[E85 Powered 3.6]

…make sure your test drive includes a few trips through “the dead zone”. That nasty place where the driver says go, but the car says let’s wait a while. From a standstill there’s no problem, the engine responds as soon as you press the accelerator. Unfortunately that’s not the case when you brake or coast for a moment and then try to accelerate. In this case you press the accelerator and the engine is totally unresponsive for 1 to 1.5 seconds. It doesn’t seem to matter how far you press the pedal, 20% or 100%, the car is simply in a coma for that 1+ second. That may not sound like a long time but it feels like an eternity when you’re in the situation.

It seems to happen at any speed, but is probably most noticeable in the 5-15 MPH range, where you’re slowing to turn onto a busy street or negotiating intersections where you don’t have to (or choose not to) come to a complete stop before proceeding. If every day is a Sunday drive for you then you may not care or even notice this characteristic. If you’re at all impatient or in a hurry, driving this car in the city may make you totally insane.

Manual mode could use some improvement too. The paddle shifters and the little rev you get with each downshift is nifty, but the massive amount of slip from the torque converter greatly reduces engine braking and leaves you wondering what RPM the transmission is turning and when the next downshift should be. It might work well for winding mountain roads, but for city driving it kind of stinks.

Maybe Subaru will fix this (at least the throttle delay problem) with a future program update...