Recent video on Gen 4 CVT reverse issue

[mooble]

So let's assume you stop to open or close a gate with a cattle guard or other rut. Your rear wheels roll into the rut that is similar in resistance to a 6" curb? You cannot rock back and forth if your wheels are in a deep rut. Would the CVT OB be able to get out? That would be a fairly routine real world situation.

[OBnube]

Originally Posted by mooble

......... You cannot rock back and forth if your wheels are in a deep rut. Would the CVT OB be able to get out?

The problem is in reverse only. You could rock back and forth and get out. I think that's why people are saying this staged scenario is not a real world experience.

[Novablue]

Originally Posted by mooble

So let's assume you stop to open or close a gate with a cattle guard or other rut. Your rear wheels roll into the rut that is similar in resistance to a 6" curb? You cannot rock back and forth if your wheels are in a deep rut. Would the CVT OB be able to get out? That would be a fairly routine real world situation.

You could get out just fine, just drive forward. Or take my car and you can go forward or backward.

Originally Posted by OBnube

The problem is in reverse only. You could rock back and forth and get out. I think that's why people are saying this staged scenario is not a real world experience.

I would not go so far as to call it "staged" but to say that you will get stuck or die because of this would be a reach. If this is the only reason someone would not take this car in the woods, well that's silly. There are far better reasons not to take an OB in the woods. And some good reasons to take it in the woods too.

[photodude]

Originally Posted by mooble

So let's assume you stop to open or close a gate with a cattle guard or other rut. Your rear wheels roll into the rut that is similar in resistance to a 6" curb? You cannot rock back and forth if your wheels are in a deep rut. Would the CVT OB be able to get out? That would be a fairly routine real world situation.

Thanks for posing the most insightful question on this thread. For CVTs exhibiting this behavior, you can get stuck, and any 2 tires in a rut can cause this scenario. In my case, the 2 driver's side tires went into a rut. I won't list other real-world scenarios here to avoid being labeled as a fear-monger.

Originally Posted by OBnube

The problem is in reverse only. You could rock back and forth and get out. I think that's why people are saying this staged scenario is not a real world experience.

The issue occurs in forward, but it's less pronounced. Review the prominent "Stuck in Snow and Wheels Won't Spin!" thread and read/understand the initial post, and also realize it's one of many real world scenarios (no cattle grate), and that rocking-back-and-forth initially did not occur because the CVT behavior in question occurs in fwd and rev. Now imagine your car in a rut--you might be able to pull forward, but you might not, as was my case, because the tires wouldn't spin in either direction. Rocking almost always works well for ATs and MTs, because they all effectively transfer power to the wheels in start/stop situations.
IMO people discount the video because there are a million ways to actually overcome that MINISCULE cattle grate. The point of the video is lost on them.

Originally Posted by Novablue

Awesome! Thanks for dropping in here! I'm not a skeptic, it doesn't look like you work for Toyota. ;-)

(1) Did you have any weight in the car when you tired this?
(2) Was your gas tank full?
(3) Have you tired any other obstacles since then (like a curb)?

I don't work for Toyota (or Honda) and I've never owned one (either). Skeptics can feel free to think otherwise.

(1) During the video there was some camping gear in the car, but no passengers during that trip. Maybe 65 to 70 lbs total?
(2) From the video segment showing the dashboard, the gas gauge shows between 1/2 to 3/4 tank.
(3) Yes. A 4.5-inch curb can stymie my car (no camping gear or passengers). That's in my next video, that I alluded to earlier, where I compare the OB to a Honda town-car with an AT.

Thanks for the informative video; it really shows the wide variation in performance that many OB'ers suspect. Like your video, my car's performance on the curb test is very repeatable.

Originally Posted by Novablue

I can understand then why you would be upset. I would be. Yes it's a car, but such a limitation would be disappointing. I'm not sure I would dump my car over it though.

Thanks! I've always been a 1-car-owner and until now Subarus have performed reasonably well, and very reliability, for my wide-ranging uses, including a fair amount of snow-storm or backroad travel. This 2010 OB does many things better than my previous Subarus except it's worse for snow-storm or backroad travel, which is important to me for snow skiing or photography. Unfortunately, these activities often require many miles of driving to get to the destination, so fuel economy is important, esp at $4/gallon gas when considering SUV alternatives. I'll likely use the car through the winter then decide what to do.

[Latigo]

My 2013 2.5 backs up a 6" curb without any fuss.

[mqnada]

Originally Posted by Latigo

My 2013 2.5 backs up a 6" curb without any fuss.

Ditto for me. My 2013 2.5 hopped right up a pretty big curb when I tried it.

[Outback-Commuter]

Who evaluates a car's behavior and/or design by hopping curbs? Tempest in a teapot.

[mqnada]

Originally Posted by Outback-Commuter

Who evaluates a car's behavior and/or design by hopping curbs? Tempest in a teapot.

Agreed. But I just happened to be backed up next to a curb while waiting to pick up a kid from the movies, and I thought "what the heck" and tried it.

[tank fuzzbutt]

It's strange to see all the posts about dismissing this as not a real world problem. What the issue shows is that there is a flaw in the transmission and that is a serious problem.

[1 Lucky Texan]

I'm not convinced it's a 'flaw' - seems more like overly protective/conservative programming.