Road Reality » Subaru

Fun Stuff: Travis Pastrana vs. Mt. Washington (w/video)

John Suit — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:00:26 +0000

There’s a famous mountain in New Hampshire called Mt. Washington. You can see cars with bumper stickers on them proclaiming, “This car climbed Mt. Washington.” Then you have Travis Pastrana, a World Rally Championship (WRC) driver of the highest caliber, and his Subaru WRX. Who will win? Watch the video after the jump to find out!

The video starts with the preparation work Pastrana and his co-driver had to do prior to making a full-speed run up the mountain and then goes into some really nice video of the actual run.

by John Suit

Source: YouTube via AutoBlog

KBB Awards for Best Reader Car Review

John Suit — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:00:35 +0000

In a recent contest, Kelly Blue Book (KBB) challenged its readers to come up with the best car review, and the results are in. The winner is Clark Olson Media for the review of his 2000 Toyota Corolla. Runners up include Joel Moss Levinson and his 2001 Volkswagen Passat and Patrick Latimer with his 2004 Subaru Forester. Click past the jump to see the videos.

Winner:

2nd Place:

3rd Place:

by John Suit

Source: KBB.com

Recall: 2010 Subaru Tribeca

John Suit — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:06:57 +0000

Recently, Hyundai had a door latch problem with their 2011 Sonata. Now, Subaru is recalling over 1,500 2010 Tribecas for their door latches. The difference is, in the Subaru recall, rolling down the window can cause the door latch to let go and the door to open. I’d file this recall under “safety” for sure. From the NHTSA’s report, it appears that some door latch cables were installing incorrectly in the front doors of the Tribeca, which lets them get tangled with a lowering window.

by John Suit

Source: NHTSA

The Safest Cars in America: IIHS Top Safety Picks for 2010

roadreality — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:45 +0000

Since 2006, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests each car model for sale in the United States in several crash scenarios. They run them into walls, barriers, other cars, poles, all the major accident types. Speeds range from 5 mph to 40 mph, and all of the results are analyzed and finally tallied. The vehicles which earn “good” ratings in each of the 4 tests are added to the “Top Safety Picks” list for that model year. This year, the IIHS added a “roof stability” test, which pushes a metal plate at a constant speed into one half of the roof of a vehicle. How well the car sustains this crushing force determines its score.

With this new test, recent winners such as Toyota, BMW and Mazda were left out in the cold. Chrysler modified its seats and head rests in order to garner better crash ratings for its vehicles, as did GM to get its Malibu on the list. Read on after the list to see how each manufacturer did.

Winners:

Large cars
Buick LaCrosse
Ford Taurus
Lincoln MKS
Volvo S80

Midsize cars
Audi A3
Chevrolet Malibu built after October 2009
Chrysler Sebring 4-door with optional electronic stability control
Dodge Avenger with optional electronic stability control
Mercedes C class
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Volkswagen Jetta sedan
Volkswagen Passat sedan
Volvo C30

Small cars
Honda Civic 4-door models (except Si) with optional electronic stability control
Kia Soul
Nissan Cube
Subaru Impreza except WRX
Volkswagen Golf 4-door

Midsize SUVs
Dodge Journey
Subaru Tribeca
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC90

Small SUVs
Honda Element
Jeep Patriot with optional side torso airbags
Subaru Forester
Volkswagen Tiguan

Now, here’s a breakdown of the manufacturers who won, and how many winners they have on the list:

By John Suit

Source: IIHS