Acceleration and paddle shifters

6049 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Whitesc, Jan 27, 2019

sandyrgailr

Discussion Starter · Jan 23, 2019

I had a 2015 Forester 2.5 liter. Most of the time the acceleration was adequate but there were times when I thought it needed more. I am considering buying a 2019 Forester. If I purchase a model with paddle shifters, will the ability to manually downshift result in increased acceleration when I need it?

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

Scubamagoo

· #2 · Jan 23, 2019

Just bought a 2019 forester sport and to answer your question, when you put it in manual mode and down shift the simulated gears stay where you put them so when going up a hill it helps keep the car in the power band. Personally i like feeling like i have actual gears to shift

Save

sandyrgailr

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 24, 2019

@Scubamagoo So it has to already be in manual mode in order to use the paddle shifters? For example, say I'm driving in automatic mode but I don't appropriately judge the speed of an approaching car when I make a turn onto the road and into the lane of the approaching car. The approaching car is going faster than I anticipated. I need to accelerate quickly to get up to speed. I was hoping one could quickly downshift to help do this. In my 2015 Forester, I didn't have paddle shifters. The engine would rev but I wouldn't get the acceleration I needed. It didn't happen very often, but sometimes I needed the car to accelerate faster than normal and that 2015 Forester did not do that very well. It is my understanding that the 2019 Forester has about the same amount of acceleration as my 2015. I was hoping by having the paddle shifters that I would be able to easily downshift on the fly to aid in acceleration. I think you're telling me this won't work since one has to already be in manual mode to downshift with the paddle shifters. Is that correct?

See less See more

Save

Scubamagoo

· #4 · Jan 25, 2019

@sandyrgailr I will experiment tonight and let you know for sure but i believe you are correct. However, what i like to do is turn the S# (sport sharp) mode on when driving around town. It is way more responsive off the line so if you need to quickly accelerate its ready to go. The top end is the same as normal mode but down low you really notice more pep and quicker responsiveness when accelerating.

Save

adc

· #5 · Jan 25, 2019

With all due respect if you are uncertain of how fast the other car is coming..the correct answer is don't pass. You have no assurance the guy you are passing will not speed up (ask me how I learned that lesson many decades ago. Fortunately I had a Camaro V-8 (which you don't have). I can say that after having driven for 57 years. The NA Forester is not a rocket. S# works pretty good and on the turbo its well "exciting" but there are still lots of vehicles on the road that are quicker than the XT.

Chevy Equinox has 2.0 Turbo.

Save

Whitesc

· #6 · Jan 27, 2019

sandyrgailr said:
@Scubamagoo So it has to already be in manual mode in order to use the paddle shifters? For example, say I'm driving in automatic mode but I don't appropriately judge the speed of an approaching car when I make a turn onto the road and into the lane of the approaching car. The approaching car is going faster than I anticipated. I need to accelerate quickly to get up to speed. I was hoping one could quickly downshift to help do this. In my 2015 Forester, I didn't have paddle shifters. The engine would rev but I wouldn't get the acceleration I needed. It didn't happen very often, but sometimes I needed the car to accelerate faster than normal and that 2015 Forester did not do that very well. It is my understanding that the 2019 Forester has about the same amount of acceleration as my 2015. I was hoping by having the paddle shifters that I would be able to easily downshift on the fly to aid in acceleration. I think you're telling me this won't work since one has to already be in manual mode to downshift with the
paddle shifters. Is that correct?

I tested out you concern on my MY19 Sport.
Basically, if you are driving in “D” (auto) and you find yourself in need of a little kick in speed then yes, you can downshift and upshift (assuming you’ve already downshifted) using the paddles while still in “D” auto.
There is also a “Double Tap” 2-Gear downshift if you tap the downshift paddle twice rapidly; let’s say gear 5 to 3.
Once the speed and rpms settle, the dash display should show that the CVT has returned to “D” auto.

I verified all this via the manual and did personal tests earlier today and they all work as stated.

Attached are two screen shots, highlighted sections reference the OP.

Just be careful in “S” mode as mentioned in manual. Obliviously I did not test that particular aspect lol.

Hope this helps.

See less See more

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

Top Contributors this Month