With life getting faster and convenient, a lot of features in the automotive industry are also transforming. These include the latest features in vehicles to the drivetrain and powertrain. But for today, we will be focusing on the drivetrain, that to a CVT automatic. So, before further ado let’s get going.
What is a CVT?
To begin with, CVT stands for Continuously Variable Transmission and uses a combination of belts and pulleys to keep the engine in its powerband.
In the era with loads of automatic transmission to choose from, this is one of the advanced automatic transmissions used in moderns cars is a CVT. This transmission is unlike any other gearbox, as it uses belts instead of conventional gears. To extract the most out of the engine, newer CVT transmission also reads the driving style of the driver and improvises for optimum performance.
Why Choose CVT Box?
Well, when talking about automatic transmission CVTs allows the engine to return really good fuel efficiency figures. This is because, with the CVT box, the engine runs at a constant RPM or engine speed. In other words, CVT always keeps the transmission in the right gear ratio.
Keeping that aside, having a plethora of positives, CVT does have some drawbacks. And these drawbacks can be a problem for some new drivers. Well, it’s a no brainer that automatic transmissions are a lot easier to drive when compares to a manual transmission. Moving on, here are possible problems new drivers might face when owning or driving a car with a CVT box.
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Expensive to buy
Expensive to buy // Representative Image When you are in the market in search of a vehicle, manual transmission or an automatic are the two options when it comes to driving a train. And, when talking about CVT automatic, these are comparatively expensive when comparing it to their manual counterparts.
Taking the price of the 5th gen Honda City into perspective, the base V variant of the vehicle with an MT costs about ₹11.19 Lakh (ex-showroom). Whereas, the same variant with a CVT costs about ₹12.59 Lakh (ex-showroom). And that my friend is a jump of ₹1.40 Lakh.
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Costly to Repair
Service and Maintenance Costs Now if you have got yourself a vehicle with a CVT box, beware, the after-service cost of this automatic transmission is high. In a CVT box, there are fewer moving parts, but this doesn’t mean the service costs are less. Having said that, if a problem arises in the CVT, it is the complete unit that needs to be replaced.
Meaning, it requires a really deep pocket to get a CVT automatic fixed. So, drive with care. Another aspect involves the periodic transmission service. A CVT requires Special oil and transmission fluid that also is expensive than conventional. In the end, these services are performed by a skilled technician.
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A little slow to respond
paddle shifters High mileage and convenience come with some compromise. Unlike other automatic transmissions, the CVT box is a little slow to respond to the inputs. This has to do with the working of this transmission. As the belts inside the transmission are in constant tension it takes time for the belt to adjust the ratios. This is what is called a rubber band effect. Also, there are situations when a sudden throttle input is given which lead to the belts slipping i.e the engine power is lost.
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Hard to get used to
Hard to get used to CVTs can be hard to get used to as they don’t function the same way as the other conventional automatic transmissions. Because of the rubber band effect, the engine sound is monotonous, which at times give rise to difficulty in shifting gears when in manual mode.
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Vanilla Driving Experience
Plain Driving Experience Now considering all the situations, driving with a CVT automatic transmission, the experience is plain vanilla. With the CVT there is no sudden surge of torque, nor does the engine utilises its complete power. This is why when two cars with the same engine but one with an MT and the other with a CVT, the one with the auto box is slower by a considerable amount.
Also, read Things To Know When Driving A Torque Converter Automatic Car For The First Time
Verdict
Be it any modern technology everything has its own pros and cons. But with these 5 problems, this doesn’t mean that CVT is an inferior transmission. It has its own fair set of pros that makes a car with CVT worth a buy. Let us know in the comment section what do you think of the CVT automatic. Also, which is your favourite automatic transmission and why?
I want to go slow on the road.
Soon all car will have automatic transmission, like common tubeless and allay wheels,,,,,
When car shopping I always rule out any car with a CVT.
Cvt gives u best efficiency on Traffic jammed roads of city and also has road grip while trekking a steep rise in ghats and no risk of coming or slipping backwards or like AMT car do have.
CVT undoubtedly has a great mileage and it’s easy to use, also there’s no rubber band effect, driving a Jazz 2018!
There is a RUBBER BAND effect…what the hell are u talking about…its a belt and pulley mechanism
It’s actually a metal chain
I own Jazz CVT. On traffic single I am alway 1st to get ahead among all manuals. If you are non-racer driver, you can not beat CVT pickup. It’s linear acceleration, unlike stepup in manual.
Once expert and knows nerves of your CVT. You will rule the road.
With Hinda Jazz 2021 CVT experiance has been great, Had a smooth ride even in hill areas. I drove almost 2000km on a long trip including hill/ghat roads, I never felt slowness in pickup. Jazz an Excellent CVT.
Will not shift when cold out
I will. not buy another auro with this CVT Transmission I have nothing but troubles with spend unnecessary money trying to find out and fixing thing to only findly getting to right person to tell me what was wrong with my automobile and when he told me I was so outraged that the automobile companies can do something so stupid, can not be detected on any code reader the automatic only new because his auto did the samething. So it boils down to and 6 months later not getting a high price automatic but someone that has had the some issues and the only way to fix this problem is replacing the whole Transmission oh by the my was the warning light was coming on (over heating) I would lose power li l e someone threw my auto in neutral lwhat I was towing was over heating the engine. Well guess what I was not towing anything. So to what to do I was not going to replace the Transmission.
First of all I live in Oklahoma and as you probably know the temperature ought side is up to ove a 100 degrees outside so yes you guess it.
TOO OUTSIDE FOR MY AUTO GO FIGURE BUY A NICE AUTOMOBILE AND CAN NOT DRIVE IT in THE SUMMER IF THE HEAT IS OVER A 100 DEGREES SO I NEED A SUMMER CAR OR JUST DRIVE THIS ONE WITH OUT THE A/C OH YEA MAKE SUR THAT ANYTIME THE AUTO DOSE NOT GO OVER 3 RPM OR IT WILL OVER HEAT ANH WAY. I DON’T UNDETSTAND HOW WITH ALL TELL TECHNOLOGY THETE IS KNOW DAYS THAT THIS WAS NOT FIGURED OUT SO STUPID. THEY SO BR MADE TO RECALL THE CVT TRANSMISSION .
PS IF ANYBODY HEARS OF A RECALL FOR A 2011 JEEP COMPASS A D THIS PROBLEM DOSNT START HAPPENING UNTILL ABOUT 75000.00 TO 10000.OO MILLES.
Thanks you and God Bless
I wouldn’t recommend a cvt gearbox to anyone specially the Nissan brandmy mu brought a brand new Nissan maxima the cvt gearbox lasted 30,0000 ks and got serviced by Nissan regularly then all of a sudden her car needed a gearbox replacement under warranty blamed her for towing a very little trailer once a month to the green waste dump so grass clippings.i said to her so your gearbox will need replacement every 30,000 ks with an old lady driver.she now has a Toyota vitz and hasn’t had a single problem.i do believe it’s the design of the Nissan CVT Toyota doesn’t seem to have the same problems.keeping oil cool seems to be the best way to get Xtra life out of those gearbox’s and don’t tow anything either they can’t handle high touqe loads very little engine braking
Recently purchased Renault Kiger 1.0 SXZ Turbo CVT automatic. During first 1200 kms of driving including in city and rajasthan highway I found smooth transmission and good pick up without any issues. Fuel efficiency in first 1200 kms has been 13 kmpl, which is likely to improve subsequently as the new engines sets in.
Hey there!
Congratulations on your new purchase! Have a great car ownership experience
Manuals the best as long as dont run dry of oil,will last for ever,bullet proof. Manufacturers are making cvt gear boxes because cheaper to manufacture and will benefit from when you the customer has to replace gearbox,no brainer!!!
Hey Davey! True, manuals are the most reliable. However, with traffic conditions getting worse every day, many people prefer an automatic
I have crv 2003 manual gear box since 2003 bullit proof.i dont think any cvt gear box will last that long. And all the manual cars out there that are 40 years plus are still out there doing their stuff.car manufacturers are simply taking you the public for a very expensive ride and your so gullible to believe them.just simply buy a good second hand manual car and enjoy,and stop trying to impress other people with new technology that simply doesnt last long,manual with simple electronics and your laughing with plenty of money in your pockets and in the pockets of the greedy manufacturers.
Quite a view point you have Davey. Interesting take.
Sorry what i meant was plenty of money in your pockets and not in the pockets of greedy manufacturers.because believe me that when manufacturers go fully electric and it will happen soon very soon,all the cvts and what not,will be so expensive to replace,trust me the second hand car market of the manual cars will sky rocket because they wont be making automatic or cvts or if they do they will be limited and very very expensive indeed.
I know whay you mean but when traffic is slow moving,your only using your right leg and your left leg is dormant and muscle not being used and over time damage to that leg.