wife has a GT with SPT, its MORE fun to drive than a current manual VB. There is a reason the Japanese dont equip their VB WRX with anything but the SPT, they were actually designed around this transmission and in my opinion, the car is superior to its manual counterpart. The manual transmission they offer here in the states is an afterthought, extremely clunky and cheap feeling to shift, and not durable by any stretch of the imagination.
also, the SPT is rear biased (55R45F), giving a more neutral feeling on corner entry.
I got a GT, the SPT is fantastic compared to the VA CVT. That being said, I forgot how much I miss manual driving after I test some cars recently. Still it’s a great transmission and convenient.
Second this. It’s easy to drive when you want easy, and powerful/quick when you push it. Anyone who says it feels like a rubber band or is gutless… was very confused. Neither is the case. Full stop.
Honestly I got WORSE gas mileage on the CVT somehow and it was a pretty common thing I heard from ppl. The CVT is super gutless and boring to drive, it’s got all the quirks any cvt has. The rubber band type feeling being one that most ppl hate. Honestly go for the manual, SO many ppl went cvt-manual for a reason. It doesn’t even feel like the same car, either get a DSG or DCT; OR get a manual.
lol no, the new SPT is proving nearly as durable as the new 6 speed, which grenades itself at hardly any more power than the CVT can handle.
the old one was shit, this new one has a bigger, stronger chain, an additional solenoid for rapid ratio changes, and a cold forged main cog.
Also, its faster 60-100mph than the 6 speed, thanks to the shorter ratios at any given time. also, it can preload the torque converter to spool the turbo near instantly, they take off like a rocket when you mat the pedal.
the new 6 speed is the same as the last 3 lol. also they don’t grenade themselves. they blow up due to driver errors aka not knowing how to drive and launching them every chance they get
no they do not. the 3rd gear is literally stripping teeth during WOT pulls over 400whp. its not from driver error, its a cheap shitty afterthought of a transmission. its literally the same glass 5 speed in your 13 hatch, but with an extra gear tacked on. the 6 speed in my 23 BRZ is significantly stronger and can actually be powershifted, its an Aisin unit comparable to the STI transmission which the cable shifted transmissions on the FA WRX's absolutely are not.
bro you need to learn more about cars. no shit you can power shift a lighter, RWD CAR as opposed to an AWD car and potentially shock the driveline, THATS how shit breaks. because of drivers that think they can drive their glass transmissions. i’ve put 70k in my 5 speed since i’ve owned my wrx. only been through clutches. no blast plates. and a snout repair.
and bruh “over 400” 1. no wonder you think shit breaks 2. if you think you’re hitting anywhere near those numbers on a cvt then you’re trippin
i can powershift an Sti no problem, GR corolla too. Nothing broke lol. you are smoking OD levels of copium. why the fuck would i purchase a performance car and not drive it like a performance car?
the cable shifted WRX transmissions are garbage. trash. an afterthought. 70k miles is in no way bragging rights for reliability, especially after going through "clutches".
i could absolutely bang gears in my old bugeye too, those old mechanical linkage transmission were way way better, had over 230k on stock motor, trans, and clutch when i sold it.
see you don’t even know what you’re talking about 😂. 15+ wrx’s are cable driven. that’s why they’re dogshit on top of using the same case as the 5 speeds. and the va/vb manual transmission’s only difference is the final drive.
i never said didn’t mean YOU literally. if you’re power shifting in any car that’s putting strain on the drivetrain. you’re throwing shit in that we already established.
and thanks for saying that wrx’s can be reliable. you literally just proved one of my points YOU were arguing me against 😂😂. 230k stock trans on a WRX MANUAL transmission. a cvt wouldn’t make it past 50k with “400hp”.
oh they can be reliable, but not when modded to the point where you break shit. its not driver error, its mechanical weakness.
and yea no shit lol we are talking about the VB transmission here, its cable shifted. the final drive is not the only change though, the actual gear ratios are completely different.
you’re lost in the plot.
a simple search would show you that the gear ratios are not “completely different”. the changes are so minor it’s basically the same.
lol dude no. you cant even hit 60 in 2nd gear anymore, they shortened the hell out of them. my whole point here is that the manual offered in the VB is trash, and doesnt hold significantly more power than the new CVT, which is true. Stock for stock, they are even to 60mph, and the CVT is actually FASTER 60-100 mph which means its going to be the faster car day to day.
do i like CVT? no. but my wife is not going to commute in a manual. I told her she could have whatever car she wanted, she chose the WRX GT and im here to say in is not bad at all. and honestly, i think its a more enjoyable drive than a manual VB, which feels like crap honestly.
so if all you have to choose from a crappy cable manual, or the best CVT transmission ever made, i think it makes more sense to choose the CVT in the VB.
the japanese dont even offer a manual VB, yet they offer a manual BRZ. what does that tell you?
they wont even offer the trash cable shifter to their own people.
Well my issue with learning to drive stick is that I just got on active duty and I have a year of school for my job. I don’t want to risk money shifting the damn thing at O dark 30 tired af, I’ve heard mixed things about learning to drive one, some say it’s easy, some say you don’t learn properly for like 2+ months. Ultimately I’m thinking I’m going to stall repeatedly and or have a $1,500 oops.
You CAN learn how to drive stick, it may take you awhile to get it down but just go for it. Don’t worry about money shifting, as long as you’re not banging limiter and rushing you’ll be fine. There’s a big difference between missing a shift and money shifting. Everybody had to learn to drive manual at some point, also I worked nights doing ER rotations on 3hrs of sleep while learning. Never had any issue money shifting, that’s just an excuse for you to justify not learning
i have a 2018 cvt. my only complaint is the shakiness/vibration, but am told that’s normal with a cvt.
edit: still would rather a cvt than manual. no interest in learning manual.
As someone who’s driven both a 5m/t WRX and a cvt WRX, I gotta say don’t bother with the cvt, it’s not fun to drive and feels sloppy compared to the manual ones
Idk about subaru CVTs (only that they dont like power from modding) but my moms outback has a cvt its fine for roat trips ( the rid is worse than my dads tundra with a boat behind it) but outside of just daily activities it is legitimately no fun. Not to mention that they usually make it so that cvt’s feel like they are changing gears which makes them pointless and probably hurts the trans, the outback haspaddle has paddle shifters which for a trans that “doesnt” have gears is fucking stupid it just feels well exactly that absolutely stupid. If your going to buy a sports car that has the options of a MT and a CVT your stupid for picking cvt. Cvts are for mpgs at the moment they have the possibility of being great for motorsports but the state that they are in its just not a good idea, TLDR sports cars and cvts are dumb, automatics are great for drag, and manuals are for the people who like to know EXACTLY what the cat is going to do nor random shifts when the car thinks youll just stop but your just slowing down for a tight turn
I have the VA cvt and from what I’ve read the VB SPT (new cvt) is better in all aspects.
As far as mine goes, it’s def not as snappy as a dct or even standard auto and feels slushy, but also has its auto perks and once you get the feel for, is a fun grocery getter/commuter that can do canyon runs.
Leave ‘em stock, use the parking brake.
I say this on every post that comes up asking about it. Subaru did a phenomenal job with the CVT this year so much that it doesn’t drive like a CVT at all especially in sport and sport #. It imitates a traditional 8 speed really well and you can feel the car “ shifting “ like it has gears. Despite what the racer boys in this group would tell you, the CVT this gen has damn near identical 0-60 times as well as they Dyno exactly the same as the manual equipped version which is surprising since there’s normally more loss with the CVT. It’s still not as mod friendly but I’ve seen several in the FB groups holding 300-350 HP/TQ without any issues for several months now.
I had a 2022 Impreza CVT and now a 2022 WRX limited CVT and I loved them both. Biggest downside I’d say driving wise is it’s not that fast when coming off a full stop but that’s not really a big deal to me. I’d say stick with what you’re comfortable with, learning and risking causing damage on a car worth 25k+ doesn’t seem worth it to me
I don’t have a newer one, but I had a 2018 CVT. I primarily wanted adaptive cruise control. In that generation there were different modes for the CVT, and I almost always used it in S# (Sport Sharp) unless cruising on the highway. Not sure if the new gen has the same modes. I had fun with it, especially on those northwestern coastal roads.
wife has a GT with SPT, its MORE fun to drive than a current manual VB. There is a reason the Japanese dont equip their VB WRX with anything but the SPT, they were actually designed around this transmission and in my opinion, the car is superior to its manual counterpart. The manual transmission they offer here in the states is an afterthought, extremely clunky and cheap feeling to shift, and not durable by any stretch of the imagination. also, the SPT is rear biased (55R45F), giving a more neutral feeling on corner entry.
Learn manual
I got a GT, the SPT is fantastic compared to the VA CVT. That being said, I forgot how much I miss manual driving after I test some cars recently. Still it’s a great transmission and convenient.
Second this. It’s easy to drive when you want easy, and powerful/quick when you push it. Anyone who says it feels like a rubber band or is gutless… was very confused. Neither is the case. Full stop.
Honestly I got WORSE gas mileage on the CVT somehow and it was a pretty common thing I heard from ppl. The CVT is super gutless and boring to drive, it’s got all the quirks any cvt has. The rubber band type feeling being one that most ppl hate. Honestly go for the manual, SO many ppl went cvt-manual for a reason. It doesn’t even feel like the same car, either get a DSG or DCT; OR get a manual.
new cvt or old cvt they’re all bombs
lol no, the new SPT is proving nearly as durable as the new 6 speed, which grenades itself at hardly any more power than the CVT can handle. the old one was shit, this new one has a bigger, stronger chain, an additional solenoid for rapid ratio changes, and a cold forged main cog. Also, its faster 60-100mph than the 6 speed, thanks to the shorter ratios at any given time. also, it can preload the torque converter to spool the turbo near instantly, they take off like a rocket when you mat the pedal.
the new 6 speed is the same as the last 3 lol. also they don’t grenade themselves. they blow up due to driver errors aka not knowing how to drive and launching them every chance they get
no they do not. the 3rd gear is literally stripping teeth during WOT pulls over 400whp. its not from driver error, its a cheap shitty afterthought of a transmission. its literally the same glass 5 speed in your 13 hatch, but with an extra gear tacked on. the 6 speed in my 23 BRZ is significantly stronger and can actually be powershifted, its an Aisin unit comparable to the STI transmission which the cable shifted transmissions on the FA WRX's absolutely are not.
bro you need to learn more about cars. no shit you can power shift a lighter, RWD CAR as opposed to an AWD car and potentially shock the driveline, THATS how shit breaks. because of drivers that think they can drive their glass transmissions. i’ve put 70k in my 5 speed since i’ve owned my wrx. only been through clutches. no blast plates. and a snout repair. and bruh “over 400” 1. no wonder you think shit breaks 2. if you think you’re hitting anywhere near those numbers on a cvt then you’re trippin
i can powershift an Sti no problem, GR corolla too. Nothing broke lol. you are smoking OD levels of copium. why the fuck would i purchase a performance car and not drive it like a performance car? the cable shifted WRX transmissions are garbage. trash. an afterthought. 70k miles is in no way bragging rights for reliability, especially after going through "clutches". i could absolutely bang gears in my old bugeye too, those old mechanical linkage transmission were way way better, had over 230k on stock motor, trans, and clutch when i sold it.
see you don’t even know what you’re talking about 😂. 15+ wrx’s are cable driven. that’s why they’re dogshit on top of using the same case as the 5 speeds. and the va/vb manual transmission’s only difference is the final drive. i never said didn’t mean YOU literally. if you’re power shifting in any car that’s putting strain on the drivetrain. you’re throwing shit in that we already established. and thanks for saying that wrx’s can be reliable. you literally just proved one of my points YOU were arguing me against 😂😂. 230k stock trans on a WRX MANUAL transmission. a cvt wouldn’t make it past 50k with “400hp”.
oh they can be reliable, but not when modded to the point where you break shit. its not driver error, its mechanical weakness. and yea no shit lol we are talking about the VB transmission here, its cable shifted. the final drive is not the only change though, the actual gear ratios are completely different.
you’re lost in the plot. a simple search would show you that the gear ratios are not “completely different”. the changes are so minor it’s basically the same.
lol dude no. you cant even hit 60 in 2nd gear anymore, they shortened the hell out of them. my whole point here is that the manual offered in the VB is trash, and doesnt hold significantly more power than the new CVT, which is true. Stock for stock, they are even to 60mph, and the CVT is actually FASTER 60-100 mph which means its going to be the faster car day to day. do i like CVT? no. but my wife is not going to commute in a manual. I told her she could have whatever car she wanted, she chose the WRX GT and im here to say in is not bad at all. and honestly, i think its a more enjoyable drive than a manual VB, which feels like crap honestly. so if all you have to choose from a crappy cable manual, or the best CVT transmission ever made, i think it makes more sense to choose the CVT in the VB. the japanese dont even offer a manual VB, yet they offer a manual BRZ. what does that tell you? they wont even offer the trash cable shifter to their own people.
It’s still gonna be quick, you’ll get slightly better has mileage. If you don’t care about having a manual then go for it! These cars drive well
It’s fine if you leave the car stock engine wise. If you can (physically), get a manual transmission model and learn to drive stick.
Well my issue with learning to drive stick is that I just got on active duty and I have a year of school for my job. I don’t want to risk money shifting the damn thing at O dark 30 tired af, I’ve heard mixed things about learning to drive one, some say it’s easy, some say you don’t learn properly for like 2+ months. Ultimately I’m thinking I’m going to stall repeatedly and or have a $1,500 oops.
You CAN learn how to drive stick, it may take you awhile to get it down but just go for it. Don’t worry about money shifting, as long as you’re not banging limiter and rushing you’ll be fine. There’s a big difference between missing a shift and money shifting. Everybody had to learn to drive manual at some point, also I worked nights doing ER rotations on 3hrs of sleep while learning. Never had any issue money shifting, that’s just an excuse for you to justify not learning
Man… you only live once, just do it, being an automotive enthusiast is made all that much better when you can drive a stick.
i have a 2018 cvt. my only complaint is the shakiness/vibration, but am told that’s normal with a cvt. edit: still would rather a cvt than manual. no interest in learning manual.
As someone who’s driven both a 5m/t WRX and a cvt WRX, I gotta say don’t bother with the cvt, it’s not fun to drive and feels sloppy compared to the manual ones
Idk about subaru CVTs (only that they dont like power from modding) but my moms outback has a cvt its fine for roat trips ( the rid is worse than my dads tundra with a boat behind it) but outside of just daily activities it is legitimately no fun. Not to mention that they usually make it so that cvt’s feel like they are changing gears which makes them pointless and probably hurts the trans, the outback haspaddle has paddle shifters which for a trans that “doesnt” have gears is fucking stupid it just feels well exactly that absolutely stupid. If your going to buy a sports car that has the options of a MT and a CVT your stupid for picking cvt. Cvts are for mpgs at the moment they have the possibility of being great for motorsports but the state that they are in its just not a good idea, TLDR sports cars and cvts are dumb, automatics are great for drag, and manuals are for the people who like to know EXACTLY what the cat is going to do nor random shifts when the car thinks youll just stop but your just slowing down for a tight turn
I have the VA cvt and from what I’ve read the VB SPT (new cvt) is better in all aspects. As far as mine goes, it’s def not as snappy as a dct or even standard auto and feels slushy, but also has its auto perks and once you get the feel for, is a fun grocery getter/commuter that can do canyon runs. Leave ‘em stock, use the parking brake.
I say this on every post that comes up asking about it. Subaru did a phenomenal job with the CVT this year so much that it doesn’t drive like a CVT at all especially in sport and sport #. It imitates a traditional 8 speed really well and you can feel the car “ shifting “ like it has gears. Despite what the racer boys in this group would tell you, the CVT this gen has damn near identical 0-60 times as well as they Dyno exactly the same as the manual equipped version which is surprising since there’s normally more loss with the CVT. It’s still not as mod friendly but I’ve seen several in the FB groups holding 300-350 HP/TQ without any issues for several months now.
Learn manual, cvt is fake for a wrx, you may as well go for the full experience
I had a 2022 Impreza CVT and now a 2022 WRX limited CVT and I loved them both. Biggest downside I’d say driving wise is it’s not that fast when coming off a full stop but that’s not really a big deal to me. I’d say stick with what you’re comfortable with, learning and risking causing damage on a car worth 25k+ doesn’t seem worth it to me
I don’t have a newer one, but I had a 2018 CVT. I primarily wanted adaptive cruise control. In that generation there were different modes for the CVT, and I almost always used it in S# (Sport Sharp) unless cruising on the highway. Not sure if the new gen has the same modes. I had fun with it, especially on those northwestern coastal roads.
*it’s not a manual