive experts and journalists," and open to any passenger car released in Japan from November 1, 2011 to October 31, 2012 that has sold more than 500 units. Each judge gets 25 votes, his or her top vote getting 10 points, the rest of the points being spread among the judge's choice for the next best four cars.
The second-place getters were the Toyobaru twins with 318 votes, the surprise being they didn't beat or get any closer to the crossover. The Subaru BRZ did claw some mojo back, earning the Special Award given to cars that have made "an exceptional impact." The BMW 3 Series was third overall and won the Import Car of the Year award with plenty of room between it and the second place Range Rover Evoque.

New Subaru Outback spied for the first time

The Outback has been a strong seller for Subaru, especially in its most recent generation when it combined station wagon utility with crossover looks. The model is getting an imminent redesign just like its platform-mate the Legacy, and here are the first spy photos of it testing in Europe against an Audi Q5.
The cladding makes it very hard to tell what exactly Subaru is doing with the styling, but it's clear that they are sticking to the combined wagon/CUV look from the current gen. Many parts appear taken almost directly from the new Legacy like the door-mounted mirrors, creased hood and angular headlights. The windshield also appears more steeply raked than today's Outback, and at the rear the taillights look thinner and more vertical.
We are expecting the new Outback to use the revised 2.5-liter four-cylinder and possibly the 3.6-liter boxer six-cylinder from its sedan counterpart at launch. However, a previous rumor indicated the possibility of a smaller six-cylinder and a turbocharged four-cylinder being added to the lineup, but these new engines might still be a few years away.

Subaru updates EyeSight system with color-detecting cameras

Subaru is giving its EyeSight driver assistance camera system a major upgrade for the 2015 model year with new color cameras, as well as reducing its size by 15 percent over the rather bulky original system.
Subaru locates its EyeSight hardware inside the vehicle at the top of the windshield, which is unlike most other camera-based systems that have their hardware mounted somewhere in the front fascia. The benefit is that these rather expensive components are protected from any detritus that may hit the car, but the original system's size ate up a chunk of the driver's outward view. Thus, the shrinkage should be appreciated by new owners.
The upgraded stereo cameras have a 40-percent longer and wider detection range than the original system's cameras, and their ability to see color allows the system to recognize brake lights at a speed differential of 30 miles per hour, instead of 19 mph before. And as before, EyeSight continues to offer adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and pre-collision breaking that can slow the car automatically if an imminent accident is detected, even bringing the vehicle to a complete stop.