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Hard to go into reverse?

17K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  zax 
#1 ·
Anybody elses 2016 wrx difficult to get into reverse especially when cold?
 
#4 ·
I do not have that problem but an interesting story: in 1987 I test drove new 5.0 mustang gt. When backing up from a turnaround I noticed it was stiff going into R and made a deffinite clunking noise. I commented on that while driving and the salesman said, "well that's the price you pay for going forward so well."
 
#5 ·
subarus are notorious for their not-so-easy reverse. we usually call it the "reverse dance" - put it in 1st gear, blip the throttle.. then try to put it in reverse. 9 times out of 10 that works for me.
 
#7 ·
I've gotten in the habit of putting mine in reverse and back to neutral before shutting the car off. Makes it easier to hit reverse when I start the car. My 2011 wrangler was the same way. Someone said it had to do with the lack of synchro in reverse.

I haven't done it to this car yet but I ground the reverse gear to death trying to get it in my jeep.

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#11 ·
Yep, same with my 2014. I've gotten into the habit of partially shifting into 1st before shifting into reverse.

I've actually found that it got worse as the car broken in. One other quirk I've experienced with a few Subarus was grinding when shifting into reverse after sitting in neutral. Sometimes, if you sit there for a bit, step on the clutch and try and get it into reverse, it will grind. What makes sense to me is right in line with the need for a clutch brake on tractor trailers. If you're in neutral with the clutch engaged, your engine is still spinning your transmission. Since reverse is non-synchronized, sometimes you either have to wait a few seconds, or kiss one of the forward gears to fully stop the transmission (the synchro-cone will act as a brake).

I could be wrong, but I know that's the case with any dog-box, so makes sense for our reverse gear too.
 
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