Subaru Impreza 2006 News

Subaru has launched a major 121,754-vehicle recall to fix a potential fault which can cause the brake lights to fail (though the brakes themselves will still work), with every Forester, WRX, Impreza and XV sold over a particular timeframe impacted.

DAVID Reynolds is finally confirmed with Walkinshaw Racing in  the team's fourth Commodore for this year's V8 Supercar championship. The car for the Carrera Cup graduate is predominantly red, with a giant Bundy bear on the side and a grey tail with support from Holden Special Vehicles.After seven straight second places Chad Reed finally broke through for a win in the latest round of the AMA-World Supercross championship in the USA. Reed finally got a good start in Indiana on his Suzuki and beat home James Stewart, putting the pair equal on points heading to the 10th of 18 rounds in Florida this weekend.THE Indianapolis 500 will have a major Australian connection this year, but not just because Ryan Briscoe and Will Power will be racing for the crack Penske team. The race will be paced by the all-new Chevrolet Camaro coupe, which will be sold in the USA but has been developed in Australia using the mechanical package of the VE Commodore.Jason Bargwanna is gone, back to the V8 Supercar championship with Sprint Gas Racing, but his Mini Challenge team will continue in 2009. Bargwanna Motorsport will continue to field his cousin Scott in this year's one-make series with backing from Rock Energy Drinks and with Brendon 'BJ' Cook joining him as team mate.VETERAN motorsport commentator Barry Oliver will be back at the microphone this year after being dumped last season as the official V8 Supercar track announcer. Oliver, who is also a winning co-driver with Jim Richards in a range of road rallies in Australia, will be calling the Biante Touring Car Masters as the official on-track commentator from the start of the series at the Clipsal 500 meeting in Adelaide.CHRIS Wootton has won a $100,000 scholarship to compete in the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific series, including starts in supporting races at the Malaysian and Singapore F1 grands prix. The young Queenslander was a kart start before moving into Formula BMW and hopes to follow earlier graduates from the series who have made it to Formula One, including Timo Glock, Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Buemi.TWO-time Australian rally champions Simon and Sue Evans have switched to Mitsubishi following the closure of the factory Toyota team which took them to their titles. The pair had originally expected to switch to a Subaru Impreza after taking second at their final Toyota start, Rally Tasmania, but will drive a Lancer Evo IX in a family team alongside Eli Evans, who will continue in a Subaru.

In extreme situations, owners have been warned their vehicles may catch fire.Mitsubishi was hit with the biggest safety recall for the three month period. It has written to owners of Pajeros built between 2000 and 2003 to warn them of a potential brake problem. As many as 13,400 vehicles may need to be checked.The company also recalled 4400 of its now-defunct 380 sedan, built between 2006 and 2007, which may have a faulty fuel tank retaining strap. In a severe collision the tank may be dislodged and spill fuel.Mitsubishi is also checking more than 8300 Colts built this year which may have a problem with door windows which may drop and unlock or open the door while the car is being driven.Honda has recalled 11,800 of its 2004-05 Jazz to check whether they have a faulty handbrake, while Mazda needs to look at 1770 of its B4000 utes built between 2005-2006 because the bonnet may open unexpectedly.Subaru has recalled 5380 of its Imprezas, built between 2001 and 2003 because of a faulty rear tailgate which may suddenly drop.Subaru Australia spokesman, Dave Rowley, said many of the recalls were to check for "minor or niggling" faults."We have had no incidents of anyone being injured in Australia and we found only six cars which had the faulty (tailgate strut) connection."Many recalls are done as a pre-emptive measure to avoid possible problems further down the track, " he said.Other potential faults include electrical short circuits, which in extreme circumstances, may start a cabin fire in Landrover Freelander diesels built since 2007. Landrover warns the fault may occur when the vehicle is parked and unattended.Other recalls were to check for short circuits in Fiat's Grande Punto; and a chance that the panoramic glass roof in a small number of Citroen's Picasso could be dislodged.Suzuki has warned of potential fire risk in its 3-door Suzuki Grand Vitara (2006-07) because of a possible cracked fuel pipe, while the 2005-08 Vitara diesel has a remote fire risk in a filter because of a problem with the intercooler outlet pipe insulator.Other problems include faulty rear seat belt D-loop attachments in the current Jaguar XF, and the potential for a loss of steering in Chrysler's 300C built last year because of a problem with rear axle hub nuts which could see the half shaft disengage from the wheel hub.Mercedes Benz wants to look at axles, springs and the park brake in its Sprinter or Vito vans.Jayco has recalled some of its motor homes to check and fix awning and exhaust pipe problems.Of the 1500 motorcycles recalled, safety issues to be fixed include a faulty fuel filler on Kawasaki models, a windshield which may come off Buell bikes if ridden at high speed and a rear view mirror which may fall off on certain Yamaha models.An ACCC spokeswoman said this year's figures were actually less than last year but the number has been steadily rising over the past 20 years.The ACCC says there have been 52 individual recalls this year compared to 171 last year.Full details of the recalls can be found at www.recalls.gov.au 

Crocker, driving the Les Walkden Rallying-entered Subaru WRX STI, scored maximum points for finishing first in each event contested this year; Canberra, Rotorua, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.Remarkably, the three-time Australian champion also collected the maximum bonus points for winning ten of the twelve heats contested along the way, meaning his total points score of 94 was only two shy of the highest score possible.Crocker's domination of Rally China, with co-driver Ben Atkinson, matched their form throughout the season.Not only was he first APRC car home, he was also first outright, winning by over five minutes from Richard Mason, with Hiroshi Yanagasawa third."The roads were a quagmire here, absolutely diabolical, but we stayed clean the whole way and got the points," Crocker said of the trhee-day China event."Even though we came here with the championship wrapped up, it is fantastic to formally get the business done and now we can celebrate."This championship is second in standing only to the World Championship, so it means a lot to the whole team to win it."It really is a fantastic feeling and I hope that something can come of this for Ben (Atkinson) and me, either at the World Championship level or the chance to try and win this championship again."AAP

Nick Adamidis, national sales and marketing manager for automotive research company Glass's Information Service, says people are being forced to sell their cars cheaply."The new-car market has been booming for the past few years and as a result there's an oversupply in the market place, which means that used cars are not necessarily bringing the prices people believe they are worth," he said."The price of fuel has had a big effect on cars with V8 engines, for example, which are depreciating faster than other vehicles as people try to get rid of them."People now expect a discount if they are buying a V8, because of their petrol usage."In 2000, a three-year-old V6-engined Holden Commodore Executive sedan could be bought for just over 50 per cent of its original purchase price, but today buyers have to pay only 44 per cent of the original price.Mr Adamidis said drops in tariffs on imported vehicles were also driving prices down."It affects the whole market, because if the makers of imported vehicles drop their price by $2000 or $3000 then the local makers have to drop their prices as well to stay competitive," he said."It's a great time to be buying a used car — it's a buyers' market."But we've still got a fair way to go. In the US and the UK, where the markets are more free, the average car, after three years, is worth 30 per cent of the original purchase price."In Australia, the average is 45 per cent, but we're heading in that direction and we'll get there in the next five to seven years."The drop in used-car prices has also been noted by the NSW Department of Commerce, which manages the Government's fleet.A department spokeswoman said State Fleet had tracked a downward trend in the prices it was getting for its used vehicles.Large, locally manufactured cars have had the biggest drop with much less in the small car segment. The drop in prices was spurring sales, however, with clearance rates at government auctions over the past two weeks of 99 per cent and 94 per cent, respectively.David Smith, senior manager of divisional services for the Motor Traders' Association of NSW, said prices would continue to fall."Some of the less fuel-efficient cars are definitely feeling it, but small cars are holding their value fairly well," he said."That's a reflection of the new-car market, because a lot of people are buying smaller cars and a lot of them are being traded in."He said that used-car dealers were the ones being squeezed by the price falls."There are a lot of dealers out there who are doing it tough," Mr Smith added. BEST VALUE RETAINED*SmallSubaru Impreza ............. 62%Mini Cooper .................. 61%Mitsubishi Lancer .......... 59% MediumSubaru Liberty .............. 58%Mazda 6 ....................... 55%Honda Accord ............... 53% LargeToyota Camry(4cyl) ....... 45%Toyota Aurion ............... 42%Ford Falcon LPG ........... 42% 4WDNissan X-Trail ................ 64%Subaru Forester ............ 63%BMW X3 ....................... 61% WORST VALUE RETAINEDSmallKia Rio ......................... 38%Suzuki Swift ................. 38%Proton Savvy ................. 38% MediumKia Optima ................... 37%Kia Magentis ................ 37%Hyundai Grandeur ......... 37% LargeNissan Maxima ............. 37%Ford Fairmont ............... 34%Ford Falcon .................. 32% 4WDLand Rover Freelander ... 42%Land Rover Discovery .... 40%Ssangyong Musso ........ 40%* Based on wholesale prices of three-year-old vehicles in average condition.

The Japanese brand's controversial aircraft-inspired grilles, as featured on the Impreza and Tribeca, will disappear from the radar. Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, chose to use the pr

The Japanese rally kings will not only feature an Impreza WRC2006 as driven by Gold Coaster Chris Atkinson for Subaru World Rally Team in the 2006 World Rally Championship, but also a Liberty Blitzen.This special edition car will be available in June and is based on the Japanese domestic market Blitzen that hasn't previously been available in Australia.Using the underpinnings of the Liberty 3.0R Spec.B, it includes an aerodynamic body kit and interior package, plus 18-inch alloy wheels unique to the model. Bright red show car with striking appearance.Subaru will also display its largest product yet, the B9 Tribeca . It is tentatively slated for local launch in the last quarter of this year and will be available with fiev or seven-seat cabin.There will also be examples of the 2006 range including 2.5 litre Impreza WRX STI and WRX; the recently introduced entry-level Liberty 2.0R and Forester.