NHTSA Complaint #10650088 — 2014 SUBARU OUTBACK

DRIVING WITH CRUISE CONTROL (CC) ENGAGED ON ROLLING TERRAIN, THE VEHICLE SPEEDS UP ON A DOWNHILL SLOPE UNTIL BRAKES ARE APPLIED (BY CC), THEN AT BOTTOM OF HILL PICKUP IS SLUGGISH AND SPEED FALLS OFF 2-3 MPH BELOW SET POINT. THEN THE POWER COMES ON LATE AND HARD, AND THE VEHICLE GOES OVER THE CREST OF THE HILL ACCELERATING AT PEAK POWER LEVEL, 2-3 MPH ABOVE SET POINT. AN ASSOCIATED ISSUE, OBSERVED SINCE THE CAR WAS NEW, IS THAT WHEN CLIMBING A UNIFORM 3-4% GRADE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THE ENGINE RPM CYCLES CONSTANTLY OVER A RANGE OF 800-1000 RPM AT A FREQUENCY AROUND 4 CYCLES/MINUTE. THIS IS ANNOYING TO THE DRIVER AND PASSENGERS, AND INCREASES THE STRESS LEVEL ON THE DRIVER. WE HAVE HAD THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER THREE TIMES, AND A FACTORY REP HAS EVALUATED IT, THE RESPONSE WE GET IS THAT THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING WITHIN SPECIFICATIONS, AND NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN, NOR WILL ANY ADJUSTMENTS BE MADE. *TR