club.liberty.asn.au

28Oct11 I took delivery of an MY08 3.0R AUTO Spec B Liberty Sedan and thought I'd provide some feedback for intending buyers of a similar vehicle regarding my experiences with the transmission. It was one of my unknowns when I was looking to buy myself.

My first 2 cars, 83 Mazda 626 coupe and an 89 Mazda MX-6 Turbo 4WS, were both autos. The MX-6 had a 'kick down and lock' switch which helped make engine braking and the turbo more useful.
Next came a manual 94 Impreza, owned for 12years, this was loads of fun even though a lowly 1.8.
After this a 02 Liberty RX, also in a manual. The extra power was noticeable and the manual tx added to the fun. Da Man was in control. Sports mufflers and fancy gold wheels and I was set.
Reckon I was having way more fun that my MX-6 Turbo. I am a manual man.

Move along to late last year. I get a call while in Sydney playing Defence Soccer You're car has arrived. OMG ! Nearest train takes me straight to the CEVA depot.
Car looked great and I was happy. It was an exponential step up from my 02 RX. But that's a given.

The gearbox - After driving the 08 for a few months I can, with hand on heart, state that a 'manual driver' will not be disappointed. Albeit there's one less gear, the paddleshift gives you a 'similar' level of control over your driving experience that the manual does. In normal auto driving I regularly use a downshift or two to help with engine braking or to increase revs for hills and the like. Subaru allowing the use of the paddles during Auto mode for a temporary Manual Mode has been a real plus. When the car senses you're back to 'cruise' driving it reverts back to normal auto mode.

Sports Sharp (S#) in Auto is not pretty at all. You take a breath prior to pushing the accelerator. That breath is sensed and the gearbox kicks down a gear or three in anticipation. Lots of noise but nothing happening.
However in full manual mode it's a different game. Pure gold.

Sports (S) mode doesn't get much use. I've either having a good time in S# or putting around in Intelligent (I) mode. I mostly do open road driving though so 'I' mode been more than acceptable.

Prior to buying I did drive an 06 3.0 but didn't like the gear stick semi-auto no where near as much as I have enjoyed the paddles.

Long story short - If you think you are only a 'manual driver' because it's so much more fun than an auto and keeps YOU in control then think twice about about rejecting paddleshift 3.0 cars.
Don't get me wrong, if a manual was a available with such low klms as mine, and the right price too, I would have gone for it. But I have not regretted getting the bargain the auto was and have had more than enough fun since.

Anyways, as a previously prospective buyer who was curious the above has been my experience. Although if you want to BOOST your 3.0 the Auto is shit lol
Cheers

scottb721 wrote:28Oct12 I took delivery of an MY08 3.0R AUTO Spec B and thought I'd provide some feedback for intending buyers of a similar vehicle regarding my experiences with the transmission.

Hey Future man, can you tell Bruce his car sucks. Thanks.

Hey what's going on, I changed that before anyone posted.
Glad you focused on the glaring mistake. You want the lotto numbers too I guess
I can see into the future a little, like the next few hours. I will be a little more pi*ssed than I already am.

Anyway, back on topic

scottb721 wrote:I can see into the future a little, like the next few hours. I will be a little more pi*ssed than I already am.

You can read my mind apparently too.

Although let me pick apart your review, in a few simple sentences.
The auto tranny can't handle power for shit, so if you ever plan on trying to boost your car, do not touch the Liberty Auto.

chaotic2050 wrote:
Although let me pick apart your review, in a few simple sentences.
The auto tranny can't handle power for shit, so if you ever plan on trying to boost your car, do not touch the Liberty Auto.

Umm, that's one sentence if I'm not mistaken. So anyone not wanting to 'boost' their car should disregard ?

You'll probably be really annoyed too to know that I find the factory Macintosh stereo as sufficient for the average person lol

scottb721 wrote:You'll probably be really annoyed too to know that I find the factory Macintosh stereo as sufficient for the average person lol

I am quite happy with my stock Macintosh system also....
So no, I am not annoyed.

All good then. The same applies then to those not modding their 3.0 I guess.

Anyway, back on topic.....
The auto also has rev matching on downshift which has been nice. Nothing quite like it squirting to the exact revs before it engages the lower gear.
I've only found the yanks advertising this feature although I haven't checked every item Subaru released locally.

Seriously though, my intent was not to dissuaded those necessitating a manual for boosting reasons but to allay fears of those swinging 50:50.

the paddleshift gives you the same level of control over your driving experience that the manual does

Granted I own a manual and have only driven a paddleshift auto liberty GT for a short while but I wouldn't say it is exactly the same level of control.
It still doesn't change exactly at the time you change it.

Also, I know it is not the topic but I'm one of the ones that thinks the mcintosh is rubbish for a 'premium' sound system.

OP amended.

I find the gearbox quite ok timing wise and as for the Mc, for a factory stereo premium or not, it's more than acceptable for those wishing to listen to music or the radio during their daily commute.
Is it worthy of entry into a car audio comp, of course not. All my music is compressed anyway so high quality equipment isn't going to add much value.

For someone who wasn't going to be caught dead buying an auto I have been left pleasantly surprised.

scottb721 wrote:For someone who wasn't going to be caught dead buying an auto I have been left pleasantly surprised.

Well that's good to hear mate

Thanks for the info, Ive got a mate (bit of a manual guy) who is currently looking at an '04 3.0R does this model have paddleshift as well? I've told him that the Auto's apparently are quite good to drive as well.

I'd hope the SI drives does add something, because the earlier model (MY06) 3.0-auto that i test-drove was absolute rubbish
the 5 speeds and the way it changed gears just did not match the torque band of the engine.

i.e to keep the thing in the power-zone (>4000rpm) you really needed to hold it flat (lots of throttle) to make it shift late so that the revs stayed above 4000rpm
whereas the 6 speed you can still keep the revs high with less throttle input, and use full throttle when actually needed.

i guess the si-drive in s# is programmed to allow this, whereas the earlier models did not allow it

Farugah wrote:Thanks for the info, Ive got a mate (bit of a manual guy) who is currently looking at an '04 3.0R does this model have paddleshift as well? I've told him that the Auto's apparently are quite good to drive as well.

The MY04 (Jul 2003) to MY06 (Jun 2006) 3.0R's did not have paddle shift auto. I think that came as part of the Facelift versions, MY07 (Jul 2006) to MY09 (Jun 2009).

The worst thing about my stock auto (some years ago now) was the lack of response from the engine when I pressed the right foot to the floor. I was expecting instant kick down, but got a 1 to 2 second delay before anything happened. Got a DBW tune from STI at the time and it improved by about 50%, but then started to annoy me again as I got used to the half second delay. Then I just drove it in manual mode most of the time to avoid this.

When HPF had the car for a tune, they got into the DBW and now the response is pretty damn sharp, however, the box is in now need of refurbishment as there is too much slip on wide open throttle. Plan to have a rebuild done locally as the fundamentals of our auto are that of a Nissan /Jatco RE507E transmission and there are stronger clutch packs, bearings sleeves and valve body mods that can be applied to customize the auto to suit your application (daily drive, drag, track). This guidance was provided to me from Kewish Transmissions in Dandenong South.

I am an auto man because my wife says so!!!

scottb721 wrote:28Oct11 I took delivery of an MY08 3.0R AUTO Spec B Liberty Sedan and thought I'd provide some feedback for intending buyers of a similar vehicle regarding my experiences with the transmission. It was one of my unknowns when I was looking to buy myself.

Hey Mate!
Thanks for taking the time to post this & leave it up despite the stick you copped initially!! This has gone a long way to helping me decide, & it looks like I might now be leaning towards auto now with less fear.....

Because in the words of a truly wise man:

MH3.0R wrote:I am an auto man because my wife says so!!!

Not quite true in my case, but the simplest solution

MH3.0R wrote:I am an auto man because my wife says so!!!

Oh, this...

About to step into an MY07 or MY08 GT Spec.B wagon myself, and it will be an auto. One thing I do plan on doing is getting a stage 1 tune almost immediately, and that should take care of the delays on the gear changes - if I have to do a rebuild later to strengthen it up before boosting power, so be it.