Sportshift feature on 2008 Impreza

oldladydriver

I have switched over to driving my 2008 auto trans 2.5i in sportshift mode sometimes. I like it MUCH better than the clunky, unpredictable regular transmission mode; much more responsive on hills. I don't know anything about sportshift; always have driven automatic transmission, never manual. Can anyone tell me:

1) Is there any long-term harm to the car by driving in sportshift mode most of the time? Any issues if I chose to do highway driving at 65-70 in sportshift?

2) Naive question: Does the car have to be stopped before switching from regular drive to sportshift drive? (This is what I've done so far.)

3) What happens if you accidentally bump the gearshift from sportshift drive into the - or +? It seems pretty loosely placed, and I can see where I could knock it out of D reaching for something. Sorry, I don't know a thing about manual transmission.

Thanks for any help.

dcm61

1) Is there any long-term harm to the car by driving in sportshift mode most of the time? Any issues if I chose to do highway driving at 65-70 in sportshift?

Depending on your driving habits, there may be a minute amount of extra wear due to higher RPMs between shifts, but absolutely nothing to worry about.

2) Naive question: Does the car have to be stopped before switching from regular drive to sportshift drive? (This is what I've done so far.)

No, you can shift back and forth while moving.

3) What happens if you accidentally bump the gearshift from sportshift drive into the - or +? It seems pretty loosely placed, and I can see where I could knock it out of D reaching for something. Sorry, I don't know a thing about manual transmission.

Nothing, the transmission will remain in the same gear unless the RPMs change.

Question for you: Are you simply putting the shifter in the + - gate and letting the transmission shift (i.e., sport mode) or are you put the shifter in the + - gate and manually moving the shifter froward and backward to shift gears (i.e., manual mode)?

oldladydriver

Thanks for the info; this is helpful. Right now, I'm just putting the shifter into the + - gate (from regular D), and letting the transmission do the work.

How would the + - manual mode benefit, and under what driving conditions?

robm2

We leave my wife's '09 Forester XT in Sport Mode. It shifts higher up in the RPM band, and thus, the car feels far more responsive. It feels a whole lot more "sporty", that's for sure!