My 1st experience with a CV Transmission - mixed

[Razl]

A couple of weeks my 9-5 Saab was hit on the front driver side by another car and had to be towed away. So for the past 2 weeks I've been driving a 2007 Dodge Caliber. With any new car, I always like to play around a little to understand how it responds to different driver inputs.

One of the first things I noticed was that the shifter only 2 drive options, "D" and "L". After a little bit of driving, the transmission felt slushy overall and I thought something was wrong with the torque lock-up. Every time I gave it a little gas from a nice steady speed, the RPMs would climb sharply and out of synch with the actual acceleration.

Things only got stranger. I turn on to an exit ramp slowly (20MPH) then with WOT, the engine quickly reached 6,000 RPM around 45 mph and stayed there, never shifting gears to my amazement. 50-60-70-80 up to 85 MPH the car accelerated but the crazy transmission never shifted once! It was only when I back of the gas at 85, did the needle move from 6,000 RPMs. I was dumbfounded

Only later did I read that Dodge put CVTs in their Caliber line. The best way to explain what car feels like you accelerate hard is like accelerating with a worn out clutch plate. The engine whines hard as the transmission slowly plays catch-up.

Do all CVTs feel like this

I can't wait to get my Saab back.

 

[rjundi]

The Caliber has a cruddy motor coupled to a CVT. I got one as a rental.

I had a chance to drive the Audi A4/CVT /6 cylinder and its a very nice combination.

 

[Steve S]

My wife tells me if you take the d and e out of Dodge you get Dog.

 

[The Critic]

I have no clue about the DC CVT in the Caliber. The 2007 Camry Hybrid I was in has me "sold" on the CVT concept. The car lacked a RPM gauge, but the car accelerated very smoothly, quietly, and quickly with the standard CVT unit and the combined 192HP output. The concept of a CVT is to eliminate the conventional "gears" found in a normal transmission, right?

 

[simple_gifts]

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My wife tells me if you take the d and e out of Dodge you get Dog.

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It is true, if you are having problems figuring it out... 8)

Anyway thread probably should be titled My 1st experience with a bad CV transmission.

 

[Al]

We had a 57 Chevy Turboglide that operated the same way. No shifting. Back to the future.

 

[rpn453]

I prefer the direct ratio of engine speed to vehicle speed with a standard, but I'm interested in driving some CVTs. If they prove to be reliable and aren't too complex to fix, and the fuel economy and performance makes them worth the extra cost, I'd be willing to own one and get used to the strangeness of not having gears. Snowmobiles use CVTs and are still fun to drive.

 

[Gary Allan]

I don't know if I'd call it a "bad" thing. Depending on throttle input the engine is either operating at an economy level or a performance level of output ..and the trans is allowing it to stay there. Sounds rather ideal to me

Staying @ 6000 rpm (probably) meant that the max hp was being put out by the engine. Remove your foot ...it goes into economy mode and spools up the trans.

Now just bring the max output of the engine down to about 70 hp so you're more into the full output of the engine and you can really tweak some mpg out of it..assuming that the CV trans isn't a hp hog.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Al - I know from personal experience that the 57 Chevys had 2 speed Powerglides.

The early fifties Buicks had something similar to what was described above (called a Dyna-Glide, I think). Could that be what you are thinking of?

 

[TooManyWheels]

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(called a Dyna-Glide, I think)

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On second thought, make that "Dynaflow". Google says they were in some Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs too.

 

[JTK]

They do feel and sound a bit odd at first. I've driven two: An ecotec + CVT AWD Saturn Vue and a larger V6 + CVT Nissan Murrano. You didn't notice it much on the quiet and torquey nissan, but the vue was much like driving a scooter, slow snowmobile, PWC, etc.. Hit the throttle, the engine screams up to an RPM point and stays there as you accellerate.

Joel

 

[Razl]

I applaud the engineering simplicity and infinite transmission ratios of CVT but I don't think its superiority comes out in the Caliber. I would really like to try it in a better car. I'm sure it eventually replace the planetary geared transmissions.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Has anyone driven the 2007 Nissan Altima 4cylinder with the CVT trans? MPG has gone up from 29 to 34 (highway) with this new trans and redesign.

 

[JTK]

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I applaud the engineering simplicity and infinite transmission ratios of CVT but I don't think its superiority comes out in the Caliber. I would really like to try it in a better car. I'm sure it eventually replace the planetary geared transmissions.

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I hear you. Simple belt drive CVT's take a horrendous beating in golf carts, snowmobiles, those little utility trucks, etc.. and still last a long time. They dont want to make anything last *too* long in a passenger vehicle.

Joel