Son is thinking of a new Outback, or a new Accord.
4 Cyl. engine ones.
Notice on reading the specs, the Outback acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is 3+ seconds longer than the Accord's. This is truly a big difference.
Probably would never notice it, except when trying to merge into heavy traffic from a dead stop.
This, he does every morning and afternoon, so it's a big safety concern.
Are there any techniques or gadgets in the Outback transmission that would help make it's acceleration quicker for the short time of the merging ?
I guess I'm thinking of that drop-down feature that used to be on all the cars where if you would floor the gas pedal, it would drop down a gear, and the car would accelerate faster.
Is it? How many news stories have you read about Outback drivers getting in accidents because they couldn't accelerate quickly enough getting onto a freeway?
I doubt it's very much of a safety concern. Acceleration has always been a "nice to have" feature rather than a "need to have" feature. Lots of econoboxes out there in the world have no trouble merging into traffic.
Well yeah, one gadget is called the manual transmission, which gives you as much control over the torque curve as you need. Be careful with this gadget however, as you could wreck your fuel economy very quickly, if your foot is too leaded. Defeats the purpose of getting the 4-cyl. I used to have an old OBW with the 5 speed manual, really loved the acceleration, hated the fuel economy.
Another gadget might be a sport-mode setting on the automatic transmission. I know my Tribeca has this feature, but my Tribeca has a six-cylinder with 250 HP, so acceleration is not a problem with or without the Sport mode. Don't know if the OBW has the same feature or not. Probably does.
Oh probably, that's just standard automatic transmission behaviour.
Have you given much thought to whether any 0 to 60 time is meaningful to driving conditions for any vehicle on the street? It is a benchmark or a metric with little real world application. I consider 20 - 50, or 30 - 60, or 50 -70, to have a little more real world application, at least where I regularly drive. Even 0 - 30 does not tell the entire story on paper. Cars have different drive trains with different torque responseness, and more importantly, drivers are different. (Same car, different driver and less mpg)
Try a test drive. Not one of those around the block or where the salesman directs. Put the car into a realistic driving environment for its intended use and see what happens. I believe that confidence in the consistency of performance is important.
My 2014 Outback has a variable speed transmission and it does not have traditional gear ratios or a "drop down feature." However, with that said, I have no issues increasing speed in traffic as needed. Where I live and the time of day that I travel is almost always found in the top five traffic congestion snarls in this country.
Is my Outback as responsive as any of the well known German roadsters? No and I know that first hand because there is one of those around here too. However, the opportunity to deploy the full responsiveness of the roadster seldom arises, at least in rush hour or anywhere in the city. In this connection, the roadster's full capabilities can create safety issues on the other opposite side of what you are inquiring about. Cars seldom are noted for spinning out of control into a tree or another object because of below average acceleration.
So what does it come down to? My feeling is the driver, abilities, and good judgment are more important than accelerating into a small traffic window. I believe that knowing a car and what it is capable of performing is safer than an extra few seconds measured for an almost useless metric.
That's weird. I have a 2013 Outback with CVT, and it definitely drops to a lower gear when I give the accelerator a good press. Not only can I feel and hear the change, the tach jumps up. I can't imagine that a
Not sure what changed from 2013 to 2014 with the CVT. This is my first Subaru. Could be many things as automobile makers seem to be changing things we do not hear about. Here are a couple of third party comments from the media:
From a review of the 2014 Outback with CVT
The CVT does take some getting used to, as there are no discernible gearshifts, as with a traditional automatic. The standard steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles, however, allow the driver to simulate manual gearshifts, for quicker passing and merging.
Subaru's take on the popular, fuel-saving transmission-without-gears features a paddle-shifted manual mode that mimics the shift points of a manual transmission without needing a clutch pedal. Best of all, the Outback CVT's estimated 24 city/30 highway mpg is better than with the 6-speed manual.
A USA TODAY review of the 2015 Outback:
Outback is fitted, as are most Subarus, with a dreaded continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). It's the only Outback transmission; the manual offered for 2014 is discontinued.
But neither the modest power nor the CVT mattered. At all.
The engine has plenty of low-speed punch and is strong at higher speed, too. Far more peppy than 175 hp should be in a 2-ton car.
The CVT was modified to "create a 'step' program to mimic a regular automatic," spokesman Dominick Infante says. "The only time it feels like a CVT is at wide-open throttle," he says, and we agree. No absurd overreving or slipping-clutch feel, even in pure CVT mode.
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