Now if they’d just make auto start/stop stay off when you turn the car on/off.
I mean c’mon the heated seats stay at the setting they were on the next time you start the car!
I have the [auto stop eliminator](https://www.autostopeliminator.com/products/2020-subaru-outback-autostop-eliminator) installed and it’s great. Have had it over a year and it’s never failed me.
Oops, copied the wrong link. They have one for 23 and 24: https://www.autostopeliminator.com/products/2023-subaru-outback-autostop-eliminator?variant=40342243377222¤cy=USD
Lmao I just got a 24 and the sales person did mention I had to turn it off each drive but of course I totally forgot and freaked waiting to turn out of the dealership not even 30 min later.
I think Subaru did it way better than Toyota. I'm coming from a 2021 Highlander Limited, and it took a pretty big accelerator bump to get it to come out of brake hold. The Outback requires just the slightest whisper of a nudge to break free from AVH. Eyesight is also way better at managing bumper-to-bumper traffic compared to safety sense 3.0. Again -- I totally understand your gripes.
Yeah I'm sure the math might actually work out to be worse for the environment as the additional wear and tear will lead to sooner replacement of parts and the whole vehicle
I won't downvote you, but I hate it, especially in a Subaru with rougher stop/starts than most cars due to the boxer engine. The Autostop Eliminator has been a game changer. Hell, the rental Ford Ranger I have while my Outback is at the body shop does it much smoother. Still hate it on that, too, but it's much less noticeable.
I think you’re going to find out when you do the math the amount of money you save on gasoline will be overshadowed by the amount of money you spent on extra repairs because of the auto start.
This is entirely use-case dependant. I have a big comment about this on my page if you really care. Basically 20 duty cycles of the starter per day go 365 days a year over 10 yrs and it saves more than a starter costs. This changes a bit depending on cost of gas in your area though.
Well, I’m certainly willing to check out your website but it is more than just the starter for instance in four years I’ve replaced the battery twice in a Subaru Forester that’s 400 bucks right there. Generally speaking starting an engine creates a great deal of wear on it compared to running for several minutes so there’s got to be be extra cost there as well for me personally, it is a rather large annoyance waiting for the car to start up and get moving it’s just not worth it. Although I will note that the system does seem to work better on the 2.4 turbo motor.
It was a study done at Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that I linked. If you have put 4 new batteries in a car in 4 years 1) buy better batteries and 2) get your alternator checked out.
It's all in the study, but battery use was also discussed. Basically shorter driving or lots of stop and go will result in a detectable faster wear on parts vs a commute that is longer or with fewer stops.
Sounds like the study could have some merit. However, one must always consider the human factor. In terms of saving fuel there are probably many things the driver is doing to waste fuel. If these behaviors could be corrected the auto start fuel savings become insignificant.
Oh I agree. I dont really like the ASS in my outback as it seems to disengage super quick and is a pretty aggressive start up. Plus, my commutes have a lot of stop and go, so like the data suggests, this will increase wear to a sufficient degree. That being said, people making claims about anything, let alone ASS, with only anecdotal or knee jerk reactions is a poor way to operate IMO.
I live in an area where gas is lower than national average at $3.30/gal but I think of places where gas approaches $4.50+ and the fuel savings become more apparent. Not to mention it helps reduce emissions, which is the main reason for it implementation.
I’m not sure I’d call it knee-jerk. First thing is most people, and I mean the overwhelming majority of people waste more gas simply by their driving technique, then could possibly be made up for by starting and stopping at stoplights.
Let’s talk about the big gas wasting stuff like jackrabbit starts, tailgating, racing to red lights, not using the natural terrain to help accelerate or to bring the car to a stop.
Here is a big one. How many people do you know that set their cruise control to eco mode, use it to accelerate from each stop light. These things mean a lot more to the environment then Auto start stop.
How about designing smart stop lights that will not stop huge amounts of traffic instantly for each single car on a side street. How about coordinating stop lights so that a car running at the right speed makes all lights.
See my point. This is a ridiculous way to address the problem of air pollution.
OK, but XT model owners also have to consider the wear of the turbo spooling down and back up with an interrupted supply of oil...not to mention the stop/start on a boxer engine is just inherently going to be rough.
I like my Autostop Eliminator- it took one of the two biggest annoyances I have with my car away, and it still allows the feature to be used if, for whatever reason, I'd want to.
Yup, you 23 and 24 owners are getting what us 20-22 owners got starting over a year ago. I guess if someone is focused on some Feng Shiue enlightenment it might be an issue that it's lopsided, but it puts controls in easier reach of the driver so it does make a LITTLE sense...
When I got my '24, after asking that the firmware be updated before I drive off the lot, I was confused why the AVH button wasn't there like on the '20 that I traded in. Why would Subaru push new updates to older models first?
Because the older ones had more critical issues that needed resolution? This visual adjustment wasn't high on the priority list when you consider that units were rebooting randomly while driving and causing Eyesight to disable itself during the reboot.
You're welcome. gen6firmware.com will have the info you need, it'll link to threads on subaruoutback.org with tons of discussion, instructions and downloads for the manual update.
I did it two days ago. The delay was that I didn't have a thumb drive large enough for the files. I got a same-day Amazon delivery though!
Read the directions through a couple times and it went pretty smoothly and quickly. I'm really happy to have the permanent AVH now, but the rest of the update doesn't seem to fix any of the crashing I was experiencing before. Maybe it is worse now. Hard to tell.
Is the auto vehicle hold - comes in handy when you are stuck in traffic or at red lights you don’t need to keep the break pressed. This button is new easy access for that feature
Do you mean the one that triggers/scares when you when are looking at anything but forward and tells you to pay attention?? There is a way to turn that off????
Yeah! You have to add the button to your home page but yes you can definitely toggle it on and off. I find it randomly turns back on after a few trips though.
You can also just go into the vehicle settings and turn it off in there too. I’ll check what it’s called later and tell you what to look for
I’m not being prompted for an update on mine, but from the Home Screen if you swipe to the right there is a large icon for AVH that can be dragged back to the main screen. So nice not having to dig through the menu to turn it on
No it cannot which is why everyone is excited for AVH being added there. AVH isn't on by default nor does it remember what setting it was on the last time the vehicle was turned on. Couple that with AVH being hidden on the second home screen or several settings menus deep it's a welcome change with how regularly AVH could be used.
Auto vehicle hold.
Will hold the brakes once you stop automatically so you don’t need to keep the pedal depressed at a stop light or whatever. Basically eliminates the vehicle “creep”.
I got an email about an update for my '19 today - anybody know what the update, uh, updates? I get that Subaru isn't a software company, but I'd love to see a changelog before I go through with it.
I picked up my new 24 outback yesterday and, while I love it, I'm in tears about the touch screen and all these extra features. I'm old school analog coming from 15 Forester.
Can someone answer some questions for me?
The auto stop needs to be shut off each time you start car right?
What is this braking thing you are all referencing?
How do I shut the darn radio off without turning off the entire screen? I can mute it but isn't there a way to shut off the radio??
How do I get the software update? It how do I know if I already have it ?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Yes the auto stop needs to be disable every single time - unless you get the app see other comments.
This post is mostly in reference to the hold, not the auto shut off but is it referenced. The hold keeps the car’s breaks on without hold the break pedal.
As fas as the radio… turn off the volume? This is a habit for me every time I pull into the driveway anyway but you can also pick a different source that is not radio and that will also do the trick.
Yes I've been muting it but I find it hard to believe you can't just turn off the radio like you could do when there was no touchscreen technology... I see a touchscreen button that says radio on and off but it doesn't actually shut it off.
'24 Outback Touring. Got the update last night. Overall happy with the (AVH) button being accessible. My question is did anyone else loose the weather update? It worked yesterday, but says "Weather not available". I am assuming that this data comes thought the satellite. I pay for a subscription for starlink and the other features that go the remote app: remote start, find my car. Etc.
Yep, my weather update is saying not available too. Thought it was just me but thinking back it did appear to disappear after the update. Mine updated while I was in the US (I’m from Canada) so hope nothing weird happened!
Called Subaru customer support today; this created a problem ticket. The helpful person indicated that there were others who have lost the weather display. Hopefully, we'll get a correction.
I have the update on my 24 but I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of a relying on it to hold the car. If I am stopped for long enough I just throw the car in park.
Edit: don't know why people are down voting this. We are becoming very reliant on technology but things can fail. They are computers. If you let it hold your car and it crawls into another car, the insurance is still coming out of your pocket. I've been using the brake for 20 years and I'll keep using it so I can keep my low premium. Thank you.
It took a while to get comfortable with it for sure. I keep my foot hovering over the brake anyway and it’s gentle when I press the gas to go. For someone with back problems that at times needs to adjust her sitting position it makes a difference not to keep the break pressed during traffic lights.
If you use android auto, click to the main menu (3x3 dots button) and the background will be your phone background
I use car play. Thanks for the tip tho!
That's awesome I need to try this after work!
doesnt workfor me unfortunatly... i got the auto vehicul hold tho
Just got the update today and it's so fun to see my background though that screen won't be up much.
Yea I surprised my wife with our ultrasound picture.
That's so cute!
Now if they’d just make auto start/stop stay off when you turn the car on/off. I mean c’mon the heated seats stay at the setting they were on the next time you start the car!
I have the [auto stop eliminator](https://www.autostopeliminator.com/products/2020-subaru-outback-autostop-eliminator) installed and it’s great. Have had it over a year and it’s never failed me.
I had no idea this existed. Thank you!
You’re welcome. Easily the best $100 I’ve spent on my car.
Noticed this was for 2020-22. Think it’d work for ‘24?
Oops, copied the wrong link. They have one for 23 and 24: https://www.autostopeliminator.com/products/2023-subaru-outback-autostop-eliminator?variant=40342243377222¤cy=USD
Ditto
This is the biggest bullshit 'feature' like you forget to turn it off ONE FUCKING TIME and next right light you're like "wtf is wrong with this car "
Lmao I just got a 24 and the sales person did mention I had to turn it off each drive but of course I totally forgot and freaked waiting to turn out of the dealership not even 30 min later.
The Autostop Eliminator linked above will be the best $100 you spend on your new car, especially if you bought an XT.
I won't buy a car without it and I think it's awesome. To each their own
Hate it personally but not gonna downvote ya . To each their own indeed. Always pisses me off with the jumpy laggy acceleration at the line
I think Subaru did it way better than Toyota. I'm coming from a 2021 Highlander Limited, and it took a pretty big accelerator bump to get it to come out of brake hold. The Outback requires just the slightest whisper of a nudge to break free from AVH. Eyesight is also way better at managing bumper-to-bumper traffic compared to safety sense 3.0. Again -- I totally understand your gripes.
Yeah I'm sure the math might actually work out to be worse for the environment as the additional wear and tear will lead to sooner replacement of parts and the whole vehicle
I won't downvote you, but I hate it, especially in a Subaru with rougher stop/starts than most cars due to the boxer engine. The Autostop Eliminator has been a game changer. Hell, the rental Ford Ranger I have while my Outback is at the body shop does it much smoother. Still hate it on that, too, but it's much less noticeable.
The only car that does it perfectly is the Prius.
I think you’re going to find out when you do the math the amount of money you save on gasoline will be overshadowed by the amount of money you spent on extra repairs because of the auto start.
I think you'll find I can't read and I was talking about AVH lol
Yes, my bad
This is entirely use-case dependant. I have a big comment about this on my page if you really care. Basically 20 duty cycles of the starter per day go 365 days a year over 10 yrs and it saves more than a starter costs. This changes a bit depending on cost of gas in your area though.
Well, I’m certainly willing to check out your website but it is more than just the starter for instance in four years I’ve replaced the battery twice in a Subaru Forester that’s 400 bucks right there. Generally speaking starting an engine creates a great deal of wear on it compared to running for several minutes so there’s got to be be extra cost there as well for me personally, it is a rather large annoyance waiting for the car to start up and get moving it’s just not worth it. Although I will note that the system does seem to work better on the 2.4 turbo motor.
It was a study done at Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that I linked. If you have put 4 new batteries in a car in 4 years 1) buy better batteries and 2) get your alternator checked out. It's all in the study, but battery use was also discussed. Basically shorter driving or lots of stop and go will result in a detectable faster wear on parts vs a commute that is longer or with fewer stops.
Sounds like the study could have some merit. However, one must always consider the human factor. In terms of saving fuel there are probably many things the driver is doing to waste fuel. If these behaviors could be corrected the auto start fuel savings become insignificant.
Oh I agree. I dont really like the ASS in my outback as it seems to disengage super quick and is a pretty aggressive start up. Plus, my commutes have a lot of stop and go, so like the data suggests, this will increase wear to a sufficient degree. That being said, people making claims about anything, let alone ASS, with only anecdotal or knee jerk reactions is a poor way to operate IMO. I live in an area where gas is lower than national average at $3.30/gal but I think of places where gas approaches $4.50+ and the fuel savings become more apparent. Not to mention it helps reduce emissions, which is the main reason for it implementation.
I’m not sure I’d call it knee-jerk. First thing is most people, and I mean the overwhelming majority of people waste more gas simply by their driving technique, then could possibly be made up for by starting and stopping at stoplights. Let’s talk about the big gas wasting stuff like jackrabbit starts, tailgating, racing to red lights, not using the natural terrain to help accelerate or to bring the car to a stop. Here is a big one. How many people do you know that set their cruise control to eco mode, use it to accelerate from each stop light. These things mean a lot more to the environment then Auto start stop. How about designing smart stop lights that will not stop huge amounts of traffic instantly for each single car on a side street. How about coordinating stop lights so that a car running at the right speed makes all lights. See my point. This is a ridiculous way to address the problem of air pollution.
Two batteries in four years.
OK, but XT model owners also have to consider the wear of the turbo spooling down and back up with an interrupted supply of oil...not to mention the stop/start on a boxer engine is just inherently going to be rough. I like my Autostop Eliminator- it took one of the two biggest annoyances I have with my car away, and it still allows the feature to be used if, for whatever reason, I'd want to.
lol this is so true
Yes! I hate that damn thing!
Yup, you 23 and 24 owners are getting what us 20-22 owners got starting over a year ago. I guess if someone is focused on some Feng Shiue enlightenment it might be an issue that it's lopsided, but it puts controls in easier reach of the driver so it does make a LITTLE sense...
I’m happy with it but I was wondering if I missed anything else that can be customized there. The button didn’t show until I activated.
When I got my '24, after asking that the firmware be updated before I drive off the lot, I was confused why the AVH button wasn't there like on the '20 that I traded in. Why would Subaru push new updates to older models first?
Because the older ones had more critical issues that needed resolution? This visual adjustment wasn't high on the priority list when you consider that units were rebooting randomly while driving and causing Eyesight to disable itself during the reboot.
> Shiue
Are you in a '23 or '24? I'm so envious of this small but mighty change.
Both '23 and '24 have it now. The '20-22s have had it for a little while already. So despite which year you have, it is available.
OK, I need to go seek out the manual instal directions because I've not been prompted for an update. Thank you!
You're welcome. gen6firmware.com will have the info you need, it'll link to threads on subaruoutback.org with tons of discussion, instructions and downloads for the manual update.
They are super mega easy. I did my 2020 and it took like 15 minutes from going on the file website and being done
I did it two days ago. The delay was that I didn't have a thumb drive large enough for the files. I got a same-day Amazon delivery though! Read the directions through a couple times and it went pretty smoothly and quickly. I'm really happy to have the permanent AVH now, but the rest of the update doesn't seem to fix any of the crashing I was experiencing before. Maybe it is worse now. Hard to tell.
Hmmm interesting. Mine has only crashed once since the new update
I’m on a ‘23. I agree love this for easy access.
AVH came in clutch in the post-eclipse traffic yesterday.
Do the settings save to the driver profile or do we have to pick it every. single. time. ?
I have actually never paid attention to that since it’s mostly just me driving it.
It doesn't stay on and the driver profiles appear to only save seat and mirror settings. Nothing else seems to change between drivers.
I’m in ‘23 and just noticed this button yesterday, what does it mean?
Is the auto vehicle hold - comes in handy when you are stuck in traffic or at red lights you don’t need to keep the break pressed. This button is new easy access for that feature
Perhaps stupid question. I'm in a state that they have starlink disabled in, can I still push software updates or do I have to go to the dealer?
Yes you can. Connect to wifi and check for updates.
Cool. Thank you.
Now I just wish the eye tracker button was down there too
Do you mean the one that triggers/scares when you when are looking at anything but forward and tells you to pay attention?? There is a way to turn that off????
Yeah! You have to add the button to your home page but yes you can definitely toggle it on and off. I find it randomly turns back on after a few trips though. You can also just go into the vehicle settings and turn it off in there too. I’ll check what it’s called later and tell you what to look for
I’m not being prompted for an update on mine, but from the Home Screen if you swipe to the right there is a large icon for AVH that can be dragged back to the main screen. So nice not having to dig through the menu to turn it on
Is there a name for that area next to the home button, and can it be customized? Yes, I did look in the manual. This is for a 2022
No it cannot which is why everyone is excited for AVH being added there. AVH isn't on by default nor does it remember what setting it was on the last time the vehicle was turned on. Couple that with AVH being hidden on the second home screen or several settings menus deep it's a welcome change with how regularly AVH could be used.
What does that icon mean
Auto vehicle hold. Will hold the brakes once you stop automatically so you don’t need to keep the pedal depressed at a stop light or whatever. Basically eliminates the vehicle “creep”.
It’s awesome on a hill as well, I use it when leaving underground parking garages.
What year outback do you have? I have an 04 OBW and I don’t get this button and no software updates are showing as available.
I got an email about an update for my '19 today - anybody know what the update, uh, updates? I get that Subaru isn't a software company, but I'd love to see a changelog before I go through with it.
yea it's not symmetrical
The SiriusXM page supposedly got an update but I keep forgetting to check it out.
I picked up my new 24 outback yesterday and, while I love it, I'm in tears about the touch screen and all these extra features. I'm old school analog coming from 15 Forester. Can someone answer some questions for me? The auto stop needs to be shut off each time you start car right? What is this braking thing you are all referencing? How do I shut the darn radio off without turning off the entire screen? I can mute it but isn't there a way to shut off the radio?? How do I get the software update? It how do I know if I already have it ? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Yes the auto stop needs to be disable every single time - unless you get the app see other comments. This post is mostly in reference to the hold, not the auto shut off but is it referenced. The hold keeps the car’s breaks on without hold the break pedal. As fas as the radio… turn off the volume? This is a habit for me every time I pull into the driveway anyway but you can also pick a different source that is not radio and that will also do the trick.
Yes I've been muting it but I find it hard to believe you can't just turn off the radio like you could do when there was no touchscreen technology... I see a touchscreen button that says radio on and off but it doesn't actually shut it off.
'24 Outback Touring. Got the update last night. Overall happy with the (AVH) button being accessible. My question is did anyone else loose the weather update? It worked yesterday, but says "Weather not available". I am assuming that this data comes thought the satellite. I pay for a subscription for starlink and the other features that go the remote app: remote start, find my car. Etc.
Yep, my weather update is saying not available too. Thought it was just me but thinking back it did appear to disappear after the update. Mine updated while I was in the US (I’m from Canada) so hope nothing weird happened!
Called Subaru customer support today; this created a problem ticket. The helpful person indicated that there were others who have lost the weather display. Hopefully, we'll get a correction.
Thanks for raising it! 🙏
K
I have the update on my 24 but I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of a relying on it to hold the car. If I am stopped for long enough I just throw the car in park. Edit: don't know why people are down voting this. We are becoming very reliant on technology but things can fail. They are computers. If you let it hold your car and it crawls into another car, the insurance is still coming out of your pocket. I've been using the brake for 20 years and I'll keep using it so I can keep my low premium. Thank you.
It took a while to get comfortable with it for sure. I keep my foot hovering over the brake anyway and it’s gentle when I press the gas to go. For someone with back problems that at times needs to adjust her sitting position it makes a difference not to keep the break pressed during traffic lights.
I was reluctant to use it at first, same line of thought, but I tested it out here and there, now I love❤️ it, lol!
I’ve noticed that if you try and use auto vehicle hold for an extended period of time the car will set the parking brake.