Does a CVT Ruin a Subaru? - 2014 Subaru Impreza | AutoMoments 

As a former 2015 Impreza ( now 2017 wrx manual owner ) I love the hell out of that Impreza, I constantly got around 34-38 mpg, and had great acceleration even though the Impreza is incredibly under powered to cars now at days. Love driving stick in the WRX, but having that car for two years, I loved it.

I had this 2012 CVT model and it did very well in ~16" of freshly fallen snow. I was safely passing 4WD SUV's on several neighborhood uphills. Great car, great mileage, impressive handling for $22k (brand new in 2012). I got rid of it and now have the 2015 wrx CVT and love it even more.

Nicely articulated. Well done. Your balanced viewpoint and ‘Well is it really that bad?’ coda is quite appealing.

I'm actually annoyed that Subaru put in fake shift points even when you don't have the car in manual mode and using the paddle shifters. This crap got hoisted on me because of "Car Enthusiasts" who are really just ignorant people who like to whine a lot about nothing. The car would be faster without these fake shift points.

My main concern is reliability and repair costs. CVTs tend to fail before 100000 miles and when they do you have to replace the whole gearbox. I rather drive a slightly less fuel efficient AT with virtually no reliability issues where the worst that can happen is needing to replace the worn out clutch plates which doesn't cost a bomb.

"The same could be said about car enthusiasts." - Agreed 100% Whiny and hard to deal with. HAhahahaha

Very professional review lads - Well done

I find the CVT works fine in my 2015 Impreza. What I don't like is that they made it a sealed unit and the average guy can't change the fluid. No fluid is permanent.

Owned over 70 cars, all makes and models. I rebuilt engines, gearboxes, diffs. Did panel beating, spray painting, even some racing. Especially at traffic lights. The 2.5 CVT is faster 0-100 than a 2005 3.0/3.5L Subaru Outback. I am now 67 years old. My 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5 CVT is BY FAR the best drive ever!....BUT...It took me the whole first year to get used to it. I had to unlearn 50 years of driving the wrong way. The second year I learned that I could take risks and do highway manoeuvres that would be absolute suicide in manual or automatic cars. Now in my 3rd year I am now trying "defensive driving", to see what that is all about. There is no "rubber band" effect. The CVT is absolute precision - you are ALWAYS in the exactly right gear, at exactly the right revs. In other words, you are always in EXACTLY the right power band = reliability. If you want to do wheel spins, the CVT is not for you. If you want absolute driving perfection; then the Subaru+CVT=driving heaven+economy+reliability. The engine never gets overloaded = reliability. The CVT never yerks when changing gears up or down = less damage to engine mounts=reliability. The CVT even slows down the car when going downhill, when using the cruise control=amazing. It is just brilliant, it is DRIVING HEAVEN! My Outback now has 200,000 kms on it, drives brilliantly, and still looks brand new. No repair bills ever. Spoke to another owner of a similar car - he has 280,000 kms on it - same story - no repair bills. A friend of mine has a 1998 Outback going over 700,00kms now. Great cars, Subaru. Even when towing a trailer full of bricks, this car is just amazing - no engine revving to get going at all. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. JMS.

Save the money from your gas savings so you can pay for another cvt after the original fails.

My 2014 Forester 2.5 with CVT just averaged 36.3 miles per gallon on a 5,711 mile trip. The MPG was calculated by gallons used and miles driven over the entire journey. The CVT is great under light to moderate throttle but hard/full throttle makes the engine rev needlessly and uselessly. Most people will not notice the CVT's shortcomings about 95% of the time..... I would buy another Subaru Forester 2.5i in a heartbeat!!!!!

CVT's are a bit odd to get used to, but you know what I love? Not having the drive manual in Toronto traffic.

I personally think that all the Auto makers should be trying to make DSG gearboxes. I've got a new volkswagen golf with DSG and my brother has a new subaru with cvt and when i showed him this video he said that's exactly how it is. A lastic effect which makes you feel as if the transmission just isn't helping the car move along as it should and the engine is always over revving. He drives my golf occasionally and absolutely loves it. He says it feels 200% better than his cvt.

I've owned a 2001 forester automatic, then a 2011 wrx standard, and now a 2013 juke cvt. The forester was my favorite and I wish I never traded it in. I got it used with 60k miles on it and it drove great. It didn't get the best mileage and would never win a race, but I was guaranteed it would get me where I needed to go. The wrx was brash, wild and fun to drive. But a pain because it sat too low, had the wide body design of that generation that did nothing more than hang up on anything and everything. the right side of the front bumper cover was held on by duct tape, I always kept a roll in the car for just that reason. It got snagged on a curb and pulled right off. All the skirting up front was coming apart because while driving it 300 miles in snow, snow and ice accumulated up inside causing it to sag and drag against the front tires and the road. Ain't nothing more fun that being out in 15 degree weather at 11pm, trying to clear out the snow and ice. And finally having to take a box cutter and cut away the inner skirting just so you can keep going home. Also where I live, when it rains, the roads flood just enough that the front bumper will drag in the water, further damaging the body work. That generation of wrx was just not meant for bad weather driving. So that why I went with the juke. Granted it does not have the power like the wrx but it's still a fun drive. But even though it's fwd instead of awd it's still good on bad weather. Plus, the biggest reason I got it, the body design is better suited for the local weather. Down side it only gets about 3 to 4 more mpg than the wrx. But that's because although it's about 70hp less than the wrx, it has more hp per liter. The wrx rated at around 265hp and 2.5 liters for 106hp per liter, where the juke is 188hp and 1.6 liters for 117.5hp per liter. And before you say big deal, the 2017 corvette hp ratings are 455 to 650 hp at 6.2liters. Which is only 73hp to 106hp per liter.

I have a 2015 impreza hatchback and im not going to lie i was a little nervous about the CVT so i was hesitant about subaru in general since i hated the previous impreza and i once rented a old nissan rouge with a TERRIBLE cvt but this one suprised me its not noisy at all and the rubber band effect is only promient under high speed and acceleration and fuel economy is great for all wheel drive. I live in Buffalo and this is just a great car for me and my needs and this is from an enthusiast who is very typical about driving dynamics. I wish more people would give the Impreza a try its a great car!

I have 2011 Legacy, 100,000 miles on it I love it. Wife has 2015 Legacy. 36 MPH on highway driving. Love CVT.

Just rented Forester with the cvt, drove me nuts, wanted to stall every time I had to pull out of a parking lot into traffic.

I rented an outback with CVT in Alaska and I thought it was superb. it hauled my family along some really shitty roads and got 37mpg doing it-- I am actually thinking of buying one now. lineartronic is a great transmission

2:55 "long country lane in Western PA..." Home sweet home! :)

Nice review!!!! Keep it up

These are really well produced thanks

I have the 2014 5-door Impreza Sport. I came to pretty much the same conclusion, it does nothing exceptionally but it does so many things adequately that overall it's a great car. The clearance has only been a problem one time when I wanted to get to the upper trail head on Grays Peak.

The sound u made is impressive

I have a new '16 Forester with a CVT and love not being bothered by the transmission. They did something to the drive too so that ALL the wheels get power essentially by applying brake to a spinning wheel. I am afraid to think about what it will take to get it stuck. A foot of snow on a hill did not do it. The only bother is that it takes a few seconds to go from forward to reverse, but I'll get over it.

I have cvt on my Subaru crosstrek and now it's 0-60 time is over 12 seconds- it's actually slower in "manual" mode than "drive" mode

I wish they still made the wrx hatch.

Car reviewers are ruining cars for everyone. They want cars to be like plush sofas with muscle car engines and 60 inch plasma televisions with game systems. A car needs four tires, a seat, an engine and a windscreen. That is an automobile. That is driving.

i have to give you a thumbs up for making your own sound effect

I have a 2010 and the CVT seems to be screwed already with 50,000 miles. It doesn't seem to down shift when I stop so it trys to start out in high and jumps. I'm going to try and get it to the dealer. No more Subarus. My first, my last.

I really enjoyed test driving this car a few years back. It seemed really well built compared to other vehicles I tested. Once my 2007 Patriot with 150,000 miles kicks the bucket, I'm thinking this will be my next car :)

How much worse is the maintenance of a CVT compared to a discrete transmission?

Honestly, for me I like the CVT in my Forester. It's not so noticeably different than the the 4 speed automatics I used to drive. It starts off smartly and when I need to pick up speed I just hit the gas and it goes. Rubber band effect? A little but why nitpick? It's really not that noticeable for me to complain about.

I think I would love my 2018 Outback alot more if it had a standard hydraulic transmission, I hate the excessive revs. But I do like the 40 mpg economy.

Wait, I though car enthusiasts like to hear engine noise while acceleration. So why not like the CVT whine?

Although subaru needed to do this, its hard telling my customers (subaru, nissan, and other CVT owners) why they need a new transmission at like 90K or 80K. I had a subaru owner (2013 outback) that the CVT went out at 53K, the warranty picked up the tab at the time, fast forward to 107K and it broke again, nissan's are way way worse, a local florist got a fleet of NV200's, within the year, had to get rid of all of them and got ford transit's because they basically lived at the dealer because of transmission issues. Not trying to go all anti CVT, just they have a long way to go to be reliable as a clutch type transmission, and i think Toyota is leading the way with that in there new CVT with a first gear. Just my 2 cents from a technician's point of view.

How long does the CVT last?

Towing capacity on a CVT is limited to 1500 pounds on the Subaru Forester. I was looking at a Forester in 2017 and the local dealer informed me of that limitation when he explained was a limitation on the CVT.

Buick's Dynaflow automatic transmission was introduced in 1948 and was highly popular for many years. It did't shift either, and that's why many people liked it. It was totally smooth. Unfortunately, it was also very exceedingly inefficient with fuel mileage generally between 8 and 10 mpg. But the lack of shifting didn't bother anyone. That's why many people preferred the Dynaflow to the Hydramatic. So I don't see why the lack of shifting with a CVT transmission should be a problem. On a trip to New Zealand (January 2018), I rented a Toyauto Corolla with the CVT. In the mountains, where I needed quick response, I got it simply by pressing a button to put the CVT into sport mode.

I love my 2014 Impreza/CVT, very nice, smooth ride. Plenty of pickup.

Great video :) good job

Do these transmissions feel like a Prius??

(When you realise, this is KSP (Kerbal Space Program) background music...)

The last Subaru I've heard of that had CVT transmission was the Justy, back in the 90s.

I have a 2012 Outback with a CVT. (This is my first car with a CVT, and to be honest, I am very impressed.) On a resent 580 round trip drive at 75 Miles an hour with the A/C on, I got an astounding 39 MPG and this is on an All Wheel Drive Vehicle....... AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've driven a few CVT's and I agree it is as you describe. A trick is to hit the button a bit harder, get it up to 4.5 rather than the 3k/rpm. It will accelerate so much faster, that your on-ramp attainment speed will be met quicker; At that point, don't let up on the button, just ease off gently, this will keep the RPM up, giving a smoother by-way to hi-way experience.

Besides the CVT, I'd also like to see the EE20 (Boxer Diesel) engine sold here in the USA. I'd buy a Subaru if it were available with both. :)

did they change the front overall shape for the wrx headlights

"...they complain that CVTs are whiny, stubborn, and difficult to deal with... the same could be said about car enthusiasts." APPLY COLD WATER TO THE BURNED AREA

Published in 2014, yet feels like a movie clip from 90´s... :)

and how many cvt trans will you put in during the life of the car?

I have had a Subaru forester 1997 (automatic) from new, that has been great for all the years with very little to do other than annual services. However, recently I have had a lot of vibration & shuddering on the wheels when making tight turns (left or right). It is difficult to identify which wheels the noise or shudder comes from and I don't feel much through the steering wheel. I have had all difs replace that has reduced the frequency but not always. We hope it isn't the automatic gear box but has anyone got any ideas what to do next.

Man, I love CVT. Pure CVT. I dislike this "simulated gears" stuff. It's just a matter of getting used to it, and understanding how it works...

The new CVTs are very good! except... I really wish there was a way to turn the fake shift points on and off...

I like the idea of CVT. Technically you should get more power to the wheels in a good CVT vehicle than you can get out of a vehicle with a shaft trans or a dual clutch because you will always be at your most powerful RPMs and transfer evenly to a higher gearing. But if your going to talk about driver experience an automatic has a peddle for go and one to stop not much experience or technique there. If you really want to talk about an experience learn to drive a standard transmission.

CVT can be an old man's friend. It combines the effortlessness of an automatic gearbox with the fuel economy of a manual gearbox plus better standing-start times than either because it is always in the right gear. CVT is also lighter in weight/simpler than an Auto box, if that sort of thing is important to you.

I cant say anything about the Impreza but my 2917 forester XT has the CVT and its great. NO transmission lag it just goes and at times you cant even feel the shifts even though they changed the CVT so that it simulates shifting from what ive heard. This can cause some people to hate on the CVT. With an aftermarket exhaust it makes it better and the paddle shifters make since and are usable because you can now at least hear the engine.

Just as an fyi, it doesn't snow 5 out of 12 months in PA, barely having a snowy month in total

whats the best transmission in subaru? manual or CVT? does CVT has high maintenance than manual transmission?

My ‘14 Forester has a CVT. No issues. Smooth.

Love this video. Just got me one...

Does anyone know what the song is that starts at the 18 second mark?

I'm not a CVT advocate. I've seen older vs. newer Subaru's doing some 4-wheeling and the CVT struggles on slow uphill climbs compared to the older models. It's been proposed that they deliberately cut power to the CVT to keep it from failing when high torque is required. Out of all the different available transmissions, CVT's are at the bottom of my list.

If you live in a golf course, CVT is perfect for you.

How much horsepower/torque can a Subaru CVT handle? Apparently CVT can't haul a lot of weight and can't handle more HP than stock...

How many miles will a CVT last with proper maintenance?

Subaru Outback MY2010 2.5 CVT - 9.5 l/100 km (24.8 mpg), incl. city and off road while Subaru Legacy MY2007 2.0 AT - 11 l/100 km (21.4 mpg). Both run on LPG, on gasoline that would be about one liter less.

If they fix that damn lag I'll consider. But damn are they good, I could bearly keep up with my mom's rouge during a family vacation.

I was renting a car with CVT and was unaware of how bad the delay is. When i tried to merge on highway, car never picked up above 70km/h and i was flooring. i literally failed to merge with 110km/h traffic and had to sit on grass and wait for traffic to go past. Never in my life this has happened. May be CVT is for calm roads but not for downtown where merge is done without traffic's mercy. I would test CVT alot before buying a car with one.

Rubber band - how does the _perceived_ lag compare to manually shifting from 6 to 3 (double clutch and rev matching), to the kickdown in an automatic, or to the sequentially paddle-shifting down from 7 or 8 to 3 in a modern dual-clutch automatic? The fact, with CVT the driver does nothing and just waits, will influence perception. And milliseconds for a paddle shift are not so relevant if we have to go through a series of them manually. Would be nice to try this - measuring time in video frames is precise enough, I guess.

I think what people were trying to say is that it takes the soul out of the performance perspective and into fuel economy so if you tune it, it won't act the same as with physical gears.

Subaru had a CVT in a little econobox that called the Justy. I have only seen one of those cars. I wonder how rare they are.

It destroys Subaru. My 2015 Legacy's CVT already gave up on me. Trading it for a Toyota with a real transmission.

For me, Subaru's Trannys are the deal breaker. An outdated 5 Spd Manual without overdrive in high gear? A CVT auto with dual shift modes? The Competition offers 6 Spd Manuals w/Overdrive or efficient 6 Spd Automatics. Add the fact that Subaru offers the manual 6 spd w/overdrive on Impreza's, but only on overseas models? Think I will go elsewhere.

Haha this is why I specifically looked for a 2011 Impreza. Didn't want that CVT, and plus I prefer the tiptronic shift over paddle shift.

And now that a few years have passed, the problems are popping up left and right.

@Misnomer Noter I just saw a video, that was stating the opposite. Just look up the 2013 Honda accord cvt review by "the fast lane". The model with the manual trans. was faster than the cvt model. And btw a cvt car sounds like an oversized scooter ^^

Better off with the outback plenty of ground clearance. Impreza owner I know tore their front fairing off. Its too low. I haven't noticed any real problems with the 2014 Outback (CVT as well) however I am concerned about the longetivity of these things. Thinking of getting a Forester with manual transmission next.

I have a 2016 Impreza with a CVT. The acceleration is very delayed even when I put my foot to the floor. Takes about 2 seconds for acceleration to really kick in. But, I can last 2 weeks with my 10 mile commute so I'm not complaining.

regardless, it's still an automatic​. Drive it as an automatic, dont use the CVT mode then if people wanna complain. I have the 2017 Impreza as an auto, I mean "CVT" and it's still fun and chill to drive. looks nice.

Its not about the “its not fun to drive” or mpg’s. the issue is CVT=breakdown at 100k miles or before so if you buy one, just set aside a little extra dough for a new transmission. Ask any mechanic.

This is the best video I've seen about CVT. Well explained!

i have always though cvts are great in theory. you get to stay kn the power band for good acceleration (if programed correctly) and stay at almost idle for constant speeds. my problem with them is their reliability.

I guess for a car thats intended to be daily driven at 80mph on the interstate and stop/go traffic. The go kart cvt is fine. Fortunatly they do still offer a manual or auto/shift option as well

I have had 5 Subarus and the fact that they gone to cvt makes me nervous. friends of mine with cvt Nissans have all had problems not mention all problems with minis. I also dislike the way cvts feel.

These CVT's are not loud!! I cant even hear mine. I don't know what they are talking about. Metal belt....ITS A FRIGGIN CHAIN!

Hated the idea of CVT, but i've gotten to where i like it fine. its nice and smooth if you arent in a hurry. if you are, well, its a little noisy, but it does go. i've got the crosstrek.

Having a CVT mileage has been way under, had a Honda Accord with a four speed auto that got 29 city and 37 HWy, CVTs not cracked up to what is claimed.

Every mechanic I talk to says to avoid the CVT. Also, if a car gets good gas mileage it's because it has a small engine and it's full of plastic parts.

I just got a 2014 hatch and I drive mostly in the city and I use to have a 2008 Impreza Sudan which I gave to my younger brother, the mpg is better on the highway but for town driving it is about the same. Also I really don't like the hatch being so big the handling sucks in turns, guess this is why we don't have a WRX or sti for the hatch just to big

I would just like to point out to all English writers on earth that "it's" is a contraction of "it is". The possessive form of "it" is "its".

it still sucks, wish my Legacy had at least a standard auto trans!

I'm surprised they didn't fit it with Manual Shift capability for those that don't want to make their own sound effects. I have a CVT Lancer and it confuses everyone, doing 0-60 in say 10 seconds in a CVT then the same in a Diesel Manual, people will be adamant that the Diesel did it quicker based solely on the torque. Shifting a CVT to Manual mode has the same result, you don't get anywhere faster, but loosing revs and torque to shift up a gear and then reapplying the gas gives the feeling that you are.

I've had a12 Outback since new. Brakes, tires and oil changes is all I have ever had to do it! The cvt is actually a thrill to have "annoying"? No, what's more annoying is the people who can't accept a new way of thinking! I live in a temperate climate, My record is pulling out 12 people stuck in the snow in one day "on summer tires"! When the wheels have been drivin of this car, I'll buy another one! I still have my 2000 Forester. I thought it's end was near and Bought a new outback? That was over 100k ago? Still going strong!

my toyota avensis has cvt and I can't say I have any complaints about it. as for passing people in a hurry there's this handy dandy little sport button next to my seat that alters the gear ratios for performance. The 18 % loss in overall power is then made up for by the fact that the car can operate at red line rpms continuously until the pass is over. effectively giving peak engine power and so far taking several fellow motorists by surprise. It just goes with the thought if you want good mileage, drive calmly and it will do that for you. If you want to put your foot down it will do that too, but you can forget about efficiency if you do

See which Impreza is still on the road at 250,000 miles, the manual transmission or the CVT.

Good job not mentioning the manuals mileage on purpose. This guy isn't biased at all.

I agree that the front end looks great, but the sides and rear have the grace of a Tercel.

Finally getting serious about a compact car?? Dude! The early 2000/late 1990 impreza and impreza outback sports were amazing. My impreza outback sport was the best car I've ever owned up to this point.

Since there is a band, does it tend to stretch and need to be replaced?

I find that really interesting about the behavior of CVTs. I thought that because a CVT can essentially ALWAYS give you the optimum gearing, the pickup would be unbelievably better than say a standard automatic or even a manual. From what it sounds like, the main issue (at least for the moment) holding a CVT back from optimal performance is the speed at which it can change the "gear-ratio". I feel like they could vastly improve on the current design if they made a CVT which could increase or decrease the gear ratio at a considerably higher speed-similar to how fast an automatic will shift down into the correct gear for you if you decide to floor it.