xt2005bonbon Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 http://www.motortrend.com/cars/subaru/ascent/2019/2019-subaru-ascent-first-drive-review/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoniram Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 We aren’t talking used, we are talking about sticker price. For an extra 10k I rather get a discovery Land Rover sport for $60k with much better tech and about 11” ground clearance. At that price range I’d like to have better technology because the Toyota tech is already outdated out of the lot big time. No one is talking used vehicles. You can find similar deals on any demo unit, but they are difficult to come across... An extra $10k is not always reasonable to every buyer, hence why there are so many cars at so many different prices. $10k is a big jump. The Ascent and 4Runner are basically the same price at every trim level, but 4Runners rarely have incentives that drop the price more than 3-5%. Can't blame them when sales have been spectacular: 2010 46,531 2011 44,316 2012 48,755 2013 51,625 2014 76,906 2015 97,034 2016 111,970 2017 128,296 It remains to be seen how prices will hold for the Ascent, but I'm betting it's going to be very popular. As an SUV, it's stellar. If the only off-road action you're likely to see is an occasional pothole while dropping the wife off at Nordstrom, you'd be crazy to buy a 4Runner in lieu of an Ascent. But if you're going off-road often, I think the argument goes the other way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 If the only off-road action you're likely to see is an occasional pothole while dropping the wife off at Nordstrom, you'd be crazy to buy a 4Runner in lieu of an Ascent. But if you're going off-road often, I think the argument goes the other way. Unless I get Pat at ADF to build a proper 2 or 4 inch lift kit for the Ascent. He makes one for the Tribeca . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoniram Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 That would be awesome. The Ascent would be pretty unstoppable at that point! I wonder if that would mess with the warranty in any way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) I am pretty sure Pat is basically ready to build any kit really. You just provide him some measurements, and he would most likely be able to build it. He is currently building me some 'custom' 1.5" spacers for my specB top hats for my BTS kit. So imagine you lift the Ascent up, add a couple of skid plates, make sure you have an appropriate trans cooler or something. voila, you can almost go anywhere. Still have a fairly crappy approach angle but there's so much designers can do with the boxer engine/trans layout. Edited May 22, 2018 by xt2005bonbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Also, not sure if you guys took a closer look... but I have a feeling that the Ascent rear springs are too weak. Have a closer at the pictures when the Ascent is towing that 4300 LBS trailer. I feel like the rear is sagging quite a bit already. Now, add additional people, cargo box, stuff in the trunk.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) Personally, I wouldn't run something that large without an equalizing hitch between the tow vehicle and the trailer. Given that you now have a proper Class III hitch receiver receiver, you can plug-in an Eq-hitch and stress-tension your eq-springs to eliminate those rocking/up/down moments. The Eq-hitch and springs distribute that tongue weight, and the forward of the axles rocking momentum, between the vehicle chassis and the trailer and remove that up/down oscillation at the rear. Vehicle dynamics will be much tighter and the whole load will be better balanced fore/aft. I'd also put on an anti-sway hookup as well. Edited May 22, 2018 by SBT - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perscitus Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 (edited) Repair parts database (assembly and sub-assembly diagrams and part #s) are finally up across the various Subaru parts online sites. Turns out the 8-9 Ascent model/trim combos for 2019 get three working fluid temp stabilizers (on top of the vanilla engine coolant + radiator and fan combo found on all water cooled ICEs). 1. EGR cooler (using coolant) 2. CVTF temp stabilizer (using coolant) same little unit found on the WRX, Levorg, XV, Impreza, Legacy/Outback and Forester with any CVT (vanilla and TR580/690s) 3. Engine Oil temp stabilizer (using stack/plate radiator found on JDM S4 S207, tS, etc but there used as an aux CVTF cooler, plus oil filter sandwich plate and rail and hose feeds) Stack/plate and mounting bracket sub-assembly is ~$189 (cheapest thus far). So its confirmed, no additional CVTF cooler on the Ascent. JDM part used as an engine oil cooler instead. Perhaps the strategy is indirect CVTF cooling. Cooling the engine oil so that it doesn't exceed +200/2xxF too often can cause a domino effect where the coolant stays at a more stable/lower temp, and will not warm the CVTF more than it should. Edited May 29, 2018 by Perscitus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NORULZleggy Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 throw some Amsoil CVT fluid and Amsoil SS oil and the SUV will be set. I'm running Amsoil CVT fluid in my 2013 Legacy and Amsoil SS 0-20, car runs STRONG like Bull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLlegacy Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 I have yet to see any solid testing that Amsoil transmission fluid is better than OEM Subaru fluid. Especially to be using it on a brand new vehicle under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoniram Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 I have yet to see any solid testing that Amsoil transmission fluid is better than OEM Subaru fluid. Especially to be using it on a brand new vehicle under warranty. I'm sure an Amsoil sales rep would be happy to provide all the evidence you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utc_pyro Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 I have yet to see any solid testing that Amsoil transmission fluid is better than OEM Subaru fluid. Especially to be using it on a brand new vehicle under warranty. If you go look up the spec sheet on what we're supposed to use in the 5EAT, the OEM subaru fluid beats Amsoil in almost every category. While they dont necessarily make bad products, Amsoil's clames to be some much better than anything else is just MLM snake oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perscitus Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Amsoil, Eneos, Castrol, Valvoline, Motul and OE ATFs/CVTFs are all good so long as the users stick to reasonable self-prescribed (and not over-maintained) drain or full flush intervals. Say every 60K or 30K for spirited driving severe service, especially in harsher climates (either on the cold or hot end of the spectrum). The other important consideration is for the average fluid temp to stay within the goldilock 100-180F range for as long as possible during use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tumbleweed 49 Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) Subaru products are probably just fine but they don't own a refinery. Their petroleum products, like those of all car manufacturers, are made by the lowest bidder. I don't know who that is at present. Amsoil doesn't own a refinery either but their products do have a very good reputation. I usually use Mobil 1 from Walmart because I doubt that Amsoil is worth the extra money. Edited June 4, 2018 by tumbleweed 49 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLlegacy Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Subaru products are probably just fine but they don't own a refinery. Their petroleum products, like those of all car manufacturers, are made by the lowest bidder. I don't know who that is at present. Amsoil doesn't own a refinery either but their products do have a very good reputation. I usually use Mobil 1 from Walmart because I doubt that Amsoil is worth the extra money. Do you have sources for the information you have provided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tumbleweed 49 Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 (edited) Do you have sources for the information you have provided? No, not a single one. Actually I could prove I sometimes buy M1 at Walmart. Edited June 7, 2018 by tumbleweed 49 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilot1226 Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Amsoil, Eneos, Castrol, Valvoline, Motul and OE ATFs/CVTFs are all good so long as the users stick to reasonable self-prescribed (and not over-maintained) drain or full flush intervals. Say every 60K or 30K for spirited driving severe service, especially in harsher climates (either on the cold or hot end of the spectrum). The other important consideration is for the average fluid temp to stay within the goldilock 100-180F range for as long as possible during use. I’m curious to see the official maintenance booklet to see if they incorporated fluid changes for the CVT. We don’t know for sure yet on the Ascent. Do you happen to know the NOACK of the Idemitsu 0w20? That’s the stuff going into the Ascent and the first time they’re using 0w in a Subaru Turbo. It does sound like they’ve made substantial tweaks to the DI combustion process to avoid the carbon issues. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 (edited) Don't know if this was mentioned before, but found this from http://www.cars101.com/subaru/ascent/ascent2019.html "Uses Subaru transmission fluid part #SOA748V0300" here is some more info found using Google: https://content.subarunet.com/snet/_content/fixed_operations/subaru_chemicals/chemicals_announcements/cvtf-lv_ascent_transmission_fluid_announcement.pdf I'll upload that file here... cvtf-lv_ascent_transmission_fluid_announcement.pdf Edited June 8, 2018 by xt2005bonbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Zooming in on the pdf file, you'll see that the oil distributor is 'JX Nippon Oil & Energy US Inc. (http://www.eneos.us/) Oil was made in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utc_pyro Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 (edited) Idemitsu makes seriously top tier stuff. They make 9 diffrent types of ATF to better meet the requirements of diffrent transmissions for just Asian manufactures, unlike Amsoil's 2 for EVERYTHING. Subaru doesn't do lowest bidder shit for this, they use what they think will get the car through it's warranty period and whatever extended warranties they commonly sale with a calculated amount of abuse and neglect. If they just did lowest bidder it would be a commodity fluid. Instead they specked something that might cost more in fluid, but less in warranty payouts. Edited June 8, 2018 by utc_pyro After 5 years of using soft keyboards on phones my typing on them is still shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 From that Subaru CVTF-LV distribution letter, it would appear that there is a fluid change requirement. Not sure what the fill load is, but 1 fill is likely 1-1.5 gallons. - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 And 5 gallons is like 400$ bucks! So that change will not be cheap I guess. Edit: I guess it is not that much different than when I changed my MT oil. Still cost like 80$ just for the oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Subaru likely has approved vendors and buy their oil from the lowest bidder who makes the CVT oil to their specifications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perscitus Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 The full fill is actually closer to 3.2x gallons and cheapest that the 5 gal pail can be had at is near $280-290 (can't find cheaper it seems). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 Was thinking that a full change would be in the 3-gallon range given how much a full swap on an 09 LGT 5EAT is. - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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