New/Used Wagon/SUV Suggestions?

[postmortemIA]

But we have all these 8+ speed automatics that have also gotten significantly better and more reliable which are now even suitable in high performance vehicles. Putting a CVT in Subaru's top end car is just nonsense to me. Along that note, I find it odd with all the progress in automatics that Audi has switched over to DCTs in so many vehicles. Seems like that's a high cost to pay in weight and reliability for mass market cars.

Subaru is with CVTs for good. They got 0 auto transmissions and surely won't invest in developing one. Instead they are looking for electrical or hybrid cars (guess which transmission they use ). Their high performance cars (2.0T, 3.6R) have different CVT, called high torque CVT.
Most would consider that Subaru's CVTs are one of best (or least bad).

Previous generation of their CVTs had no fake shifts. You could literally accelerate at max power RPM the whole time. I think current generation in WRX and Forester XT can do the same.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

But we have all these 8+ speed automatics that have also gotten significantly better and more reliable which are now even suitable in high performance vehicles. Putting a CVT in Subaru's top end car is just nonsense to me. Along that note, I find it odd with all the progress in automatics that Audi has switched over to DCTs in so many vehicles. Seems like that's a high cost to pay in weight and reliability for mass market cars.

Theoretically, a CVT is superior to an n-speed transmission for both mileage and power delivery. But you have to build 'em right, and program 'em right.

The hardest things are very easy, and the easy things are very hard.