"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
07/19/2020 at 12:50 • Filed to: Subaru
2
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"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
07/19/2020 at 12:50 • Filed to: Subaru | 2
| 21 |
I like terrible cars. I would daily drive a GMC TopKick. I *did* daily drive a Ford Festiva without doors. I voluntarily own three smarts.
So when a car disappoints me, something really has to be wrong with it.
The car? 2018 Subaru Impreza hatch. Base model 152hp flat four, AWD, CVT, 3,000 pounds.
I’m a CVT apologist. I’ll even defend the CVT in a low mile Dodge Caliber. But this? This thing is almost hateful in how it has so little motivation.
Put the pedal to the floor on a green light. The revs will jump and the car will slowly begin moving. It feels like a horribly slipping traditional automatic. From 0-40 it feels like this car is moving in slow motion. Putting it into L makes it even slower, so don’t try that.
Motion picks up once the engine finally hits the end of the rev range. So past about 40-45 it’s somewhat nippy. It’ll even happily exceed 100 if you let it . U nlike some CVTs, this one will allow the car to flirt with redline t hen it’ll “shift gears” and do it all over again.
So when you’re driving it normally, it feels like a slushbox on its last legs, and when you weld the pedal to the floor it decides to simulate gears.
Even with traction control off in dirt I couldn’t get it to break the tires loose like I could in the Audi. I get this Subaru only has 152 ponies on tap, but it feels like what low end ponies are there are lost to the transmission. This car launches slower than a smart car. Hell, it probably launches slower than a Grumman LLV.
I have other complaints. Like noted in Car & Driver’s long term review, you constantly have to correct steering on the highway. It’s as if it is pulling in either direction completely randomly. And at slow speeds, the numb steering feels heavier than it should be. Apparently the car is so weak that Car & Driver couldn’t even break the tires loose in snow.
That said, I don’t completely hate it, either. Aside from needing constant corrections it’s comfortable on the highway and it has no problems making passes once you do get it to speed . Visibility is also very good for a modern car. It’s honestly refreshing to have big mirrors and windows that aren’t gun slits.
But if I were getting a base Impreza, I’d go for the manual. The CVT seems to ruin an otherwise fine car.
dogisbadob
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 12:58 |
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eeek! One problem might be the always-on AWD that saps power. There is no way to disable it. Subaru used to offer a fuse to disable the AWD making it FWD, but they don’t anymore
.
Car and Driver actually said the manual Impreza is actually worse! How bad does it have to be for Save the Manuals TM to prefer the CVT as bad as it is!
Subaru should offer the 1.6L FWD over here. It might even be faster than the 2.0 AWD because it’s lighter and only has to power two wheels rather than four.
It’s funny because Subaru had an awesome AWD CVT car 30 years ago! They need to bring back the
Justy
Taylor Martin
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 12:59 |
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Newer Subarus, as much as they want to try and say it, don’t belong in the dirt. Not in comparison to their older counterparts, so it saddens but doesn’t surprise me that the Imprez a wasn’t exactly thrilling on rough terrain.
I didn’t realize this Impreza was so sluggish though, it looks like a peppy car, though looks can be deceiving . I’ve driven a 2019 Subaru Outback, which is by far a much larger car (and it saddens me that it’s gained so much weight. Outback wagons for the win). Yet the Outback doesn’t feel all that sluggish. It’s not fast, but for something that large and that tall it’s nice to drive and fun to gas. Seems like it’s outperforming this little CVT, how peculiar.
Nice write up, thanks for sharing.
cmill189 - sans Volvo
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:04 |
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Can confirm. We had a 2013 Impreza hatch and it was awful. The boxer 4 is a horrible engine to be stuck at one RPM under load. My 2000 and 1991 were very different cars. They were still crap but they at least worked and felt like they might last longer than 10 years.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:06 |
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“Sport” ba ha ha ha ha.
It is however a 5 speed manual. Why this car doesn’t get a 6 speed is beyond me.
Tripper
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:08 |
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+1 we had to go far and wide to get a manual on my wife’s 17 Forster
smobgirl
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:19 |
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I test drove a 2011 Impreza when I bought my Abarth (weird cross shop, but I do love me some wagons). It was fucking awful to drive. Like, my van is slow and you can feel every ounce of excess weight as it slowly rumbles up to highway speed but it feels acceptable for what it is. And on top of that, if you floor it the van may not go much faster but it sounds and feels like it’s at least TRYING. The Impreza was just like “nope, not interested.”
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smobgirl
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/19/2020 at 13:20 |
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I have an amazing mental image of a donk Subaru right now and I refuse to click that link and ruin it.
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:24 |
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CVT = Bad News.
Top Kick: what’s wrong with it? Point of Interest: did you know that the POTUS limo is based on a Top Kick chassis?
HammerheadFistpunch
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:29 |
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the main problem with the Subaru CVT is that it is 100% the wrong transmission for the car. I ts not strong enough and has poor cooling so when people take it off-road, even mildly, they burn up shockingly fast. Like 50k miles. The programing doesn’t allow (tries not to allow) much belt slip so it retard s timing when things get slippy to reduce torque load on the belts. So it takes a slow car and makes it feel even slow, it takes what would be a great little AWD off-roader and knee caps it and then to top it off it ruins the brands rep for reliability. It was NOT worth the extra 1-2 mpg in the combined cycle it netted them.
MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick)
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:30 |
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Nice review, this pretty much echoes my feelings about all CVTs, at least the ones I’ve driven. They just feel like a really bad slipping automatic, and they don’t act how I would expect them to act when I’m asking them for max power.
Could the failure to break the wheels loose be a traction a control thing? Seems odd as I’ve driven cars with far less torque that will spin the wheels on pavement happily, but those have been manual and FWD.
Also strange times we’re in when even ‘slow cars’ will do 100mph+ relatively easily. Doesn’t mean they aren’t slow, and it’s not necessarily ‘a new thing ‘ for cars, but it’s always neat how today’s ‘sluggish’ is yesterday’s ‘it’s no Lamborghini but it’s still pretty damned fast’
3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 13:52 |
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My girlfriend has a 2013 impreza hatch , put on the AC and its a billion times worse. I dont get the love for subarus, theyre mediocre at best and huge piles of shit at worst. CVT’s are good at getting great gas mileage so ill concede that.
thatsmr
> MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick)
07/19/2020 at 13:52 |
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The drive from 'burque to santa fe is about 50mins and about 2000 feet in elevation. When driving for work i usually do the "nine is fine" and go around 83-84 on 75mph freeway. I had to do this run in a Crosstrek once, and by the time I got there my right toe really hurt from how hard I had to push the gas to keep that speed.
Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 14:03 |
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I would rather have FWD in a really slow car. You get less power loss. My 136 HP 3000 lb car really feels like it is trying, even if you do run out of top end pretty quickly. And low end. It doesn’t have that either. But that just sounds awful. And no paddle shifters so you can’t force it to hold a gear up a hill. What on earth?
Honestly, the impression of speed is more fun than actual speed. That sounds both slow and slow feeling, the worst kind! Does it have ANY redeeming features? And those aren’t quite as cheap as you’d expect either.
Also, it may be my bad tires, but I can break the wheels loose in second with traction control on. Gravel is a drift fest. AWD would ruin fun dirt slides and it doesn't seem to be appreciably better off road.
BeaterGT
> Mercedes Streeter
07/19/2020 at 14:28 |
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Same story here, can't stand it.
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> smobgirl
07/19/2020 at 15:25 |
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Believe it or not the owner is a republican state senator! His last name is kliendsmidt so he has always been called Don “K”.
LastFirstMI is my name
> HammerheadFistpunch
07/19/2020 at 15:36 |
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Unpopular hot take: put a big tax on gas. No CAFE or other efficiency regulations on the manufacturers, let the market push for MPGs and those of us that don’t care can buy a car that isn’t compromised. All these small displacement turbo motors and CVTs would be relegated to cars that actually get good mileage rather than just giving a few extra MPG on testing but not in the real world. It would also help push people towards hybrids, electrics, mass transit, etc... If only I could afford a mob of lobbyists. Or let me be Supreme Chancellor, I promise to bring peace and prosperity to my new empire!
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HammerheadFistpunch
> LastFirstMI is my name
07/19/2020 at 16:11 |
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I t’ s a good idea, but it’ s regressive. Can’t afford a 30,000 car that gets decent mileage? Hope you like 8 buck gas. that’ll show you for being poor.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Mercedes Streeter
07/20/2020 at 05:23 |
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auto tragic trans, that is the problem
Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW!
> Mercedes Streeter
07/20/2020 at 11:54 |
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Fuck Subaru CVTs. Mine catastrophically failed in my 2012 Outback. The oil seal failed between the differential and transmission allowing the oils to mix which caused the transmission to eat itself. Of course Subaru tells you that the CVT is for the lifetime of the vehicle so why would you ever check it. There’s not even a dipstick to check it. It cost me $4k to get a USED 30k mile transmission put in. If I wanted the Subaru to do the install it was going to be $6k for a used transmission or $7k for a rebuilt one. Fuck Subaru.
/endrant
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> LastFirstMI is my name
09/01/2020 at 16:13 |
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“Unpopular hot take: put a big tax on gas. No CAFE or other efficiency regulations on the manufacturers, let the market push for MPGs”
BEVs will be the big winners if that was done.
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> HammerheadFistpunch
09/01/2020 at 16:15 |
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The person buying the new $30,000 car will just move up to a base Tesla Model 3 or a Chevy Bolt.
And for the poors? A used 1st gen Nissan Leaf, Mitsu i-MiEV
or one of the other compliance-car type of BEVs.