auto v. manual trannie in an Outback

[El Chupacabra]

Good automatics (emphasize the word "good" -- i.e., ones that hold a certain speed well, and will actually stay in the gear you manually select) are just fine for mountain driving. 5-speed or 6-speed automatics seem to be fine for this, so long as you can select any of the 5 or 6 gears. My experience with 4-speed automatics is that they seem to have too much of a gap between the ratios for twisty mountain driving (e.g. 35-50 mph), and end up either revving fairly high in 2nd, or lugging in 3rd (and consequently hunting between 2nd and 3rd a lot, which bugs me).

automatics, in my book, are the ones that give you no options: OD, D, and L. WTF? I've only come across these in rental cars, and can't even remember what cars they were, but sheesh. All modern automatics are computer-controlled -- how hard is it to give the driver the option of selecting any of the gears?

I have not driven a CVT in the mountains, only in rental cars in flat lands, so I can't compare those.

[ikkin]

I'd say post #40 covered it extensively with lots of good info.

oh, right. thanks. i guess "sport shift thingy" isn't really a technical term.

[bossass]

I drive a 99 Legacy AUTOMATIC, I assume the "shitty one". I drive in the mountains all the time. My car works just fine and my dick is still intact.

All of you equating driving ANY kind of Subaru with having a dick or being a man...well...just take a step back and think about that for a second...

And anyone who wants to give me flak for my "pussy" automatic can blow my dick/pussy. I got a $8k car for $3.5k, which I think is a big enough difference to not let my big dick pride get in the way....of my Subaru purchasing...

Shit.

[hop]

^^^^ plus, your Subaru has the awesome two-tone color scheme that is so rare in your model year.

[ill-advised strategy]

imho the only real advantage of the auto is when you're inching along in traffic or you gimp yourself and have to drive home with one arm/foot.

Std is far better on everything else.

[bossass]

^^^^ plus, your Subaru has the awesome two-tone color scheme that is so rare in your model year.

Yeah, the cars value took at least a 40% dive after the first four months of being in my ownership. Oh, well. It's real liberating to truly and actually not give a fuck about your car. Rock from a snowplow, whatever. Full can of beer tossed from across the street by a stranger into your rear quarter panel (yes, this happened to me), NBD. Driver door rusting out in the bottom: eh, it'll hold long enough for me to wring the last bit of life out of the engine.

[Wiilbert]

I used to drive a '98 Forester with the 4-speed auto, it was a trying experience at the best of times in the SLC area.

Can somebody explain to me the difference between the differentials? We got our Subaru stuck once by putting one of the tires into deep snow. The other 3 tires had traction, but the stuck one just spun. Is this a limited slip differential?

Is a vicious slip differential going to let me get 3 tires stuck and still get out as long as 1 tire has grip?