2013 & newer Outback/Legacy automatic transmission ANNOYING

easypar

I thought I had posted this before but can't find it now. My wife has a 2013 Outback, 2.5/CVT and the transmission is "different" feeling than my 2010 Legacy was. The 2010 CVT was brand new, but in 2013 it was "upgraded" IIRC and the material in the bands was changed/improved???

Anyway shifting from reverse to forward, like backing out of our driveway, it seems to have a long pause in neutral before it takes hold. I noticed it when the car was new and once in the dealer I asked about it but the service manager has the same vehicle and he said it was all good. He didn't quite try the "they all do that" bit, but pretty close.

Meantime I almost never am in that car but now she's starting to get bugged by it. Before I go back to the dealer does anyone else have a similar problem, or know anything about this?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

easypar

dcm61

My now deceased (totaled) 2012 Impreza had and my current 2015 Forester has a slight delay.

IIRC, 2012+ Impreza 2.0i, 2014+ Forester 2.5i, 2013-2014 Legacy/Outback 2.5i all have the Gen 2 CVT. 2015 Legacy/Outback have Gen 3.

easypar

Thanks dcm61. I knew it was the "improved" CVT in the 2013 but it seems a bit worse, or maybe it's just annoying us more now. I've reached the point that I almost refuse to drive her car and she's considering getting rid of it much sooner than we might normally have just for this reason.

winter2

I own a 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium. From what my dealer has told me and from what I have learned from non-dealer Subaru shops, this behavior is normal, especially when cold. My Subaru does the same thing and the delay is shorter once the vehicle has been driven several miles. I am going to be switching over to a non-Subaru CVT fluid in the near future to see if that makes a difference.

turbo64

I would wait on that oil çhange or it will void warranty.

solarwinds

I have a 13 legacy 56000 miles and the cvt rocks, shifting, holding gear, climbing, mpg... its better then a 6 speed etc. You can go to neutral down hill and shift into gear and hunting for gear as a 5 or 6 speed. So you get a diffrent experience from a cvt vs a gear shifting trany they are diffrent like a boxter flat 4 vs an in line transverse 4 cyl.... my mpg hwy 32... avg. 28...