Erwick318 Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 We bought a 2018 Crosstrek in April. Its loaded with every option Subaru offers. It has about 10500 miles on it now and last weekend, we went to the western side of CO. I wanted to do the beginning part of Black Bear Pass, but when we started around the first turn off the pavement, I had to put the throttle all the way to the floor and the car was barely moving. It wasn't spinning or anything, it just ran out of power. Since the posted warning signs say low range is needed, I figured it got steeper from there, so we turned around and left. It was very disappointing to say the least. I also have a Jeep Wrangler and understand off roading just a bit, so my question is, what did I do wrong with the Crosstrek or is there something wrong with it? I also did some looking on the xmode and dont think that would have made a difference, but not sure. It just ran out of power, not sure if it is CVT related, elevation related, xmode related, or defective car related. If anyone has any ideas, I would greatly appreciate it. We bought the Crosstrek in TX, about 3600 ft above sea level, and BBP is around 9000, I'm guessing. Any thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 from my experience with the cvt trans, they seem to fall on their face if you give it full throttle. In my mom's forester and the couple of other auto subarus with the cvt, i noticed that they tend to run the best if you stay at 2/3 throttle or under. not sure how much of a difference that makes with altitude, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 not sure on an '18 but the older Crosstreks were considered underpowered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 the only got about a 5hp bump in power when they went to direct injection. mine is a 2017 and has a whopping 148hp... i think they went up to 152-155hp with the new fuel system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golucky66 Posted December 5, 2018 Share Posted December 5, 2018 On off roaring with any of the new CVTs, the ECM basically cuts power to the wheels for some stupid reason. You can try turning off traction control, but that only helps so much. It's unlikely it's an engine lack of power issue, and more of the computer not letting it be under full load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 On 12/4/2018 at 5:18 AM, 1 Lucky Texan said: not sure on an '18 but the older Crosstreks were considered underpowered. That's still really funny to me. Folks who think that clearly never had any older Subarus. EA81s are a whopping 82 hp from the factory. The ever loved 2.2 only put out 135 hp. They say they barely bumped the hp for the 2018+, but I swear mine's much faster than the first gen Xtreks that I've owned. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armedequation Posted November 16, 2019 Share Posted November 16, 2019 On 12/10/2018 at 8:55 AM, ezapar said: That's still really funny to me. Folks who think that clearly never had any older Subarus. EA81s are a whopping 82 hp from the factory. The ever loved 2.2 only put out 135 hp. They say they barely bumped the hp for the 2018+, but I swear mine's much faster than the first gen Xtreks that I've owned. i live at 8k ft in colorado and my 2.2 loyale with oversized tires does just fine. 03 forester and 05 outback were fine too at much higher elevation. both were manuals though .id have to agree with go on this and say the computer didnt like something going on. i havent really heard too much about cvt not doing well crossing the divide in rocky mountain national park either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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