3.6r to XT?

Has anyone gone from a 2018/2019 3.6r Legacy to the 2020/21 Legacy XT?

 

 

If so, what are the pro and cons since going with the newest model?

 

 

My family has the 2019 Ascent so I'm familiar with the 2.4T.

 

 

 

I'll admit, I'm not thrilled with the exterior look compared to the 18/19 models but I do like the turbo engine and touring leather.

 

 

 

Thanks!

Hi phuzaxeman

 

I went from a 5th gen (13) Legacy 3.6R to a 2020 Legacy XT and we also have an 2019 Ascent.

 

Pros for the 2020 XT:

1. It is much quieter than the 5th gen.

2. Acceleration and handling is much better. Acceleration feels like my old 4th gen Legacy 2.5GT.

3. Handling is better than my 5th gen. I test drove a 2020 Legacy 2.5i Limited and the XT and they felt similar. The 3.6R made my 5th gen legacy more front heavy compared to my brother's 2013 Legacy 2.5i.

4. Nicer interior than the previous cars.

5. HEATED STEERING WHEEL!

6. Front mounted camera for the Touring trim.

 

Cons:

1. HVAC buttons or the lack of physical buttons for the Mode, fan speed and the heated/cooled seats. These features are hidden require you to push mode button to bring up these options. Hopefully Subaru can provide a band-aid fix by adding these functions to the Widget page.

2. Front camera operation for the Legacy is not a good as it is on the Ascent. On the Ascent, when you shift from reverse to drive, the front camera automatically turns on so you can see in front of the bumper. Useful for parallel parking and getting out of tight spaces. On the Legacy you have to push the button to activate the front camera. Also in the Legacy, you can't have both camera feeds on at the same time like on the Ascent.

3. Android Auto, no portrait mode (yet?), landscape mode is only half displayed and the font is pretty small. The saving grace is turn directions are displayed in the driver's information screen.

 

Meh:

1. Color of the Touring XT seats on the Legacy. The Outback and Ascent have dark brown leather while the Legacy has a more dark orange color. I was concerned with it before, but I am indifferent to it now.

2. Auto Stop Start. At times it is very smooth, but other times, it will shake the car. But after some time with it, I think I have become accustom to it and it does not bother me anymore. I had my Legacy for about a year now and according to the Auto Stop Start counter, my engine has been off for 7hours and 25 minutes and I have ~ 3.5 gallons of gas. There was a software update that added a button on to the main screen to turn off the system. I used it once.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Hi phuzaxeman

 

I went from a 5th gen (13) Legacy 3.6R to a 2020 Legacy XT and we also have an 2019 Ascent.

 

Pros for the 2020 XT:

1. It is much quieter than the 5th gen.

2. Acceleration and handling is much better. Acceleration feels like my old 4th gen Legacy 2.5GT.

3. Handling is better than my 5th gen. I test drove a 2020 Legacy 2.5i Limited and the XT and they felt similar. The 3.6R made my 5th gen legacy more front heavy compared to my brother's 2013 Legacy 2.5i.

4. Nicer interior than the previous cars.

5. HEATED STEERING WHEEL!

6. Front mounted camera for the Touring trim.

 

Cons:

1. HVAC buttons or the lack of physical buttons for the Mode, fan speed and the heated/cooled seats. These features are hidden require you to push mode button to bring up these options. Hopefully Subaru can provide a band-aid fix by adding these functions to the Widget page.

2. Front camera operation for the Legacy is not a good as it is on the Ascent. On the Ascent, when you shift from reverse to drive, the front camera automatically turns on so you can see in front of the bumper. Useful for parallel parking and getting out of tight spaces. On the Legacy you have to push the button to activate the front camera. Also in the Legacy, you can't have both camera feeds on at the same time like on the Ascent.

3. Android Auto, no portrait mode (yet?), landscape mode is only half displayed and the font is pretty small. The saving grace is turn directions are displayed in the driver's information screen.

 

Meh:

1. Color of the Touring XT seats on the Legacy. The Outback and Ascent have dark brown leather while the Legacy has a more dark orange color. I was concerned with it before, but I am indifferent to it now.

2. Auto Stop Start. At times it is very smooth, but other times, it will shake the car. But after some time with it, I think I have become accustom to it and it does not bother me anymore. I had my Legacy for about a year now and according to the Auto Stop Start counter, my engine has been off for 7hours and 25 minutes and I have ~ 3.5 gallons of gas. There was a software update that added a button on to the main screen to turn off the system. I used it once.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Great info!

 

Your cars are similar to mine.

 

Thank you.

The main issues for me in ANY turbo car is eventually the turbo will fail so you always have to factor a replacement cost. That being said I think a real mileage number on replacement is from 60-120k possibly more dependent on how hard the car is driven. The pro side to that is by the time the turbo fails you can upgrade.

 

As far as the Ascent every single person I know that has one hates it. They all say the MPG is awful and some of them came from larger SUVs like Tahoe’s and the such.

 

Now the thing is you are really hard pressed these days to,find a midsize sedan that is a non turbo as 7 out of ten midsize sedans have a turbo in them these days.

The main issues for me in ANY turbo car is eventually the turbo will fail so you always have to factor a replacement cost. That being said I think a real mileage number on replacement is from 60-120k possibly more dependent on how hard the car is driven. The pro side to that is by the time the turbo fails you can upgrade.

 

As far as the Ascent every single person I know that has one hates it. They all say the MPG is awful and some of them came from larger SUVs like Tahoe’s and the such.

 

Now the thing is you are really hard pressed these days to,find a midsize sedan that is a non turbo as 7 out of ten midsize sedans have a turbo in them these days.

 

My 2011 WRX ltd. is going on over 10 years. I had the original legacy GT from 2005 from 2011. Both cars never had any turbo replacements. I don't drive my cars hard. So while turbos may go out, taking care of your care can make the turbo live a long life.

 

Our Ascent gets about 30mpg+ during our road trips. We avg about 22mpg in the city. There's a whole group of people online (ascentforum.com) that love their cars like my family does. Ascent has great acceleration for an SUV plus the steering is really good for an SUV. There's a lot of room and we can have 7 people with the 3rd row (I drive my parents for sporting events). There's also a ton of cup holders. I feel the car is well made. My only complaint is the motor can get loud in lower gears with higher RPMS.

 

My 3.6r is non turbo but I'm planning to sell it soon.

My 2011 WRX ltd. is going on over 10 years. I had the original legacy GT from 2005 from 2011. Both cars never had any turbo replacements. I don't drive my cars hard. So while turbos may go out, taking care of your care can make the turbo live a long life.

 

Our Ascent gets about 30mpg+ during our road trips. We avg about 22mpg in the city. There's a whole group of people online (ascentforum.com) that love their cars like my family does. Ascent has great acceleration for an SUV plus the steering is really good for an SUV. There's a lot of room and we can have 7 people with the 3rd row (I drive my parents for sporting events). There's also a ton of cup holders. I feel the car is well made.

 

Similar story for me. I had my 2008 STI for 12 years. I did have to replace the turbo when the ringland failed in the first year (I was unmodified at the time). It was replaced with a stock turbo and it lasted me the rest of the 12.5 years I owned it.

 

We also have a 2020 Ascent and love it! We get just under 30 MPG on the highway and around 20 mpg in town. It's plenty powerful for us, has a good deal of get up and go and tons of room. I agree with all of phuzaxeman's other comments as well.

 

For me, I liked the engine in my wife's Ascent so much, I thought "How much MORE fun would that engine be in a much lighter sedan?" Hence my 2021 Legacy LXT.

Turbos aren't what they used to be, much more reliable these days. And even the "older" ones didn't just pop every 100k. I had a 2000 Golf TDI with 475k km on the first turbo, now over 500k km and still kicking.

 

The possibility of a CVT failure is much higher if I had to place a bet. And it can't take anymore power either as seen by Cobb's struggle to release a tune for the 2.4T Legacy and Outback.

 

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Turbos aren't what they used to be, much more reliable these days. And even the "older" ones didn't just pop every 100k. I had a 2000 Golf TDI with 475k km on the first turbo, now over 500k km and still kicking.

 

The possibility of a CVT failure is much higher if I had to place a bet. And it can't take anymore power either as seen by Cobb's struggle to release a tune for the 2.4T Legacy and Outback.

 

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I agree!

And it can't take anymore power either as seen by Cobb's struggle to release a tune for the 2.4T Legacy and Outback.

 

I haven't read that Cobb is having trouble with tuning due to the CVT. Any source for that?

I've read where Cobb can get Stage 1 for CVT, but stage 2 was too much for the CVTs.

 

https://www.cobbtuning.com/2021-subaru-wrx-sti-and-2021-wrx-cvt-support/

 

Looks like they have released Stage 1 tunes for CVT.

 

Cobb has some facebook posts stating they were having trouble with the CVT holding the power.

 

https://www.facebook.com/cobbtuning/posts/our-development-team-has-been-busy-on-the-ecu-side-of-subarus-2020-outback-xt-an/10158440555559054/

 

https://www.facebook.com/cobbtuning/posts/10159042877344054

 

"We know a lot of you have been anxious for updates regarding a tune for Subaru's 2.4L DIT powered Outback XT, below is our current state with that project.

As we've seen with the Ascent, there is plenty of power on tap with tuning and good quality fuel. Unfortunately, we are currently at an impasse with the CVT as it is not reacting well with additional engine torque. We will continue investigating possible solutions and update when we know more! " April '21

Strange, either the CVT will hold power or it won't. It sounds more like the CVT tuning isn't reacting well to engine tuning, not its strength or durability.

And they have tunes for the Ascent which is a fat pig compared to a Legacy, same transmission and all. I guess they are dragging their feet since the Legacy and Outback are lesser markets vs the WRX.

 

Ascent probably got tunes since it was the first with the 2.4T.

 

Hope I'm wrong but then again I wouldn't tune mine if all it does is grenade the transmission. I'd go back to manual transmission cars or dual clutch.

 

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The TR690 is rated for 690NM which equals 508 ft lb. The graph on Cobb's website shows 275 ish which is the common quoted limitation on the TR690. The torque converter likely multiplies the engines torque 1.5-2x...so whether or not the tune is good, the components aren't rated for much more from the factory than 275.

The TR690 is rated for 690NM ...

Source? The "690" in the TR690 CVT model number refers to the center-to-center spacing between primary and secondary pulleys in the Variator assembly: 69 mm. The corresponding spacing in the TR580 CVT is 58 mm. (Source: Subaru tech training materials)

 

The torque converter likely multiplies the engines torque 1.5-2x...

The FSM confirms that the TC stall torque ratio (TR690 CVT) is 1.80. It is listed as 2.07 for the TR580 torque converter. Edited November 22, 2021 by ammcinnis

I thought it was you who said that in some other tread. It stuck with me for some reason. I'll have to look it up and see if I can find the post.

I just traded in our 2016 Legacy 3.6R Limited for a 2022 Legacy XT Touring.

 

So far only have driven it home from the dealer but I can say its way better than the outgoing Legacy. Nicer interior for a start, smooth ride, quiet and comfortable. Instrument panel is a lot better and the large touch screen is quick and easy to use.

 

The one negative I found so far is the lack of a power outlet where the USB ports are. I had the wireless charger added so I'm not sure if that is the reason but I use a radar detector and so far the only place I see to plug it in in the center console. Beyond that I'm loving it.

I just traded in our 2016 Legacy 3.6R Limited for a 2022 Legacy XT Touring.

 

So far only have driven it home from the dealer but I can say its way better than the outgoing Legacy. Nicer interior for a start, smooth ride, quiet and comfortable. Instrument panel is a lot better and the large touch screen is quick and easy to use.

 

The one negative I found so far is the lack of a power outlet where the USB ports are. I had the wireless charger added so I'm not sure if that is the reason but I use a radar detector and so far the only place I see to plug it in in the center console. Beyond that I'm loving it.

There is also another 12v socket in the glove box, I have my dash cam plugged into that. Wires run through the A pillar and into the side of the glove box, so no messy cables.

 

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