Are CVTs really that bad?

[Sabantien]

Have only driven two CVTs, a Camry Hybrid and an ASX.

The Camry just felt mushy and horrible, but wasn't noisy or anything. It just felt like nothing was happening when you put your foot down. This may also be related to being a hybrid. Only drove it once, was a test drive for the girl to get a new car. She also hated it.

My old work had an ASX work car that I drove quite a few times.
The car sounds like a lawn mower, is incredibly loud, and also feels like you're not accelerating, but I must admit, the CVT does actually accelerate quite well, it's not taking a break to change gears and drop down revs, so the acceleration is there, but it is deceptive.

I took it around the city a lot, but also drove Brisbane to Toowoomba and back. Going up the range the engine was screaming, and I thought I wasn't going to make it.

Awful awful car to drive. At this point if I had the choice between a CVT and a manual, I'd take a manual. But i'd also give the CVT car a test drive first to see how I felt. Because the ASX is awful doesn't mean everything is.

[minheim]

In terms of general functionality I have no problems with a CVT. The main draw back I find is probably the delay in getting quick sudden acceleration but with most CVT cars you have the option of using the sport shift option if you want a more spirited experience . As for reliability it depends on the manufacturer. My daughter has a 2009 lancer and it has 150K on the odo and the transmission hasn't missed a beat since new and it still drives the same as when she bought it. We also have a mid 2014 lancer GSR and it is on 45K and is fine. You never hear anyone question the reliability of a CJ lancer. I'd rather a CVT than a DCT any day is is why the lancer was purchased over the Focus or golf in 2014.

[Windsor220]

Mitsubishis CVTs were pretty bad to drive in the early days especially in things like the Colt. They've improved the software now though so they dont rev their **** off all the time.

One of the issues with the newer Outlander CVTs is they tend to go in into a too tall ratio when you are cruising around town and it sounds like the engine is labouring plus vibrates the car. Not sure if they ever fixed that issue.

[Vesper Martini]

Driven the latest corolla with one - thought it was ace. Drove the Pathfinder thought it was ok too
keeps the revs down for economy when you put the foot down it keeps in its optimal power band.
I think a few "enthusiasts" might want it to rev more without realising that wont make it go any quicker..
To me they feel like they should be mated to a diesel I would much prefer one in My Territory than the confused excuse for a ZF it has.
I believe there is Forester Diesel CVT worth trying

To summarise if you want a sports car go for a manual, - but then if you shopping for an Outlander do you really care?

cost of repair was mentioned when they are older -I cant see them being any worse than an other 6-7 speed auto or DSG - and the CVT are by design much simpler than multi cog box's

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

One of the issues with the newer Outlander CVTs is they tend to go in into a too tall ratio when you are cruising around town and it sounds like the engine is labouring plus vibrates the car. Not sure if they ever fixed that issue.

Fiesta etc does that too with the DSG - saves fuel

[bingoTE50]

My Son has a New Honda Civic RS -1.5 turbo CVT . Ive driven it and I dont mind it. It has two or three settings plus paddle shift. Equal to a seven speed. 0-100 tested at 7.5 sec . Not too shabby for quite a big car that the civic has become.

[Foggy]

My wifes ASX is fun to drive with the cvt. Yes it is a totally different technique compared to a normal auto but it still moves quite well.

[Brazen]

Yeah the way I think of it is that CVTs are probably better in the first 50% of throttle and traditional autos are better in the top 50% of throttle

[Cheech]

Our small hire car in NZ was CVT equipped.

I called it the death machine.

Putting the foot down to merge or overtake the plethora of camper vans in the South Island was a hair greying experience. Lots of raucous noise and the acceleration rate of a snail.

Yes, perfectly acceptable for puttering around. But that's about it.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Cheech

Our small hire car in NZ was CVT equipped.

I called it the death machine.

Putting the foot down to merge or overtake the plethora of camper vans in the South Island was a hair greying experience. Lots of raucous noise and the acceleration rate of a snail.

Yes, perfectly acceptable for puttering around. But that's about it.

Wouldn't that be more to do with the engine size?
CVT shouldn't make the car any slower than a normal Auto

[greentea41]

We have had a Subaru Forester since May '16.

The CVT is great. It's a bit disconcerting because there are no shift points. When you go up a hill, the speed remains constant but the revs go up.

Economy is very good too.

We went to Melbourne from Adelaide for Christmas. Whenever I gave it a bootfull, there was no hesitation and exceeding the speed limit happened very quickly.

There is a "S" setting which I haven't used yet - never felt the need!

Obviously, Subaru got it right.

[TUF_302]

Get ManWell, never trust a CVT

[BENT_8]

My Wife bought a 2013 Outlander in July last year with the 2.0l and CVT. When we test drove it we found it to be ok.
Luckily enough we didn't trade her Sportivo camry, deciding instead to hand it over to her parents to use.
6 Months later the in-laws decided they didn't like the camry as it was too low for the old boy to get in and out of and wanted an SUV type vehicle, so the Wife decided to give them the Outlander and take back her Camry.
2 days later she said she was so glad to have her Camry back as she was over the gutless noisy CVT Outlander.
It's ok for 2 people, and the in-laws love it, but as soon as you load it up it was terrible.

In November last year we took a P&O cruise from Sydney to Hobart, hiring a 2.4l CVT Outlander to head around to Pt Arthur, it drove fantastically and in stark contrast to the 2.0l version.

On Tuesday we hired a current model Corolla with CVT and found it great to drive around Sydney.

Moral of the story, the CVT is ok if the engine has enough get up and go for the size of the vehicle, the underpowered 2.0l Outlander is quite possibly the worst vehicle we have ever owned

[Olbucko]

I sometimes have to drive a Subaru Liberty with a CVT box, it's like driving a bowl of porridge, put the foot down, the pitch of the drone changes slightly, and sometimes it even accelerates a little, a very dull drive. The whole package seems to be designed for the bored driver that is only interested in getting somewhere. So nice to get back into my XR6 and enjoy driving again.

[greentea41]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

My Wife bought a 2013 Outlander in July last year with the 2.0l and CVT. When we test drove it we found it to be ok.
Luckily enough we didn't trade her Sportivo camry, deciding instead to hand it over to her parents to use.
6 Months later the in-laws decided they didn't like the camry as it was too low for the old boy to get in and out of and wanted an SUV type vehicle, so the Wife decided to give them the Outlander and take back her Camry.
2 days later she said she was so glad to have her Camry back as she was over the gutless noisy CVT Outlander.
It's ok for 2 people, and the in-laws love it, but as soon as you load it up it was terrible.

In November last year we took a P&O cruise from Sydney to Hobart, hiring a 2.4l CVT Outlander to head around to Pt Arthur, it drove fantastically and in stark contrast to the 2.0l version.

On Tuesday we hired a current model Corolla with CVT and found it great to drive around Sydney.

Moral of the story, the CVT is ok if the engine has enough get up and go for the size of the vehicle, the underpowered 2.0l Outlander is quite possibly the worst vehicle we have ever owned

Our Subaru Forester has a 2.5L motor and I run it on 98RON Fuel. It runs much more smoothly and seems to have plenty of go. Perhaps the latest generation of CVTs are much improved over the previous units. But I have to agree that insufficient power is a drag (pun intended) with any auto box.

[LightingBA]

My partners car is a 2015 t32 xtrail petrol with the cvt auto and its been faultless in 35000kms we have done since new. Drives a little differently then a traditional auto but nothing you don't get used to. Goes pretty good on fuel to, usually just under 9l/100km around town and around 6.5l/100km on the highway. So after all that i dont reckon the latest generation of cvt transmissions aren't bad at all.

[The Yeti]

I liken this to the old get a carby never trust efi debate

I've had 2 outlanders with cvt they sound stupid but get past that, they perform ok and give good economy

No one wants a manual any more, hell most kids on their P's don't even know what it is

[Danny]

CVTs Stifle performance all the while feeling like a manual with perpetually slipping clutch. Subaru were insane enough to put one in the new WRX as the auto option.. I'll let this video do the talking. Spoiler: it's almost a second slower to 100km/h..

http://youtu.be/nLwK95rX0Qc

[BLUEYBA]

I have a Subaru Liberty with the CVT and they definitely take some getting use to. Its very had to compare to the normal auto. I went from the BA 4spd and they work differently and sound different which took time to get me head around as I expected it to work the same. I think that's the biggest problem. So far the CVT has been good.
I probably prefer the traditional auto but I have no major complaints with the CVT.

[SpoolMan]

My wife drives a Nissan Qashqai Ti 2015 45,000 klm CVT smooth really nice vehicle to drive.
My daughter has 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander CVT 125,000 klm no issues, from either car had both since new.

[Kieron]

Tst drove the current XTrail when it first came out a few years ago and to be honest, I didn't know or pick it was a CVT.

Had a Jeep Patriot loaner (CVT) for a few days last year, didn't like the trans at all.

In Jan this year, re-visited the XTrail for my sister in law, lovely thing to drive so it was purchase. I've driven it quite a few times now around suburbia, freeway driving with 4 adults and 3 kids (7 seater) and it was still a decent drive, its certainly not gutsy like our diesel GC but I wouldn' expect it to be, for a family hauler, i'd have it on the list in CVT form, wouldn't touch it in manual primarily due to resale values and it's not a sporty car.

[ebxr8240]

Some of these vehicles are ok to drive around the block on pre delivery.. BUT it DOES'NT mean its going to be a top vehicle in the future !!

[andrich]

I own two CVT's.
A T32 Xtrail Ti 4wd and a Subura Outback diesel.
I like the CVT in both. They both work well at keeping them in the right rev range. Both are also very quiet.

[Kieron]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Some of these vehicles are ok to drive around the block on pre delivery.. BUT it DOES'NT mean its going to be a top vehicle in the future !!

I assume your referring to my post re the test drive? If so, I did mention that I have driven it quite a few times therefore are speaking from real life use.

[Windsor220]

They seem to be fairly reliable. In Mitsubishis case anyway I cant vouch for the other manufacturers. Since they came out I've only seen 2 that have been replaced due to a strange noise.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

They seem to be fairly reliable. In Mitsubishis case anyway I cant vouch for the other manufacturers. Since they came out I've only seen 2 that have been replaced due to a strange noise.

My sisters current outlander (her 3rd) has 210k on the clock with no issues ever.
Another friend has just traded her 04 Maxima with the CVT (with the tasty VQ V6) after 180k, no issues either.
The consensus here is I think correct, great for easy going commuting, which is 99% of driving nowadays, crap for spirited mountain driving, the op, make your own judgement.

[zlcrazy]

Loving the detailed replies. Keep them coming please :-)

[78xcgxl]

Drove a 2016 Mitsubishi outlander as a hire car in Tassie for the week and what a horrible car to drive. The auto was awful and only now i realise that it being a CVT was the problem. Build quality was also very poor and very gutless, feel sorry for anyone who has to drive one. Was very glad to be back in my FG work ute when i arrived back in Melb.

[Craig@AUDI]

It's an old report, more modern ones are probably better

http://dogandlemon.com/sites/default...missions_0.pdf

[EDManual]

Just my 2 cents. I hate them :-) If you like driving, just dont get one.