Subaru Reviews

Subaru’s own specifications for this car quote a 750kg unbraked towing limit and a 2000kg braked limit. That in itself suggests that a 750kg trailer or camper should not tax the driveline in any significant way.

That said, logic suggests that towing any sort of decent load – especially at high speeds or in hot weather – must have some impact on wear and tear, including that of a CVT transmission. However, the Subaru CVT seems a bit tougher than some similar units out there, and if not abused, there should be no problem with what you have planned.

Regular maintenance and sensible driving will be the key to the CVT’s survival, as it is with any aspect of a modern car.

This generation of the Subaru Forester used the 2.5-litre FB25 engine which made use of a timing chain that should be good for the life of the vehicle.

For the record, the vast majority of engines that use a rubber toothed timing belt have what’s called a dry belt. A relatively small number of engines use wet-belt technology which is where the rubber belt operates in an oil bath situation. This tech has proved to be problematic for some car-makers and Ford, for one, is moving to a timing chain layout for the new engine in its Ranger, Everest and Transit line-up.

Most cars have a rotary dial somewhere on the dashboard to control the brightness of the dashboard lights. On this model Subaru it’s extremely well hidden. But if you look closely at the indicator stalk, you should see a collar surrounding it towards the tip of the stalk. This collar can be twisted in either direction to either brighten or darken the dashboard lighting. However, I’ve read that while some of the lights will adjust this way, the speedometer’s brightness is non-adjustable.

I’m told that by holding the climate control off button down for a few seconds, you can also adjust the intensity of the lighting for that function as well.