The latest auto news, reviews, prices, product and vehicle releases. Auto News 5
Stay connected Subscribe to our RSS feed
Do not miss the latest Auto News !
Welcome to Automobile Magazine's Family Crossover Comparo, our comparison test of the kind of vehicle that you see during America's summer vacation, the three-row family crossover.
Of the criticisms of our 2013 Subaru BRZ Premium, few are louder -- or more easily remedied -- than those bemoaning the infotainment system. The standard system, which uses a touchscreen to link GPS navigation, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, and SiriusXM/AM/FM radio, has been criticized for its small buttons and confusing menu structure. We say easily remedied for a reason, however: the Subaru shares its dash layout (and its standard, double-DIN opening) with Scion, which means it's almost comically easy to pop out the factory radio and slide an aftermarket unit in. In our case, we went with the Pioneer AppRadio 2.
After suffering the indignity of a low-speed scrape in Chicago -- thanks, Toyota Camry driver -- we quickly whisked the JX35 off to the body shop, so it could be put right, in time for the summer road-trip season. May is the official kick-off to that season, and no one has embraced it more heartily than graphic designer John Kalmar. In fact, by the time the sun had set on Memorial Day Weekend, Kalmar had taken the JX35 on not one but two major in-state road trips in May.
Although the BRZ's odometer only added 1381 miles in the last month, there were a few very intense miles in that mix. You see, it took about an hour for someone to find a track day after we remounted the stock summer tires. Of course we signed up.
