[captainmcd]

Just bought a 2010 Forester Premium with manual transmission. I know there is a trade off between highway and off road performance. I owned a CJ-5 years ago, which was great on jeep roads, but terrible on the interstate. Before buying I checked out the Jeep Wrangler, but found them to no longer be the off road machine they used to be. They put a lot of gadgets on them with poor fit and finish. I am really happy so far with my Forester with one exception.

Question: The first gear is pretty high for really tough off road travel. There is no low range on the Forester. I would have been happier with the Forester if they would have had a "granny low" first gear that would help keep the engine revved up without using the clutch, and could be skipped for normal driving. Does such a transmission exist, or is there something that can be done with the drive train to allow lower speed in first gear, without hurting highway economy and performance?

 

[funkymonkey1002]

automatic transmission. The torque converter is perfect for that. Otherwise there aren't really any other choices. I find that with the auto, turbo, and relatively low 4.44 gearing the car has plenty of low end crawling grunt, however the forester isn't a true offroader so it will never be perfect. Unfortunately the US never got a dual range gearbox.

 

[themathguy]

I've had the same thoughts. A granny gear would be nice not only for offroad but also for towing (A little easier start on a hill).
Unfortunately, I can't imagine there being any kind of solution without a prohibitively expensive transmission swap with an imported Australian tranny. (Haven't really looked into it, don't know if it would even work at all.)

Oh, and an automatic transmission would not be a solution for me. I couldn't stand driving an automatic transmission on my daily commute. Even sportshift doesn't cut it for me. No way, no how. You'd sooner catch me driving a manual Wrangler or Xterra than an automatic. :Banane36:

 

[frogstar7055]

Forester in U.S.

MT= Street/hot rod
Auto= Street/off road

Trust me you'll do fine off road.
I've done things you'd probably never try off road and it's done just fine.

 

[captainmcd]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will keep the Forester as it was sold to me. I am happy with it, but thought it could be improved.

 

[adc]

automatic transmission. The torque converter is perfect for that. .

Yup......