Tuesday, January 22, 2013

2014 Subaru Forester to Get STARLINK and Other Driver Assistance Goodies


Subaru says the all-wheel drive 2014 Forester will be priced below its two-wheel drive competition, and it will bring the marque’s Subaru Eyesight driver assistance program and STARLINK cabin tech along for the ride.
According to a press release from Subaru, the Forester will be available with a veritable boatload of tech features, including hill descent control on CVT models, rearview camera, color multi-function display, navigation system with smartphone integration, and a 440-watt harmon/kardon sound system.
Subaru Eyesight debuted on the 2013 Legacy and Outback models and features several systems that work together to make the car safer, including adaptive cruise control, automatic pre-collision braking, and vehicle lane departure warning. The system processes stereo images of the vehicle’s surroundings, including cars and other objects ahead. Below 19 mph, the car is able to recognize pedestrians and automatically apply the brakes in the event a pedestrian is about to be pancaked by the Forester. Adaptive cruise control, meanwhile, can be used up to 87 mph and as slow as 1 mph– perhaps for parade duty?
The Forester will be the first model to get Subaru’s STARLINK system. Revealed for the first time at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Subaru says the system represents the automaker’s new infotainment strategy, featuring internet radio, podcast, and digital music content streaming abilities as well as hotel and restaurant recommendations, Facebook connectivity, and more. Though still a young system, Subaru promises the services and connectivity offered by STARLINK will continue to grow in the future.
More information about both STARLINK and Subaru Eyesight are available here.
Subaru says the 2014 Forester will start at $21,995 for a base 2.5i with a six-speed manual transmission. A fully loaded Forester with the Eyesight system (which comes bundled with keyless entry/ignition and HID headlights) will set you back roughly $35,500.

Article courtesy of Technology Tell 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Subaru and Nordica Kickoff Snowsports Season with the XV Crosstrek Run



Subaru of America, Inc. and Nordica USA will team up to kickoff snowsports  season with the XV Crosstrek Run. Two talented free skiers will journey from coast-to-coast hitting major mountain resorts and events along the way, while piloting the all-new Subaru 2013 XV Crosstrek. Digital content will give fans a look into the free skiers lives, their slope side skills, and the versatility and capability of the XV Crosstrek.

Fans can follow the journey on Subaru & Nordica social channels. Bloggers and journalists can cover the XV Crosstrek Run. The media site features the schedule of XV Crosstrek Run stops, background on the free skiers and photos/videos which can be easily embedded into any blog or website.

"The XV Crosstrek Run is a great collaborative effort and comes at the perfect time as we are celebrating our 10th anniversary of the Subaru-Nordica Service Team," states Tim Tagye, promotions and sponsorship manager, Subaru of America, Inc. "Through the eyes of social media, we are able to capture how our relationship with Nordica and their loyal fans has grown over the past decade, and how the go-anywhere capability of the XV Crosstrek is an excellent fit for the skiing enthusiast."

Luke aka 'Lupe' Hagearty and Liam McKinley will set out on a journey hitting ski slopes and events throughout the United States. Twenty year old Luke Hagearty will be the featured skier throughout the XV Crosstrek Run. Luke is no stranger to Subaru, as his everyday driver is a 2002 Subaru Forester.  Filming Luke's incredible runs will be twenty-one year old Liam McKinley. The two free skiers were handpicked by Nordica as participants.

Over the past 10 years, Subaru and Nordica have partnered together bringing common philosophies to adventure enthusiasts.  Subaru and Nordica formed the Subaru-Nordica Service Team (SNST); technical reps that travel the country visiting hundreds of ski-related consumer facing events in Subaru Outback models.  The Subaru-Nordica Service Team is able to master snowy conditions on and off the hill thanks to Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive technology and Nordica's technology and unparalleled skiing history.

"Subaru and Nordica have worked together for a decade to help build their brands and grow consumer awareness of the incredible products each offers," said Andy Hare, director of product and promotions, Nordica USA. "When Subaru announced the unveiling of the all-new XV Crosstrek and explained the target audience, it was instantly clear we could help because it is one that we have been targeting for a few years now."

Students from Champlain College in Burlington, VT will receive footage from the free skiers and package them into short videos. These will then be sent to Subaru & Nordica for distribution on their social channels. Champlain College is a private, coeducational college located in Burlington, Vermont with enrollment of just over 3,000 students.

"A major component of our Champlain College curriculum has always been for our students to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life work experience within their major fields," said Tom Myers, associate professor international business and management, Champlain College. "Nordica came to me last February with their new marketing vision for the younger generation.  Naturally, we assembled the most talented students-skiers we could find in international business, marketing, graphic design, and digital film to help drive this initiative."

Source: Subaru

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/01/14/4542528/subaru-and-nordica-kickoff-snowsports.html#storylink=cpy

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Subaru Legacy named one of the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.

To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category – unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.

Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

Courtesy of Autoblog.com