[slothman]

This set off alarms in my head because a buddy of mine just had one go in his Nissan at 56000 miles

Subaru's CVT is a completely different animal to Nissan's Jatco CVTs.

The Jatco is a push belt design made up of 399 metal elements held together by 2 'ring packs' of 12 thin metal bands on each side of the belt. If one of those bands breaks the elements end up throughout the transmission:

Subaru's own Lineartronic CVT is a pulled chain design:

The most common points of failure for the Lineartronic are solenoids and to a lesser extent the torque converter, but the numbers appear to be small if posts here are any guide.

 

[slothman]

Could that be done with a 2021 w/CVT?

I've been towing an about 1,000 kg/2,200 lb boat for 11 years 8 years without issue, however, my Forester came with a separate transmission cooler which I believe isn't the case for North America. My manual states 95 RON/91 AKI is the minimum gas rating when towing and 'S' mode should be activated. I only fill with 95 RON petrol if I'm traveling a long distance. For nearby towing I don't bother and haven't noticed an issue. I also had the CVT fluid changed at 60,000 km/37,000 miles.

I regard CVTs as the best towing transmission as power delivery is never interrupted as happens during manual and conventional automatic gear changes.

Edit: can't count - fixed years

 

[slothman]

My 2021 Forester has the same slight push at 15mph when slowing. I think it is a fuel cut off when coasting until the car slows to 15mph. If you watch the instant mpg numeric display, the mpg goes from 99MPG down to ~30mpg suddenly as you slow down to 15mph.

It is because the torque converter unlocks at ~15mph/24kph. With it locked the engine revs are being maintained by the locked powertrain, but as soon as it unlocks this is no longer the case so the ECU has to switch the injectors back on to maintain engine idle.