Tango for Two on Ice with Miss Subaru Impreza and Mr. UAZ Patriot

Classy but at the same time dramatic and seductive, the tango is an impressive dance that was born in the 19th century along the shores of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, but has since spread throughout the world.

Nice, but what has the tango got to do with the automotive world, we hear you ask?

Well, not much, unless you have an extremely talented pair of drivers that can successfully recreate the dance steps using an older generation Subaru Impreza hatchback and a UAZ Patriot SUV as their partners. See how it turned in the video that follows.

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Subaru's New BRZ GT300 gets On-Track Shakedown at Fuji Speedway

Subaru's motorsports division has been busily working on its new BRZ GT300 racecar, which made its world premiere alongside the regular BRZ sports coupe at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show in December.

The Japanese automaker put the BRZ GT300 through its paces this past weekend at the Fuji Speedway in Japan as it prepares for the 2012 Super GT championship, which starts at the end of March.

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Cry Me a Tear: Subaru New Japanese Commercial for the BRZ Coupe

Subaru has released a new 2+ minute long spot for the freshly launched BRZ coupe in its home market of Japan. And it's pretty dramatic, but not in the way you'd expect an ad showcasing a rear-wheel drive sports…

Apparently, Subaru's marketing folks in Japan believe that healthy doses of drama can create some sort of emotional connection between buyers and its cars. As you can see in the videos after the break, Subaru has whipped up similar ads for its Forester and Legacy models.

And oh, don't forget to blow your nose and while your tears away after you're done watching the three spots.

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Subaru BRZ Black Edition by Prova from the Tokyo Auto Salon [Video]

Prova, one of the more notable Subaru tuners in the Land of the Rising Sun, teamed up with the Japanese automaker to display a bespoke edition of the new BRZ sports coupe at this past weekend's 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon.

The BRZ Black Edition is supposed to be a more mature tuning take on the rear-wheel drive model that goes on sale worldwide this spring.

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Subaru BRZ GT300 Fires up on the Track: First Official Video

Only a select few will be able to get behind the wheel of the new BRZ GT300, but Subaru hopes to create a strong link between the production and the racing versions of its new rear-wheel drive coupe, both of which made their world premiere at this week's Tokyo Motor Show.

The impressive looking BRZ racer will compete in the in the GT300 class of the 2012 SUPER GT series in Japan. The GT300 cars are much more regulated than the vehicles in the GT500 class with their output limited to 300-horsepower, which means we may see Subaru opting for a turbocharger to increase the standard model's 2.0-liter boxer engine's output.

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If Looks Could Kill: Meet the 1999 Subaru Impreza Casa Blanca Limited Edition

Subaru is one of those automakers that will either bore you to death or irk you with the styling of its products, but scarcely, if ever, cause any excitement with its designs.

The Impreza series is a characteristic example going from boredom to controversial and vice versa not only with each new restyling, but sometimes even within the same generation.

Time to meet the Impreza Casa Blanca - a special edition version of the first generation Sport Wagon with the 1.5-liter boxer engine that was introduced in Japan in 1999 to address the craze consumers had for retro styled cars at the time.

And yes, you read that correctly: the Casa Blanca isn't a abomination creation from some unknown coachbuilder but an official Subaru product and it was produced from 1999 to 2000 in a limited run of 5,000 units!

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Subaru BRZ Joins its Toyota Sibling at the Tokyo Motor Show [Live Photos + New Videos]

Danny de Vito and body builder-turned actor-turned California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, were probably the only twins that were completely different to one another. On the other hand, that was a comedy film in which artistic freedom allows the producers to do anything they please.

In the real world, human twins may indeed differ, mostly in character – though not as much as Arnie and Danny by any stretch of the imagination. In the automotive world, however, when two manufacturers jointly develop a vehicle, 99.9% of the times it ends up being identical to its sibling.

Even Subaru and Toyota are not pretending that their BRZ and 86/GT86 are anything but the same car. They clearly admit it in their press releases and even inscribe it on the engine cover. It’s badge engineering, pure and simple.

Therefore, all the hoopla about the extremely low center of gravity, the compact dimensions, the fun to drive RWD configuration et al is repeated in the BRZ which also made its premiere today at the 42nd edition of the Tokyo Motor Show.

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Subaru BRZ Makes its Video Debut, Plus New Photo Album with First Shots of the Interior

The production versions of the jointly developed Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 twins are making their world premiere today at the Tokyo Motor Show.

We’ve already brought you the news on the BRZ, but for those of you interested, Subaru has unleashed a promotional video as well as a second round of pictures including the very first images of the coupe's interior that is identical to the 86 right up to the digital clock that brings back memories of the go-go 1980s. Oddly, Toyota and Subaru ditched the cassette player…

As a reminder, the BRZ runs on very low mounted 2.0-liter flat-four with direct-injection technology and an output of 200 ponies that are directed to the rear wheels through a choice of 6-speed transmissions (manual and automatic).

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Fiat Abarth 500 Takes on Subaru Impreza WRX STI on Italian Track [Video]

The Abarth 500, especially when fitted with the 'essesse' performance package that lifts the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine's output to 160-horses, is a capable little beast for its size and price, but is that enough to challenge a previous generation Subaru Impreza WRX STI on the racetrack?

Well, as any driver with some experience on the circuit will tell you, it’s as much about the car as it is about the person sitting behind the wheel. That said, the Abarth 500 shouldn't come close to an STI in the right hands but it's plausible under certain circumstances.

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From 0 to Crash in 18 Seconds: Subaru Impreza STI Track Racer Bummer

Imagine this: you're all suited up, complete with racing helmet, gloves and shoes, bolted in the racing bucket seat of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI with your buddy by your side to experience the thrill of a life time on the race track.

But alas; as soon as the flag goes down your STI stalls and the engine shuts off. Your friend chuckles but no worries, just turn the key and fire up the turbocharged flat four and let's take it from the start.

Okay, we're ready now and yes, 18 seconds later you've reached the final cone and you can unleash the awesome power of Subaru's boxer engine only to…crash into a wall! On the bright side, you may have just set a new track record for the fastest crash ever…

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Subaru BRZ Concept STI: Live Photos from LA Auto Show and New Promo Video [Updated]

The highly anticipated Subaru BRZ Concept STI made its debut today at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show in order to prepare us for the production model that is scheduled to appear at the Tokyo Motor Show in Japan on November 30 before it goes on sale worldwide next spring.

The BRZ is the outcome of the team-up between Toyota and Subaru, and it's a sister model to the Toyota FT-86 and the Scion FR-S rear-wheel drive coupes, and as such, all three models share the same platform and mechanical hardware including the Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter flat-four engine upgraded with Toyota’s D-4S direct injection technology.

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New Video Footage of Subaru Impreza WRX STI’s Record Run at the Isle of Man TT

After seeing the growing the attention and interest on Mark Higgins' record lap time -and not to mention, a very close call with a wall during the practice runs- in a U.S. specification 2011 Impreza WRX STI 305HP at the historic Isle of Man TT Mountain Course, Subaru’s American arm issued a new video of the event.

The former British Rally Champion achieved speeds of up to 162 MPH (260 km/h) and a lap time of 19 minutes 37 seconds over the 37-mile track, which runs through several small towns with trees, stone walls, and buildings and includes more than 200 corners.

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VIDEO: Mark Higgins' Awesome Save at 150MPH at the Isle of Man TT

We’ve already told you about former British Rally Champion Mark Higgins’ record lap on the famous Isle of Man TT Mountain Course driving a US specification 2011 Subaru WRX STI in a previous article here, but today, we stumbled upon two in-car video clips, courtesy of Road & Track magazine.

Aside from smashing the late Tony Pond’s long-standing record in a Rover 827 Vitesse from 1990 by more than two minutes, Higgins also displayed some amazing driving skills saving the day when the WRX STI started swerving at 150mph (241km/h) after he hit a small bump on the road. In the video you can hear Higgins saying "Biggest moment of my life there...".

Commenting on the incident, Dominick Infante, National Manager, Product Communications, Subaru of America, said: “The WRX STI performed incredibly well at near flat out speeds and Mark drove impeccably. His save at Bray Hill at 150 MPH was some of the best driving any of us have ever seen." Buckle up and watch the two in-car-videos after the break.

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Too Close for Comfort: Subaru Impreza WRX Flips Over Right in Front of Spectators in Canada

A fun track day at the Toronto Motorsports Park near the town of Cayuga in Ontario, Canada, almost turned tragic for both the driver and many of the spectators gathered behind the safety wall when an older generation Subaru Impreza WRX flipped over after exiting a corner.

From the video, it looks like the driver of the Impreza took the corner wider and faster than he was ready for and as a result crashed into, or rather ran over, the safety haystack near the wall, which acted as a launching ramp lifting the car into the air only inches away from the spectators. The car then landed on its rooftop several feet away.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver of the Subaru, who was wearing a helmet, was shaken but...not stirred. But enough talking already. Follow the break to watch both the incident as it happened and the aftermath.

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Forza Motorsport 4: Here’s how they Record Car Engine Sounds

Long gone are the days when video game developers used simple electronic instruments to emulate car engine sounds for their racing games. Now, thanks to a dramatic increase in video games sales, which of course resulted in huge budgets, developers can justify the costs of recording the actual sounds of each car featured in their games.

For those of you wondering how it’s done, the tech-savvy crew over at Electricpig were invited to Redmond, Seattle by the creator of the Forza Motorsport gaming series, Turn 10 Studios, to witness the recording of a previous generation Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

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More Screaming Passengers from the 2011 Red Bull Car Drift Event in Lebanon

We don’t know about you, but we certainly enjoyed watching the video of a male passenger freaking out during a ride around a drift course, so we decided to do a little bit of online research to find out what it was all about. We discovered that the joy ride was part of the Red Bull Car Park Drift 2011 event and it took place in Lebanon.

The man behind the steering wheel of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI is 34-year-old Abdo Feghali from Lebanon. He is a professional rally driver who also participates in drift contests and events such as the one organized by Red Bull.

If you liked the first video we showed you, then follow the jump to watch the reactions of the same male passenger, this time sitting at the back between two women (oddly enough no one was wearing seat belts…), as well as some new footage of other people that took a ride including the beautiful lady you see pictured above.

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Subaru Targets Young Asian American Buyers with New Sweet Tomorrow Campaign

Subaru’s American division is taking audience segmentation a step further with the release of a new advertising campaign for the 2011 Legacy that specifically targets the Chinese-American market. The campaign has been produced in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, and can be seen across a wide variety of media placements including TV, print, online and out-of-home running.

The television spot is called “Sweet Tomorrow” and it shows a young Chinese American couple preparing for the birth of their first child. The advert is scheduled to air through October 2011.

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VIDEO: 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan and Hatchback on the Road

Yesterday, we brought you a first look at the redevelopment of Subaru’s Impreza Sedan and Hatchback from its world premiere at the 2011 New York International Auto Show. Today we have the first videos of the redesigned compact model in both four-door saloon and five-door hatchback guises, thanks to the official B-roll footage from Subaru.

Bypassing the somewhat disappointing styling as the visual impact of last year’s LA Show Impreza Concept was lost in the translation from concept to production car reality, Subaru’s Honda Civic rival boasts a roomier passenger area despite the fact that exterior dimensions remain the same.

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ISIS AM01 is a Subaru STI-Powered Coachbuilt Sports Car [with Videos]

This odd-looking creation is the AM01 and it’s the work of a Dutch company named Isis Cars that is led by Anton van Nunen and Max Alting Siberg. In an even stranger twist, the AM01 is based on another coachbuilt sports car from the Netherlands called the Saker.

Underneath the composite body shell lies a 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine sourced from a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The four-cylinder unit churns out 275HP and a peak torque of 350 Nm (258 lb-ft), with power being transferred to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.

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Not for U.S.: Subaru Launches 259HP Forester S-Edition in Australia

First unveiled in the 2010 Australian International Motor Show in Sydney last October, the Subaru Forester S-Edition has now gone on sale in Australia, alongside the revised lineup of the Japanese compact SUV. Boasting a turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer engine delivering 259HP (193kW) and 347 Nm (256 lb-ft) of torque, the new range-topping model is the most powerful Forester ever to be sold down-under.

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