I test drove a Subaru with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). No gears, no shifting. Kind of strange driving it. I sort of understand the concept and it seems like a good idea, but I'm old school and I'm wondering how these hold up in the long run. I'd like to hear some opinions on this.

When the trans goes out, you either pay around $5000.00 for a trans or you throw the car away.

I'm curious too! Not too many out there. Wonder how expensive it will be if it breaks, and how easy it will be to get parts?

they can't pull anything anyway.

saw a suv (think it was a honda) that had a CVT and it would't pull two jet skis.

the way it was explained to me, that a cvt has metal inside of it, when the car is put in drive, a magnet spins and throws the metal inside of it, creating motion to propel the car.

they can't handle loads of any kind

From what I know a CVT transmition is belt driven and the two pulleys the belt rides on, one from motor, the other to the drive wheels, have the ability to change their diamiter, which changes the drive ratio.

I would assume them to be high maintenance, break often under heavy use, and not intended for towing uses.

matt

This just reinforces my original gut feeling about these.
Thanks much for your input. I'm not buying one.

I'd say they're not good for towing..... yet.


These will be the future of transmissions, and once engines are designed specifically for them, mileage and longevity could increase dramatically.

There are millions of these cars on road. Just about every major car manufactuer makes the cvt. I did some research when we bought one. The technology has been around since the 50's. Suburu and Nissan started mass producing these car inthe early 80's. It's tried and true. If you look at the car forums report very little problems with this technology. It requires less maintenance and better on fuel. There are some negatives but they have more to do with user acceptance. Go buy one!

i wish i could find the video, a guy came up with a transmission that was infinitely variable. it was a really sweet set up and could go from highest gear all the way to reverse without ever shifting anything.

Friend of mine has a Nissan Altima with it and it's held up fine. I see Altimas everywhere so they can't be that bad.

My wife's Murano w/CVT is rated at 3500 lbs... shouldn't be an issue.

A new CVT tranny costs around $6500, though Nissan just increased the warranty on the Tranny to 10/120K so I'm not worried about that at all. Not sure about Subaru.

snapper lawnmowers have had this since the 70-80's.

also look up the buick "dynaflow" of the 1950's


on another note the "salsbury"(sp) transmission has been around forever ( varible pulley's /belt )
most golf carts use them ..