New Noises Lead to Dealership Visit for Long-Term Subaru BRZ

We recently noticed that our long-term Subaru BRZ had developed some new noises — or maybe we were able to hear them more now that it's getting warm in Chicago and we're driving with the windows down.

Follow Our Long-Term Test Fleet

We could hear a ticking sound and a squeaky whirring noise coming from the engine bay at idle once the four-cylinder had reached operating temperature, so we decided to take it to our dealership's service department.

Several Compact Crossovers Fail IIHS' Small Overlap Test

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's newest test — frontal small overlap — is pretty tough to ace. The agency recently performed the test, meant to simulate a crash of a vehicle's front corner into another vehicle, a tree or a pole, on 13 compact SUVs; 11 scored Marginal or Poor.

The new-for-2014 Subaru Forester came out ahead of the pack, earning a Good score and the agency's highest overall safety rating, Top Safety Pick+. Behind it is the slow-selling 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport; it pulled an Acceptable score. The test group included 2014, 2013 and 2012 models.

Recall Alert: 2013 Subaru Outback and Legacy

Subaru is recalling 5,379 model-year 2013 versions of the Outback and Legacy due to a problem with the steering column, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The affected vehicles were manufactured from Feb. 15 through June 15, 2012; check your vehicle's build date on a sticker on the driver-side doorjamb. In these cars, the inner and outer shafts of the steering column assembly could become disengaged, leading to a possible loss of vehicle control. Subaru received customer complaints about a loss of steering ability, which led to the recall investigation, the automaker said in a statement.

Subaru will start notifying affected owners today, and dealers will replace the affected parts for free. Owners can call Subaru at 800-782-2783 or NHTSA's vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 for more info.

Related
Research the Subaru Outback
Research the Subaru Legacy
Check out Other Recalls

Is the Subaru BRZ's Small Backseat a Big Inconvenience?

We knew full well the 2013 Subaru BRZ wasn't meant to carry more than a driver and a passenger when it became Cars.com's Best of 2013 winner. The BRZ and Scion FR-S got our vote for reasons you can read here. Still, we went through with a plan to buy one and live with the BRZ's small backseat.

Follow Our Long-Term Fleet

The four-seat BRZ has received plenty of use in its six months of ownership so far; the backseat has not. It remains something Cars.com editors have to live with considering the BRZ is a daily driver — even split a dozen ways — not a weekend warrior.

Subaru Adds Jobs, Cars to Indiana Factory

In three years, the Subaru Impreza will hail from Indiana.

Subaru imports today's Impreza, which competes with the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and other compact cars, from Japan. Its sole U.S. plant in Lafayette, Ind., builds the larger Legacy sedan, the Outback wagon and a few Tribeca SUVs. It also builds the Camry sedan in a partnership with Toyota, which owns 16.5% of Subaru.

Lafayette has two assembly lines. In 2012, Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries announced a production increase along one line by 2014 to 200,000 cars a year from the current 170,000. The other line, which assembles the Camry, has an annual capacity of 100,000 units. The Associated Press reports Fuji Heavy wants to double that capacity and add the Impreza, investing $400 million and bringing employment to 4,500 from the current 3,600.

Tracking the Fuel Economy of Cars.com's 2013 Honda Civic, 2013 Subaru BRZ

Cars.com's long-term 2013 Honda Civic and 2013 Subaru BRZ have accumulated roughly 1,000 and 1,100 miles, respectively, since our previous update a month ago. Surprisingly, both are within 2.7 mpg of each other in overall observed gas mileage despite one being an enthusiast's sports coupe and the other a bean-counter's economy car.

Follow Our Long-Term Fleet

The Civic's highest tank average of 33.58 mpg is up from its previous best of 33.11 mpg and bumps the overall average up a few ticks to 28.53 mpg after 2,500 miles. Hold on: 28 mpg? The Civic has half the total miles of our BRZ; it joining the Cars.com long-term test fleet a few months after the Subaru and has far fewer highway miles under its timing belt. Our Civic's overall average hovers right on top of its EPA-estimated 28 mpg city rating.

2014 Subaru Forester: Family Checklist

At first glance, the redesigned Subaru Forester doesn't look that different from its predecessor, but the 2014 model has added cargo room and even more family appeal.

This five-seat crossover also gets some serious retooling under the hood. I tested Forester 2.0XT Premium trim that zipped along with a 250-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. A majority of families will opt for the standard 170-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder, however.

The all-wheel-drive Forester was thoroughly confident and capable in all driving conditions. It handled like a champ with little body roll despite its height and had good road feel. There was considerable wind and road noise with this new Forester, which left me a little down in the dumps. Typically I would be cheered by its turbo four-cylinder boxer engine. And I was, but it was loud and I had to adjust to some turbo lag.

Recall Alert: 2014 Subaru Forester

Well that didn't take very long. The redesigned-for-2014 Forester has been on sale for only a few weeks, but it's already being recalled. Subaru is recalling 10,137 units of the compact crossover due to problems with the floormats, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The affected vehicles were manufactured from January through March 2013 (check your vehicle's build date on a sticker on the driver-side doorjamb) and use floormats that weren't properly manufactured. According to NHTSA, they could curl if exposed to heat and could interfere with brake and accelerator pedal operation, increasing the risk of a crash.

Subaru will notify affected owners before the month's end, and dealers will replace all four floormats for free. Owners can call Subaru at 800-782-2783 or NHTSA's vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 for more info.

Related
Research the 2014 Subaru Forester
More Safety News
Check out Other Recalls

Spring Showers Bring Summer Tires Back to Our Subaru BRZ

It has been a long winter here in Chicago. Even with the dawn of spring we experienced subfreezing temps, snow and just plain awful, gray days. That meant keeping our winter tires on Cars.com's long-term 2013 Subaru BRZ a bit longer than we wanted.

Follow Our Long-Term Test Fleet

Conventional wisdom in our office is to swap the tires on or around April 1 ... simply because Chicago weather can be so unpredictable.

We didn't do the deed until April 12. And it snowed the next day.

Cars.com Family Reviews the 2013 Subaru Legacy

Though it's been restyled for 2013, the Subaru Legacy won't knock anyone's socks off, says Cars.com Family reviewer Sara Lacey. If you can get past the bland exterior, Subaru did get some things right like the Legacy's optional 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine, comfortable interior and low starting price.

2013 Subaru Legacy Family Review