Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: Seamus McElroy
Vehicle: 2017 Subaru WRX
Price: $27,515 (Base)

Final Impression:

The Subaru WRX has always been one of my favorite cars to drive. And the new model didn’t disappoint. Sure there are more powerful cars and ones with sexier styling but unlike the WRX those won’t come cheap. There aren’t too many cars for enthusiasts that start in the mid-twenties like the WRX.

Powering the car is a 2.0L four-cylinder turbocharged BOXER engine that’s offered with a six-speed manual or a CVT. It cranks out 268 horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque. And as you’d expect from a Subaru it comes in all-wheel-drive. I drove the manual and thought that it performed well. Shifting in and out of gear is very smooth. While I didn’t get a chance to completely open it up, I still found it to be a fairly powerful engine. Fuel economy is 20 MPG in the city, 27 on the highway, which is good for a combined average of 23 MPG.

The only differences between the new model and last year’s model, is an updated version of its EyeSight driver assistance system and its STARLINK multimedia platform, along with a few other minor changes.

Inside is where the WRX is a bit lacking but this is an issue with just about every car in Subaru’s line-up. Sure its got sport seats, a sportier steering wheel and other WRX specific trim but overall the interior is fairly ho-hum and nothing special compared to other cars in its price range. But if you’re like me this won’t bother you too much because the point of this car is to have fun, and a lackluster interior won’t deter from wanting one.

The WRX is on sale now with a starting price of $27,515.

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TOPICS:
01:24 – SPECIAL GUEST: Matti Vint, Powertrain R&D, Valeo North America
37:21 – Genesis G90 and Kia Cadenza
44:49 – Tesla’s Bigger Battery: A Faster Way to Bankruptcy?
50:56 – Delphi & Mobileye: Maybe Sergio Was Right About Autonomy Being a Commodity
 
Automakers keep downsizing their engines to meet fuel economy and emissions standards. But smaller engines need some sort of boost to provide the power that drivers need and want. That’s why turbocharging and supercharging have become so popular. Now comes the next step, electric boost. E-turbos and e-superchargers are about to hit the market, and we have an experimental Lincoln MKZ with an e-supercharger in the studio.
 
PANEL: John McElroy, Autoline.tv; Gary Vasilash, Automotive Design & Production; David Zoia, WardsAuto.com; David Welch, Bloomberg

Thanks to our sponsors who make Autoline After Hours possible: Bridgestone and Lear Corporation.

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Thanks to our partners and friends AutoFieldGuide.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding AAH!

Champion Auto Parts is running a contest for those with classic cars or current ones. All you have to do is upload a picture of your “baby” to enter. Laura Soave is the head of Marketing for Federal-Mogul and explains the “King Of The Road” contest that they’re running.

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan live an enthusiast’s dream. They’re the hosts of Roadkill, a show that seems to be about working on any kind of car as long as it’s about making it go faster. They’re also the hosts of Roadkill Nights a street racing event on Woodward Avenue (yes it’s legal) in Pontiac, Michigan. What did it take to make street racing legal? They explain.

Most car companies would run away from racing in the streets. At the Woodward Dream Cruise, Dodge is embracing it. They’re not crazy. There’s a sound business plan behind all the madness. Tim Kuniskis, who heads up all passenger car brands for FCA US, explains their street racing strategy, and then lights ‘em up to show he’s not just some talking head.

Richard Rawlings is the consummate car nut. With his own television program Fast N’ Loud he’s also quite the media personality. So when he states that the Woodward Dream Cruise is the event that all other automotive events should be benchmarked, that’s saying something. He also lets it slip that he’s on the lookout for a couple of cars that really mean something to him: a Dodge Superbee and a ’34 Ford.

Dodge excels at developing specialty models from existing car lines. Meet the Challenger T/A and Charger Daytona, two iconic names from the brand’s historic racing heritage. Mark Trostle, the head of design for Dodge and SRT, takes us through the how and why they chose the colors and graphics that set these cars apart.

Dodge teamed up with paint supplier Axalta to bring back four classic colors for the Scat Pack and Hellcat versions of the Dodge Charger and Challenger. It took teamwork, technology and inspiration to bring us Plum Crazy, Go Man Go, Redline and B5 Blue. Here’s how it all came together, and why.

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2:55 – The First Camaro
34:48 – The new Luxury brand Genesis
58:20 – Ford’s move into autonomy
01:04:47 – Bonus Footage! Magna Interns ask questions

SPECIAL GUEST: Logan Lawson, Owner, Camaro #1

What’s better than being Number 1? How about finding and owning Number 1, especially when it’s the very first Chevrolet Camaro. Join John McElroy for the fascinating story of how a teenager from Kansas tracked down and documented the historic car which he now owns. Also on our panel is Mark Gessler from the Historic Vehicle Association. Joining John McElroy of Autoline.tv, asking questions and providing insight, is Henry Payne from the Detroit News.

Then during our NEWS portion of the show both David Welch from Bloomberg and Seyth Miersma of Motor1 join John & Henry to discuss several topics.

Thanks to our sponsors who make Autoline After Hours possible: Bridgestone and Lear Corporation.

Subscribe to the free podcast version of Autoline After Hours:

Thanks to our partners and friends AutoFieldGuide.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding AAH!

Join us tomorrow afternoon as we cruise on down the road to Woodward Ave. for the biggest one-day automotive event in the world! John McElroy will be interviewing some of the biggest enthusiasts in the industry. Here are a few of the personalities already scheduled to appear:

Laura Soave with Federal-Mogul Motorparts
Mark Trostle of Dodge & SRT Design
Richard Rawlings host Fast ‘N Loud
Tim Kuniskis of FCA Passenger Cars
David Freiburger co-host Roadkill
Mike Finnegan co-host Roadkill

Ongoing Woodward Ave. 2016 Coverage
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