How Subaru Owners Are ‘Regearing’ Their CVTs So They Crawl Better
Subaru owners get a bad rap in the car community. So what if that guy with the WRX knows more about vape coils than wastegates or blow-off valves? And who cares if an Outback driver memorized their Aussiedoodle's DNA sequence but not their engine code? The cars are popular for a reason: They carry you and your stuff (almost) anywhere.
I talked to a handful of Subaru owners who are making their cars even better at that core purpose by "regearing" their continuously variable transmissions. CVTs don't have gears so much as pulleys (see our explainer here), so they achieve this by switching out the factory CVT for another whose built-in front differential has an improved final drive. From there, they swap in a correlating rear diff, completing the mod.
Clearly, these drivers care more about off-road performance than most Subie loyalists. And while those same CVTs draw the ire of blowhard enthusiasts across the internet, the units in these builds are being put to good use. It all starts with diving into the Subaru parts bin for some OEM+ upgrades.
