RWD 8-Speed CVT

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I was today years old when I found out that there ever was such a thing... Yes, you read that correctly, an 8-speed RWD CVT transmission. If I understand it correctly - it was only for JDM market, yet some had it in other countries too, so I'm gonna assume it was available to everyone except US. Came in a Nissan Skyline 350GT-8. In US we know it as Infiniti G35. Except in US it only came in 5-speed auto or 6-speed manual, while other countries in 2005-2006 got to also enjoy the 8-speed CVT in that RWD Platform. I'm jealous... Because a VQ35 with 30MPG (thanks to that CVT) would've been the perfect cruiser, in my humble opinion.
Until now I was under impression that CVT only exists for transverse-engine mounted platforms. Apparently though there were even earlier models that came with RWD CVT even before 2000s. At the time those were supposedly available with the grandpa VG30 engine, but I'm not sure of the exact models.
 
8 speeds and CVT do not seem to go together?
That's the whole point, but somehow Nissan made it work. I'm guessing it was a grandpa of all CVTs that come with paddle shifters these days. Shifting simulations and all that good stuff. People say it was smoother than the 5-speed auto, yet the main difference only came at highway speeds, when CVT kept the RPMs just low enough to keep moving. Thus 30MPG by US gallons, or 35MPG if we're talking imperial gallons.
 
I can see this if it's just an electronic shift type thing linked to a 'fake' gearshift that simply sends signals like an 'autostick' or something.
 
I wonder why toroidal CVT's never took off in longitudinal applications. Ford's idea of CVT's in trucks never came to fruition either.

 
I wonder why toroidal CVT's never took off in longitudinal applications. Ford's idea of CVT's in trucks never came to fruition either.

I thought cvt’s were limited in the amount of torque they could handle?
 
For starters, for folks who don’t know, the Nissan Skyline GT350 is the global name for the Infiniti G35 in the US. The Skyline GT350-8 is the CVT equipped version. The CVT operates like any other CVT, but the paddle shifters are able to simulate shift points, up to a total of 8.

This is not a Step transmission with 8 speeds, combined with a CVT.
 
For starters, for folks who don’t know, the Nissan Skyline GT350 is the global name for the Infiniti G35 in the US. The Skyline GT350-8 is the CVT equipped version. The CVT operates like any other CVT, but the paddle shifters are able to simulate shift points, up to a total of 8.

This is not a Step transmission with 8 speeds, combined with a CVT.
Subaru does this, and every generation of car gets another fake speed! Mine has 7, and the older ones 6, the newer ones 8. If you are drifting around it is useful as it locks into a ratio so you get engine braking and keep the rpms up, or get the engine "spooled up" for a pass.
Anyways, as an all wheel drive, all roads, transportation appliance that gets decent mileage, I have no serious complaints about the car or CVT and will be happy to drive it as long as it will go.
 
It's just 8 simulated gears using the CVT.

But.. Toyota/Lexus has attached a 4-speed automatic transmission to its eCVT (planetary gear power split device), to further widen the gear ratios, like on the LC500h... and a 1-speed "take-off gear" on the Corolla CVT.
 
Subaru does this, and every generation of car gets another fake speed! Mine has 7, and the older ones 6, the newer ones 8. If you are drifting around it is useful as it locks into a ratio so you get engine braking and keep the rpms up, or get the engine "spooled up" for a pass.
Anyways, as an all wheel drive, all roads, transportation appliance that gets decent mileage, I have no serious complaints about the car or CVT and will be happy to drive it as long as it will go.
Yep, I had a newer Legacy 8-speed CVT as a loaner for 2 days while my LGT was at the dealer for a recall.
I went in thinking I would absolutely hate the CVT, but I quickly found that I didn't. It was surprisingly well tuned, and the 8 'speeds' generally did what I wanted them to do. Two days later I left thinking 'if I was a leasing type, I'd consider leasing one of these someday'
 
Yep, I had a newer Legacy 8-speed CVT as a loaner for 2 days while my LGT was at the dealer for a recall.
I went in thinking I would absolutely hate the CVT, but I quickly found that I didn't. It was surprisingly well tuned, and the 8 'speeds' generally did what I wanted them to do. Two days later I left thinking 'if I was a leasing type, I'd consider leasing one of these someday'
I assume the loaner was the 2.5l? It would be interesting to compare the new turbo engine in the lightest package it comes in, to the older turbo car. I was pretty impressed with the 2.4t in the Ascent atleast.
 
Pretty cool for a RWD application. the Sport mode in my wife’s CRV does do a decent job of preserving better rev ranges suitable to the nature of the CUV when precise traffic driving is warranted. In normal mode, if will fake-shift some when pushed. When the revs are in the right range, I don’t really care that much. I guess fake gears are one way to do it. I’ve gotten used to it.

seems to me they’d be approaching a higher torque capability soon for truck-type vehicles, though a dsg might do better with minimizing losses?
 
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