Anyone cross shop the CX-5 with a Subaru Outback?

That one would be very hard to answer as everyone has different needs and different driving style. For my part - CX5's tranny is perfectly fine while I granny-drive it, but for everything else - let's just say that whatever logic there is behind how it shifts - it rarely aligns with what I want it to be doing.

Another good example would be highway driving. Often - when going uphill, the engine is already waaaaay out of it's optimal RPM range, but the tranny just keeps feeding it the 6th for the sake of fuel millage. So whenever hitting hilly stretches - I'm almost always switching into manual mode anyways to use appropriate gears. Might just as well be driving a real manual.

It does not downshift to 5th going uphill on the highway? You may have to give it some more gas or even use the step pedal.
 
It does not downshift to 5th going uphill on the highway?

To be more precise - when I've mentioned highway - I forgot to mention "being on cruise control".

That said, when going uphill - of course it will downshift... eventually... but by my standards and my - hands-on understanding of mechanics - by the time it will downshift into the 5th - it should have been in the 4th already.

I really envy people who don't give a @$%t and can just drive as-is. I can't - too much experience and knowledge behind. The way modern automatics are programmed - it might be good for the fuel millage, but it's not good for the engine in the long run. And even the "fuel millage" thingy is arguable as I've noticed more than once on subtile uphills that I'd be getting a fraction better millage being in 5th - than if I was to let the car decide - and keep grinding the 6th.
 
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