Before your heart goes all aflutter at the thought of a factory Subaru Forester XTI, cool your jets a bit. It's true that Subaru Australia has just pulled the sheets off of a more powerful Forester complete with nearly 260 horsepower and 256 pound-feet of torque, and yes, the high-rider packs a new five-speed automatic to replace the archaic four-speed slusher found on most Forester models. Drivers can even control shifts via a pair of paddles should the mood strike them. But this isn't some slammed hardcore grocery getter. Instead, the Forester S-Edition, as it's called, wears a slightly revised suspension cooked up from the minds at STI along with a few subtle aero tweaks outside.
Jump indoors and those from down under will enjoy a cabin trimmed in Alcantara bits, navigation and a rear view camera, all for a just a bit more than what you'd typically pay for a Forester XT in those parts.
Will we be getting anything similar? It certainly wouldn't hurt our feelings, but we'd be surprised if Subaru suddenly decided to lay another model on top of its range-capping XT here in the land of the free. We've got our digits crossed for that five-speed transmission, though. Hit the jump for the press release.
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Take a planetary transmission, replace the TQ converter with a clutch, and I'll not consider it a slushbox.
Which is apparently what some companies have done when making their auto-manuals:
The automated transmission may be derived from a conventional automatic; for instance Mercedes-Benz's AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT automated transmission is based on the 7G-Tronic manumatic, however the latter's torque converter has been replaced with a wet, multi-plate launch clutch.[1][2]. Other automateds have their roots in a conventional manual; the SMG II drivelogic (found in the BMW M3 (E46) is a Getrag 6-speed manual transmission, but with an electrohydraulically actuated clutch pedal, similar to an Formula One style transmission.[3][3][4][5][3]
I stopped by the Subaru booth at the DC Auto Show and chatted up the ladies. I asked them to relay a message to SOA: we want a manual transmission turbo Forrester and we want it NOW. She actually had a book of customer comments and she dutifully wrote it all down. She said that the Forrester was supposed to get the CVT for 2013 but the time-line has been moved up and it might happen by the end of 2011 for the 2012s.
the CVT is nice for gas mileage but I want 3 pedals and a turbo!