I would argue that the CVT is not the cause of the gutless feeling, it simply exacerbates it. The cause is that Subaru's stadard 2.0 and NA 2.5 are simply gutless.
That was certainly the case with the 2.5 in my 2007 Forester, which was made even worse by its horribly programmed 4 speed slushbox.
Subie is fantastic at suspensions. My Forester was comfortable on the highway, composed on the curves, and completely shrugged off the notoriously awful streets of Chicago. A perfect suspension for an urban tall wagon/SUV. But ask it to accellerate from 35 to 45 MPH in traffic and you would have thought it already had a CVT, rev's went up and speed doesn't, then suddenly it would slam down into second and practically redline the engine. It was horribly frustrating.
Sadly Subaru is apparently phasing out the conventional automatics for the CVT, and I am just not interested in a CVT. A Forester with the new turbo engine and 6-speed auto would be an awesome vehicle.
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That was certainly the case with the 2.5 in my 2007 Forester, which was made even worse by its horribly programmed 4 speed slushbox.
Subie is fantastic at suspensions. My Forester was comfortable on the highway, composed on the curves, and completely shrugged off the notoriously awful streets of Chicago. A perfect suspension for an urban tall wagon/SUV. But ask it to accellerate from 35 to 45 MPH in traffic and you would have thought it already had a CVT, rev's went up and speed doesn't, then suddenly it would slam down into second and practically redline the engine. It was horribly frustrating.
Sadly Subaru is apparently phasing out the conventional automatics for the CVT, and I am just not interested in a CVT. A Forester with the new turbo engine and 6-speed auto would be an awesome vehicle.