My favorite characteristic of
My favorite characteristic of the CVT in my Outback 3.6r is when driving up long mountain grades like I-70 Eisenhower Tunnel approach in Colorado. Since the CVT can choose any gear ratio to maintain speed, it never lurches to downshift like automatic transmissions nor do you end up having to choose between 2 not-quite-right manual gears. This means that the engine doesn't rev too high or low and just smoothly drives up whatever grade.