I don’t know anything about the guy. That’s pretty bad, given that I try to stay up on US politics. He’d have to really start standing out in a big way to have a fighting chance.

2010 STI Special Edition. They dumped the automatic climate control for manual and the 10-speaker stereo for a 4-speaker one. Also had a thicker anti-roll bar and stiffer springs and shocks. It was actually a little cheaper than the regular STI, and marketed as a limited edition which would be more driver-focused.

There’s only a $600 premium for the Outback over the Legacy. That’s a lot of extra bang for the buck.

As far as I can tell, pay at the SIA plant is the same as it is for Ford line workers within ~$1/hour. That squares with what I’ve read in the past about US based Honda and Toyota workers.

It also tends to be easier to get parts for cars built in the US. There used to be some argument to be made that the Big Three were supporting more US workers than the foreign makers with US factories because the parts makers were primarily US based too, but that’s no longer any more true for many Ford or GM models…

Really? When I was car shopping earlier this year, the Subaru dealers all told me they’d have to order a WRX or STI if I wanted one (I ended up buying what I am convinced is the only clean used one in existence). A guy on a Subaru forum I frequent recently posted that he’s got a four month wait on his.

I am very strongly pro-union in general, but it’s not a big deal in the case of most foreign automakers. Subaru pays assembly line workers almost exactly what Ford does: their Japanese workers are unionized and they have to compete with the Big Three shops for workers. As far as I know, only VW pays their US based…

Not until they ship with a vape holder.

As an owner of an STI trim that explicitly got rid of some niceties, I’m not sure I approve of it getting a nicer interior. The new Outback is pretty comfy though.

In an era where you can get 60% more than that for under $40k straight from a dealership, I wouldn’t call that an “extreme power vehicle” either.

There was an interview with Gorbachev on the BBC this morning. He said he decided not to resist the coup against him and the fall of the USSR partly because he feared (probably rightly) that nuclear weapons would be used in a Soviet civil war. Given his support of perestroika, him holding on to power back in ‘91 would…

I’m only interested if she can swap them on in under two seconds.

I dunno if I’d call the Polestar an “extreme power vehicle.” You can make 400 whp from any decent street legal sports car these days, and plenty of stock vehicles (even relatively cheap ones) come with way more. Where it seems to shine is in the corners.

That’s way out of the price range being considered here.

http://ford-life.com/2016/03/22/texas-to-ohio-727-hp-for-39k/

So in order for a car to score high on this list, it should feel like you’re sitting in your living room watching the world go by on your television

Editors score each powertrain based on horsepower, torque, comparative specs, noise attenuation, observed fuel economy and the application of new technology.

Only some?

We wish.