I think the answer to your question lies in what happens when the SVX is driven in "D" around town and at sub-freeway speeds.

The weakest point on the beautiful SVX is it's transmission. This is due to poor ATF flow in the very complicated 4spd automatic transaxle.

One way to prolong the life of your transmission is to drive the car in the "3" position when driving under 60mph. The very tall 4th gear is really only designed for use on the freeway and cruising w/ fuel efficiency. By driving in "D", the transmission is forced to downshift into 3rd or even 2nd gear quite often, this combined with the unfortunate fact that the transmission has flow problems causes excessive heat and wear. Driving in "3" will put a dent in overall gas mileage but your car will love you for it. This constant "kick-down" out of 4th gear generates heat, wich eventually could lead to the death of a very technologically advanced transaxle.

I would also advise any SVX owner NOT to have a transmission flush done on a higher mileage transmission. I had one done on my '92 original tranny w/ hopes that this would prolong the life of it. Shockingly, it did the exact opposite. Less than 5 weeks after the transmission was flushed 3rd and 4th gear were totally lost. To this day I am skeptical on whether or not the person who performed this service filled the fluid back up all the way. The technician I took the transmission to told me that my transmission failed due to lack of fluid. On the other hand I also wonder if the flush had just disturbed enough sediment and gound metal shavings to form a clog and starve the rear portion of the tranny w/ fluid. Either way, I don't think I'll ever let anyone talk me into doing anything to my car w/o asking about it on this forum first.

My Subie has been in the shop now for 1 week and I should have her back this Wednesday . I am having an external B&M transmission filter installed in place of the one installed as an attempt to prolong the life of the transmission by the dealerships. I would just replace the canister filter but Subaru decided to discontinue it. I am also currently shoping for tranny-coolers and aluminum pans.

Good luck out there!