Subaru Legacy: Driving tips - Manual transmission - Starting and operating - Subaru Legacy Owners ManualSubaru Legacy: Driving tips

Do not drive with your foot resting on the clutch pedal and do not use the clutch to hold your vehicle at a standstill on an upgrade. Either of those actions may cause clutch damage.

Do not drive with your hand resting on the shift lever. This may cause wear on the transmission components.

When it is necessary to reduce vehicle speed due to slow traffic, turning corners, or driving up steep hills, downshift to a lower gear before the engine starts to labor.

On steep downgrades, downshift the transmission to 5th, 4th, 3rd or 2nd gear as necessary; this helps to maintain a safe speed and to extend brake pad life. In this way, the engine provides a braking effect. Remember, if you “ride” (over use) the brakes while descending a hill, they may overheat and not work properly. The engine may, on rare occasions, knock when the vehicle rapidly accelerates or rapidly pulls away from a standstill. This phenomenon does not indicate a problem.

    Maximum allowable speeds
    WARNING When shifting down a gear, ensure that the vehicle is not travelling at a speed exceeding the Maximum Allowable Speed for the gear which is about to be selected. Failure to observe this p ...

    Automatic transmission/Continuously variable transmission
    The automatic transmission is electronically controlled and provides 5 forward speeds and 1 reverse speed. The continuously variable transmission is electronically controlled and provides an infin ...

    See also:

    Head Restraints — Rear Seats
    The rear seat head restraints are fixed and cannot be adjusted. For proper routing of a Child Seat Tether refer to “Occupant Restraints” in “Things to Know Before Starting Your Vehicle” ...

    Cleaning the wheels
    Do not use acidic wheel cleaning products to remove brake dust. This could damage wheel bolts and brake components. Do not park the vehicle for an extended period straight after cleaning it, pa ...

    Radial-ply tires
    Radial-ply tires provide improved tread life, road hazard resistance and smoother high speed ride. The radial- ply tires used on this vehicle are of belted construction, and are selected to comple ...