Back to the future again: Subaru Upcoming CVTs

Back to the future again: Subaru Upcoming CVTs

Back to the future again: Subaru Upcoming CVTs

In the early 1990s, Subaru sold a subcompact vehicle known as the Justy.

t the time, one of the Justy's claims to fame was that it was one of the few vehicles to sport a continuously-variable transmission, or CVT. CVTs differ from regular transmissions (with discrete gears) by having an infinite number of gear ratios available within a finite range. As such, it is possible to match engine speed more closely with the proper gear ratio, thus increasing efficiency -- although earlier CVTs sometimes suffered from the dreaded 'rubber-band effect,' where the speed of the engine would increase disproportionately to the speed of the car.CVTs have been making a comeback, of late -- Nissan, Ford, and Audi are just some of the manufacturers that have used them, in the hopes of tweaking a bit more efficiency out of their powertrains. Hybrid vehicles have long used CVTs, as well (and efficiency rules the hybrid roost, needless to say).Now, everything old is new again at Subaru, when it comes to CVTs, which haven't been placed in its passenger cars since the Justy era. Look for the gearless transmissions to find their way into future Subies, starting with the 2009 Legacy (pictured is the 2008 model). The company hopes to have CVTs replacing automatic transmissions throughout their model lineup by the next year, 2010 (although it's likely that the transmission won't be used in the high-performance WRX model, owing to the fact that there are limitations to the amount of power that can be passed through a CVT).The most efficient pairing of engine to CVT (short of a hybrid model), would be a diesel powertrain mated to a CVT. Subaru is at work developing a diesel version of its 2.0 L boxer (horizontally-opposed) engine, which will also be available on the Legacy. This promises to make a new CVT diesel-powered Legacy a very thrifty vehicle when it hits the road in the next few years.