Please do expand on this more. I hear good things about it, but I also hear lots of bad things. An objective assessment, if possible.
There is no such thing as a good CVT. In order to have a truly proper single-geared experience, you need a SHIT ton of power to back it up. See: Regera. Tesla. etc.
CVTs are inherently awful and belong on economy cars. They take the term 'slushbox' to an entirely new planet of meaning. They lack response, they lack refinement, they lack any sort of connection and feel. The transmission feels like a wet sponge, as opposed to a mechanical piece of machinery with gears, nuts and bolts. And paddle shifters on a CVT are just silly gimmicks.
Also, turbo cars like the WRX have torque peaks and horsepower peaks, the latter of which does NOT get near redline. And with CVTs when you floor it, it just shoots to redline and sits there. Most likely out of optimal boost range. So imagine completing a highway pass or a merger and not having the power as you need it?
This also explains why the 0-60 figures are so much slower for the WRX CVT. Back in the days of old and crusty 4ATs, MTs were always expected to be faster than autos - because they had better gearing, MORE gears at that, could launch more aggressive, and weren't sapped by shitty torque converters.
Today, that isn't the case. ATs are now faster than MTs they've replaced. Torque converters decouple. They don't sap power. They're extremely responsive. And we're seeing conventional automatics as fast as DCTs.
So when you examine Subaru and what they did to the WRX, they effectively took the car back a decade. It's antiquated.
