www.WeeklyVoice.com AUTOB-14 | Friday, December 29, 2017

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MISSISSAUGA: Subaru fans in Canada will soon have the op-portunity to join an exclusive club when the 2018 BRZ tS goes on sale early next year.

Limited to just 100 units Can-ada-wide, the tS � short for �tuned by STI� � represents a new level of performance for Subaru�s modern take on the clas-sic sports car. Renowned for its ultra-low centre of gravity and precision handling, the BRZ was ideally suited to become the sec-ond vehicle in Canada to bear the vaunted STI insignia.

“The BRZ has always been about the thrill of the drive, and this new special edition model takes that concept even further,� said Subaru Canada, Inc. presi-dent, chairman and CEO Yasushi Enami. �This is the ultimate ex-pression of driving enjoyment the Subaru and STI brands have been built on.�

In a similar way that the WRX STI symbolizes enhanced engine power and performance compared to the already-potent WRX, the tS grade is considered a model for enhanced handling and response over the base model. As such, the 2018 BRZ tS builds on the excite-ment offered by the BRZ with a particular focus on improved driving dynamics.

The new BRZ tS adds STI-tuned front and rear SACHS dampers and coil springs, as well as lexible V-bars in the engine compartment, and new draw stiff-eners to the chassis and sub-frame to improve steering response. The BRZ tS is also equipped with 18-inch STI alloy wheels, the irst

time that a BRZ has been offered with 18-inch wheels, wrapped in 215/40 R18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires for superior grip and quicker turn-in. Brembo brakes at all four corners round out the package.

Helping it stand out from the

crowd is an aggressive new look courtesy of an exclusive STI car-bon ibre rear spoiler that’s manu-ally adjustable to ine-tune rear downforce, and STI front, rear and side underspoilers helps con-trol airlow for better traction and stability.

The BRZ tS is also adorned with an exclusive Cherry Blos-som Red accent around the front grille and unique rear bumper cover. The rear trunk lid displays the oficial BRZ tS badge. The exterior foldable mirrors, roof-mounted shark in antenna, BRZ

and Subaru badging all have a black inish. The coupe’s also fea-tures a front fascia that is exclu-sive to the tS model.

The cabin features red accents throughout, while the black leath-er and Alcantara seats have red leather bolsters and the seatbacks are embroidered with the tS logo. Completing the revised look in-side are red front seatbelts and a frameless rear-view mirror.

Under the hood is a high-rev-ving 2.0-litre SUBARU BOX-ER four-cylinder engine that makes 205 horsepower and 156 lb-ft of torque. The engine comes exclusively mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

The Subaru BRZ tS will be available in World Rally Blue Pearl, Crystal Black Silica and Crystal White Pearl exterior colours when it hits dealerships early in the new year. It will carry an MSRP of $37,395.

LINKÖPING, Sweden: Since 2014, new cars in the EU need to be equipped with Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS). There are two types of systems, hardware based dTPMS and software based iTPMS. Purpose of the study was to investigate whether both types of TPMS serve their purpose, i.e., lead to properly inlated tyres, hence reducing CO2 emission and in-creasing trafic safety.

In co-operation with OICA, NIRA Dynamics together with

Dunlop Tech, TÜV Nord and TÜV Süd have checked nearly 1500 cars in Sweden, Germa-ny and Spainbetween December 2016 and August 2017. Inlation pressures, tire dimensions and temperatures, load states and TPMS itment of randomly cho-sen cars at illing stations and shopping malls were collected.

“This is the irst time that such a study covers vehicles with dTPMS, iTPMS and vehicles without TPMS. There is a strong lobby claiming iTPMS were infe-

rior to dTPMS, probably because of the higher proit margin on the hardware-based system, but without stating factual evidence. Together with OICA, we simply wanted to ind out the real facts. So we started collecting data from the real world,� says Jörg Sturm-hoebel of NIRA Dynamics.

The key result is that TPMS-equipped cars, independent of technology, have a 3% higher av-erage tire inlation pressure than those without TPMS. With prop-erly inlated tires rolling lighter,

this leads to a reduction in fuel consumption of 0,3%. That does not seem much, but for all the passenger cars in the EU, this will add up to about 14,5 million tons less CO2 emission every year.

In terms of safety, the itment of TPMS reduces the number of tires that are underinlated by more than 50%. The severely un-derinlated tires found in the study either were all on cars without TPMS or detected by the TPMS in the car, but the driver chose to ignore the warning. Even though

some drivers do not understand the importance of tire mainte-nance, TPMS will save at least 60 lives and more than 3000 injured annually in the EU.

Founded in 2001 and head-quartered in Sweden, NIRA is at the forefront of sensor fusion, providing cost-eficient, services for safety, driver assistance and autonomy functions in the global vehicle industry. Customers in-clude leading manufacturers, like Audi, Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda, Volvo, Fiat and Renault. - CNW

Exclusive 2018 Subaru BRZ tS Ready to Launch

TPMS Will Save 14.5 M Tons of CO2 A Year - And Many Lives