Emboldened by Motor Trend having acknowledged this themselves in their long-term update on their Outback XT (link below), I wrote the following to Subaru today and submitted it via their customer care website.
###
Dear Subaru:
I write as a mostly satisfied owner of a 2020 Ascent Touring (built in Feb 2020). We took delivery in early March and have been pleased with the car overall. There is one issue, however, that has caused moderate frustration: the programming of the CVT. The are two attributes that we wish would change.
1. The slow speed jerkiness/inconsistency. Shortly after getting the car moving with light throttle, the CVT will quickly (and sometimes aggressively) shift into a numerically lower pulley ratio, which can sometimes cause a moderate bog in acceleration. It’s enough to cause passenger’s heads to move forward. Additionally, at many speeds under about 35 mph, the operation can be somewhat jerky, including being hard to drive smoothly at nearly closed throttle (like cruising slowly through a neighborhood). The on/off throttle transitions are hard to manage and predict. It will sometimes be very smooth and imperceptible, while other times being jerky and abrupt. I think it’s rather unbecoming of a $45k premium vehicle.
2. The “fake shifting” under high throttle is not smooth or even necessary. I understand that these shift points were likely designed to make the transmission feel more like a traditional stepped automatic. To be honest, one of the strong points in the Ascent’s favor as we were shopping for SUVs was its CVT. After years of driving stepped automatics, I wanted something completely smooth. I’ve driven a few Nissan and Honda CVTs and they were butter smooth. After having owned our Ascent for a few months and few thousand miles now, I wish it was programmed to drive more smoothly.
I don’t believe any of the above is a mechanical malfunction. The slow speed jerkiness doesn’t happen at all when the powertrain and fluids are cold, or when the adaptive cruise control (ACC) has authority over the powertrain. When resuming ACC from a stop, the Ascent accelerates smoothly and without any abrupt ratio changes. It manages the pulley ratios (smoothly) to keep the engine at a relatively constant RPM as the car accelerates. It’s beautiful – I wish the programming were the same when the driver is using the gas pedal.
Having said all that above, I will say that I love the paddle shifters. For times when I want to be able to control what the transmission is doing, I’m appreciative of the ability to do that. Frankly, I use them more than I thought I would to try to smooth the car’s driving, especially in situations described in point #1 above. Obviously, that acceleration “bog” when the CVT aggressively lowers the pulley ratios doesn’t happen in manual mode (because it’s not changing pulley ratios outside of me clicking a paddle), so I’ve been using manual mode quite often around town to keep the drive smooth.
I’m a member of an Ascent enthusiast forum on the internet (ascentforums.com) and this issue is discussed pretty regularly there (both the low speed smoothness issue and the high throttle fake shifting), and neither behavior is seen favorably. Many members on that forum are life-long Subaru owners who wish the Ascent would drive like their other Subarus. Others (like me) are “conquest owners”, Subaru having won us over for the first time from other brands (and wishing the Ascent drove smoother). This issue also just gained widespread attention in a long-term update from Motor Trend; they have an Outback XT (with the same 2.4L turbocharged engine and CVT that the Ascent has) and they describe the issue pretty well in a June 23, 2020, post on their website:
This 2020 Subaru Outback 2.4 XT CVT Quirk Takes Some Getting Used To
Please forward this plea to your product engineering department as feedback from one owner who shares the thoughts of many (including Motor Trend!): bring the smoothness back to our CVT. I know some of us would just love a software update for these cars that would make them smoother to drive. When a globally recognized automotive magazine acknowledges an issue, I have to think it’s a legitimate need.
Thank you very much in advance.
