Subaru's CVT Rollout: How Lineartronic Became the Mainstay

Subaru rolled out its modern Lineartronic CVT with the 2010 Legacy and gradually shifted nearly all models to CVTs by the mid- to late-2010s, with Impreza and Crosstrek adopting CVT-only in 2024 and the BRZ remaining the only traditional automatic; the 2026 WRX uses CVT on some trims while others stay manual. Early CVTs (including the 1989 Justy and 2010–11 TR690) suffered reliability problems, prompting warranties and revisions since 2018; overall CVTs have improved, helping Subaru earn a strong reliability ranking in 2026.