get the impreza
For my money though I’d get the base or RS version and forego the raised suspension and extra weight. If you take care of it it’ll cost you less over the long run than the VW.
It’s the AWD system.
The only real reason we bought our '14 “sport” model for my wife’s commuter. So far, with 5K miles on it, so good. The test comes when the seasons change.
The sheet metal on the roof is surprisingly thin and a little pock-marked from a spot hailstorm we had about 6 weeks ago, and the CVT is a little touchy compared with our '07 Outback, but that’s a minor gripe and I like driving it.
I’ll admit that I don’t really get the paddle shifters and “manual” mode, though.
manual mode
I believe is to appeal to the younger crowd. However, it may prove useful in down shifting on steep down hill grades.
it’s a sad time tktoo
I don’t get paddle shifters on a shiftable automatic, so I REALLY don’t get them on a CVT. I know they can work faster but the ones I’ve used are no substitute for the real thing.
I waws browsing used cars in a few specific flavors and was saddened to see how few newer models have a stick shift.
Downhill grades
I can see that use too, as well is for slow going in variable terrain where there’s no reason for the car to constantly get fooled into making unnecessary up-shifts (you just stick it in the proper gear so it stays there). Though I haven’t been car shopping in ages, I get the impression that on some automatics, you can’t specify a particular gear. I may be wrong about that, but but some method for selecting a particular gear SHOULD be provided, and when everything is electronically controlled anyway, any convenient type of selector will be as good as any other.
I have '14 impreza sport
– Last Updated: Aug-25-14 10:05 AM EST –
5sp manual
I would never recommend this car to anyone. Build quality is subpar - everything rattles at less than 10k miles, ergonomics are crap, engine badly tuned/ underpowered. Steering has no feedback. Nothing of electronic value - backup cameras, eye-sight - is available on manual transmission car. Oh, did I mention it is 5sp manual? Or that my friends with FB25 engine get better mileage driving heavier cars?
On intestate 80mph gives, roughly, 2mpg hit over town/highway use of ~32mpg. I shudder to think what the drop is going to be with two kayaks on top.
My experience with manual mode
I have a 2010 Forester with a four speed automatic transmission. As a side note I should have stayed with a manual transmission.
I do use the manual mode for engine braking when going downhill, like driving in the Ozarks for Current River shuttles. Fourth gear in manual will provide more engine breaking than staying in drive for slight downhills at higher speeds. Otherwise I use manual in third or second gear. For the really steep downhills, like the shuttle down to Kyle’s landing on the Buffalo National River, I even use first gear in manual some of the time.
While using the manual mode in a lower gear provides some engine braking it is not nearly as much engine braking as I got in the same gear in my 1999 Forester five speed manual transmission. Both the 1999 and 2010 have the same 2.5 liter engine.
One caution however. After descending a hill remember to up-shift to a higher gear or take it out of manual mode. It will not up-shift to a higher gear by itself, and you will not hear the engine racing in the lower gear until the RPMs get really high.
For example while running in the flats after descending a hill I sometimes did not notice from engine noise that I was running high RPMs in third or fourth gear until I looked at the tach.
2013 Outback Manual Mode
I have used this on steep grades and it works well driving steep back country roads in utah and california. (also comes in handy on back streets in San Francisco).
It is a little awkward having the shifter on the steering wheel on winding mountain roads with sharp turns where you need to be downshifting/upshifting and going around steep bends because the shifter is moving on the wheel. If you can anticipate the gear change it is not too bad once you get used to it.
Variations in engine-braking
– Last Updated: Aug-25-14 4:53 PM EST –
I don't pretend to understand all that affects how well engine-braking works, but I've seen things that show it's more than just gear ratios (besides, the gear ratio of "the same gear" for an automatic and manual transmission in the same model car are unlikely to be the same). I believe I've mentioned these things before, but some may find it interesting.
My 1980 Subaru had exceptionally poor engine braking until I discovered that I could disconnect the actuator for some sort of bypass valve in the carburetor that would only operate when coasting (it was an emissions-control device), and once I did that, the engine braking was superb.
I used to drive a 1988 Chevy S-10 for work. It had a 4.3-liter engine and an automatic transmission, and the engine braking on that truck was excellent. My 1995 Chevy Blazer uses a newer version of the same engine, has the same transmission and the same axle ratio, yet it has almost no engine-braking capability at all. The Blazer has larger tires, and that would decrease the engine-braking a little bit, but probably not enough to notice, so the difference between the two cars is all in the way the engine works. However, there have been just a few times when I took my foot of the gas and for a very short time, this car would have the same engine-braking action as the '88 S-10, but then, after a few seconds, something in the electronic controls makes an adjustment and the braking action disappears, and the car is back to "normal" (I'd love to be able to put a switch on the dashboard to make this same control error happen when I want it to).
I now drive a 2001 GMC Sonoma for work, and it has yet another version of that same 4.3-liter engine and the same transmission and same axle ratio, and its engine-braking performance is poor, but considerably better than that of the 95 Blazer.
I've noticed that all the other modern vehicles (mostly pickups) I've driven in the last several years have very poor engine-braking compared to the ones of decades ago too. Based on what I saw with the Subaru, and based on the little "glitch" that sometimes lets my Blazer have excellent engine-braking for just a few seconds, and knowing that fuel tends to burn inefficiently when the engine is "forced to spin" faster than it wants, I'm guessing the reduced amount of engine-braking in modern cars is a result of fuel-burning control methods when in a coasting configuration.
It's surprising to me that engine-braking can ever work well though, in spite of the fact that it obviously does in some cases. Even if no fuel were burned, every stroke of the piston that compresses air would be counterbalanced by that same pressure pushing the piston the other way after passing top dead center (heavy-duty trucks have a special device to release that pressure before it can counteract the braking force in that way - that's the roar you hear when they are in engine-braking mode).
OTOH
What are the weights of all of those trucks? Weight might have something to do with less engine braking feel.
The other nice thing about most automatics today is that they can sense a grade and downshift on it’s own. I haven’t been fortunate enough to have driven a car with shift paddles that is actually as responsive as a manual, though.
Where to put Bow loops on 2015 Outback
I am picking up a 2015 Outback next week and trying to figure out how to connect my bow tie downs. There does not seem to be any bolts to use along the hood line. I am thinking about using the Thule Quick Loop Straps, but the hood is Aluminum. Not sure how strong the hood is. My Rhino Rack’s folding J cradles attach easily to the Outback adjustable and retractable crossbars. From front edge to back edge with the J cradles, I can configure it to either 39" or 48".