2015 Subaru Legacy leaked

[SamirD]

Actually, the Legacy makes less power than the Kizashi unless you were looking at the H6. The Legacy with the 2.5 is rated at 170 HP while the Kizashi with the 2.4 is rated at 180 HP with the CVT.

I simply think the Legacy has a better CVT because their transmission builder is more reputable than JATCO. Same goes for Toyota and Honda CVTs. In fact, Subaru may now use Toyota's CVT supplier: Aisin.

Interesting because the Suby felt like it had more torque for sure, even if the power was less.

The Suby CVT didn't feel rubbery or fragile when driving it. I definitely don't doubt that it's made better.

[KuroNekko]

Actually, the Legacy makes less power than the Kizashi unless you were looking at the H6. The Legacy with the 2.5 is rated at 170 HP while the Kizashi with the 2.4 is rated at 180 HP with the CVT.

I simply think the Legacy has a better CVT because their transmission builder is more reputable than JATCO. Same goes for Toyota and Honda CVTs. In fact, Subaru may now use Toyota's CVT supplier: Aisin.

Interesting because the Suby felt like it had more torque for sure, even if the power was less.

The Suby CVT didn't feel rubbery or fragile when driving it. I definitely don't doubt that it's made better.

It might be because the Subaru has permanent AWD vs. the Kizashi's full-time AWD.
In most cases, the Kizashi is in FWD until AWD is needed (even when AWD mode is on).
The Legacy always has a varying amount of power going to all wheels. It's never only FWD.

[sx4rocious]

if I'm not mistaken, Aisin CVT's are made right here in Terre Haute Indiana. Or at least a lot of their parts are. It's actually a pretty good place to work from what I hear...

[SamirD]

It might be because the Subaru has permanent AWD vs. the Kizashi's full-time AWD.
In most cases, the Kizashi is in FWD until AWD is needed (even when AWD mode is on).
The Legacy always has a varying amount of power going to all wheels. It's never only FWD.

It's the same with the awd on the Kizashi. In fwd mode, it only sends the minimum amount to the rear (10% I believe), whereas in awd mode it will vary the amount as necessary up to a maximum amount that I forgot.

[SamirD]

if I'm not mistaken, Aisin CVT's are made right here in Terre Haute Indiana. Or at least a lot of their parts are. It's actually a pretty good place to work from what I hear...

There's a lot of great 'Japanese' manufacturing that goes on right here in the USA. Unfortunately, there's a lot more that isn't so great.

[KuroNekko]

It might be because the Subaru has permanent AWD vs. the Kizashi's full-time AWD.
In most cases, the Kizashi is in FWD until AWD is needed (even when AWD mode is on).
The Legacy always has a varying amount of power going to all wheels. It's never only FWD.

It's the same with the awd on the Kizashi. In fwd mode, it only sends the minimum amount to the rear (10% I believe), whereas in awd mode it will vary the amount as necessary up to a maximum amount that I forgot.

Are you sure? My understanding is that with the AWD button off, it's fully FWD. With the button on, the i-AWD is FWD-biased, but will send power to the rear axle on a need basis. This is how most "Full-Time AWD" systems work.

This is different from Subaru's "Permanent AWD" which neither has an On/Off button nor sends power to the rear axle on a need basis. It's always sending power to all wheels at all times. The amount simply varies.

[SamirD]

Are you sure? My understanding is that with the AWD button off, it's fully FWD. With the button on, the i-AWD is FWD-biased, but will send power to the rear axle on a need basis. This is how most "Full-Time AWD" systems work.

This is different from Subaru's "Permanent AWD" which neither has an On/Off button nor sends power to the rear axle on a need basis. It's always sending power to all wheels at all times. The amount simply varies.

It's what I remember reading in the owner's manual or service manual because initially I thought it worked the way you mentioned it did. I thought, "awesome, just leave it in fwd for best gas mileage and no wear on the rear". But when I read over the documentation, all the fwd mode does is send the least amount of torque to the rear, which I believe was 10%.

The i-awd system must be much closer to a fwd-based awd system than something like the subaru one, although it seems to do a pretty good job as you really can't tell it kicking in or out. It's just the cvt that makes it seem less 'solid' or 'connected' than the subie we drove.

[bootymac]

This is how the 2WD/AWD functionality is described in the owner's manual (page 3-19):

This i-AWD system enables you to select the driving mode according to driving conditions by operating the 2WD/i-AWD switch.

Driving Modes
2WD
If you drive on a dry, paved road, select this mode to save fuel. In this mode, the engine torque transmitted to the rear wheels is limited to the minimum. (As a result, the vehicle runs in a quasi-front-wheel-drive condition.)

i-AWD
This mode is for all normal driving. In almost all road surface conditions, the system keeps distributing engine torque to the rear wheels in the most suitable proportion for varying conditions under automatic control.

In the i-AWD mode, the i-AWD controller monitors the driver’s vehicle control operations and conditions of the vehicle. Based on the sensed conditions, the controller electronically controls the power coupling so that optimum torque is distributed to the rear wheels. This function improves driving stability and driving performance on rough roads and stabilizes driving performance even on snow-covered up-hill roads or the like.

During constant speed driving, torque distribution to the rear wheels is reduced almost to the front-wheel-drive condition, thus improving fuel consumption.

[SamirD]

I can confirm that the fwd mode still does send power to the rear wheels. When I was stuck that night in the snow, I tried the fwd mode to see if that helped since power wouldn't be transferred to the rear wheels. But the rear wheels still moved after some time.

[KuroNekko]

I can confirm that the fwd mode still does send power to the rear wheels. When I was stuck that night in the snow, I tried the fwd mode to see if that helped since power wouldn't be transferred to the rear wheels. But the rear wheels still moved after some time.

Makes sense with what Bootymac posted regarding what the owner's manual said.
Minimal power to rear in FWD mode but not completely FWD like a 6 speed manual Kizashi that lacks a rear diff and transfer case.