While the Tribeca is now a much more conservative-looking vehicle from when it first appeared, for that segment of Subaru lovers that place premium on functionality and reliability the Tribeca continues to deliver.  The new Tribeca has a slightly revised exterior and powertrain, and in response to customer requests, Subaru has improved visibility and convenience for 2009.

2009 Subaru Legacy GT spec.B

Subaru manages to appeal to two widely disparate customer bases.  On the one hand, there is the Impreza and WRX crowd, which loves those vehicles’s all-wheel-drive prowess and performance and appreciates the youthful design that wraps it all up.  On the other hand, there are the wagon-loving, outdoorsy, save-the-spotted-owl folk who are most interested in the utility and reliability of the Forester, Outback and Tribeca.  Squarely in the middle, Subaru continues to over the Legacy, which is still the only midsize sedan with standard AWD and adds a bit of performance to a car built for grownups. 

Today, Subaru released specs on the second of the two super-tuned Forester’s that will be gracing Subaru’s booth in Las Vegas at the 2008 SEMA show next week (which, depending on how successful we are in procuring an 8-ball and some hookers, we may or may not be providing extensive coverage for). Appropriately dubbed the “Wicked” Forester, the Forester XTI Concept was engineered to be the Forester 2.5XT and Impreza WRX STI hybrid that militant feminists previously only dreamt about. Borrowing its powertrain from the Impreza WRX STI, the Forester XTI Concept has been fitted with SPT (Subaru Performance Tuning) cat-back exhaust that boosts the 2.5L turbo engine’s output from 305-hp/290 lb-ft to 315 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque.

In Russia, a woman apparently slightly upset with her boyfriend turned her Toyota SUV into a battering ram, colliding repeatedly with her boyfriend’s Subaru. Although the color commentary is provided by an amazed mutual friend in a language no one here on the RideLust staff is familiar with, you don’t need the benefit of bilingual abilities to get the gist of what’s going on.

While the action itself isn’t entirely surprising when compared to what asshats here in America have proven capable of, there were a few aspects of the video that did surprise me and were perfectly echoed by a fellow viewer in the following comment: “That Toyota faired pretty well. And why isn’t the guy choking the shit out of her?” Here, here.

2009 Subaru Forester being put through the paces by MotorTrend

Beating out both the BMW X6 and the highly-praised Ford Flex, the 2009 Subaru Forester has recently been awarded the coveted distinction as MotorTrend’s SUV of the Year. While I’ll admit I wasn’t aware the sporty little wagon was technically classified as an SUV at all, it’s still a relief to see that hollow hybrid technology and a few green misnomers aren’t enough to sway the tech-savvy gearheads of MotorTrend.

2009 Car of the Year Nominee: Dodge Challenger

In January of next year the North American Car and Truck of the Year winners will be announced during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  The process that leads to that decision began last week with the release of the first round of 26 finalists.  Not suprisingly, vehicles from the crossover segment of the industry dominate this year’s list.

Prodrive P2 Prototype

Regardless of whether you have an appreciation of it’s outward design (especially the “P” badge on front), the P2 prototype from Prodrive is meant to be a demonstration of the considerable technical prowess of the company behind six World Rally Championship titles with Subaru, five British Touring Car Championships, the 2003 GTS class winner at Le Mans with its Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello and the managers of Aston Martin Racing.  The P2 serves as the embodiment of technologies and materials that are currently available and often under-utilized in mainstream auto manufacturing.  The P2 is a fully working two-seater sports car prototype that features Prodrive’s latest technology and which was entirely designed, engineered and built in just nine months.  Even more impressive than all that, is that the P2 was built using the tiny Subaru R1 as a starting point. 

Lancer Evolution MR

Despite Mitsubishi’s difficulties from the very beginning in making much if any headway financially in the U.S., the Tri-Diamond has held fast with their committment to make a go of it in America.  Likewise, Mitsubishi’s approach for the last several years to their performance models is equally consistent and exemplified in the latest example in the Evo line; the Lancer Evolution MR.

Suzuki SX4 WRC Rally car

Suzuki’s mild-mannerd SX4 has an alter ego; a race-engineered evil brother which the company hopes will do more than just win races.  While not a production model, yet, Suzuki is out to prove that they can build a race winner with something that has more than two wheels. 

1-2 win for Citroen

Oh how harshly we misjudge cars.  If anyone is under the impression that smaller, economical cars don’t have guts or aren’t “lustable” (whatever that means), you need to check out the attached pictures of last Sunday’s Rally race in New Zealand.  Fans of WRC and the cars that they inspire certainly had to be pleased with the race which lived up to WRC’s reputation for providing some of the most exciting motorsport racing on the planet.