IMHO, those emulated steps on top of the CVT are ludicrous.
One of the biggest advantages (and the reasons why CVT was invented in
the first place) is the stepless, smooth transmission.
So, this "emulation" is undoing the benefit.
And I know that Nissan and Honda (and a few others) are doing that
horrendous stupidity to satisfy people who need to be jolted every
time they accelerate. The worst part is that you cannot disable that
stupid emulation. (That should be very simple - that's a computer
program.)
I actually enjoy the smoothness I had from the CVT in Nissan Rogue,
except for the problems, which include the higher-pitched "whining"
sound.
And yes, I enjoy the manual transmission too, which I've had for many
years, but now I am giving up on that, as that requirement complicates
things: 1) the choice of cars is narrowed significantly and 2) the
logistics more complicated when my wife's car needs to be serviced, or
whatever...
Anyway...
Igor
Mon Jul 17 11:34:56 EDT 2017 P. J. Alling wrote:
That's simply because most drivers are used to automatic transmissions
with discrete gears. I don't prefer either, given a choice I'd take a
manual transmission any day. I'd also like to mention the fact that
with the current generation of car thieves a manual transmission is an
unintended anti theft device.
On 7/17/2017 9:59 AM, Ken Waller wrote:
That constant acceleration - lack of shift feel is subjectively seen by
some drivers as a negative, so much that some manufacturers have added
a shift feel to their CVT transmissions so as to eliminate the
constant acceleration feel.
-----Original Message-----
From: Zos Xavius <zosxavius at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: OT -Unexptected Good News from Subaru
My mom has a CVT Nissan Sentra. Its pretty peppy between 0 and 80.
What's nice is that once it starts accelerating it doesn't stop. Just
smooth acceleration until you take your foot off the pedal.
On Sun, Jul 16, 2017 at 11:04 PM, Paul Stenquist <pnstenquist at
mac.com> wrote:
I'd be worried about CVT durability, but for me, the main drawback is
the driving feel. My 2014 Equinox has an 8-speed automatic, it feels
great with a peppy 3- liter four, and has been trouble free. Nothing
but oil changed thus far.
Paul via phone
On Jul 16, 2017, at 10:48 PM, Mark C <pdml-mark at charter.net>
wrote:
Hi Igor -
I'm certainly happy with Subaru's decision to extend the warranty on
their CVT's and to provide retroactive compensation. I don't expect to
be using the money for a new lens. I'm pretty happy with the lenses I
have - turns out that hanging onto good full frame glass was not a
mistake The only lens that I am tempted to replace is the FA 20-35 f4,
but I can't get a good handle on its performance on the K1. Sometimes
it shines, sometimes it's a dud. It's clearly better (marginally) on
film than on the K1 in terms of edge and corner sharpness. It also
seems to be better at the long end than at 20mm. I recently fine-tuned
the AF - and it needed about 5 steps of correction IIRC - so I'm
hoping that helps. But I seldom shoot wider than 28mm so I don't feel
too motivated to upgrade to the DFA 15-30.
I suspect that the reimbursement from Subaru will go into the VW
repair fund. My wife's 2009 Tiguan seems to develop a $500 - $1000
problem every 10K or so. In the past year and a half we've replaced
the timing chain, PCV system, rear main seal (blew out when the PCV
system failed) and water pump. Last Thursday the dealership told me
that both rear springs are broken - I need to get that checked out by
an independent mechanic. Seems odd that both springs would break at
the same time and that the car would still ride just fine.
Good luck with your car search. CVT's are a fact o life these days
but they seem to be prone to funky and fatal errors. I would do
serious research on any CVT vehicle.
Mark
Igor PDML-StR wrote:
Hi Mark,
I was just thinking about you and your Subaru CVT a few time in the
past week. (We are looking for a car right now.)
I am glad to hear that good news. I'd say that's probably an
indicator of Subaru being one of the better manufacturers
(behavior-wise). (Even though they should've admitted their problems
much earlier.) And your local dealership is also among the better once
since they've covered 50% even before this event.
Nissan gave us all sort of problems with our CVT (on Rogue) over the
past 9 year, starting from the 1st year. And both, our dealership and
the corporate office were very bad to address these problems. They
were refusing to admit the problems despite the symptoms, until the
transmission failed completely. And for the 2nd time, they were
delaying admitting the problem it until the mileage was beyond the limit.
After almost 20 years of owning Nissans (not exclusively), I am too
afraid to buy any Nissan at this point: all models I would be
potentially interested in have CVTs, and Nissan CVTs are plagued with
problems, and Nissan is bad addressing them.
Speaking of "impressive" warranties (mentioned by Alan), - I've just
learned that the "best industry warranty" advertised by Hyundai is to
a large extent a gimmick: Only the 1st owner is eligible for the 10
yrs/100k miles (powertrain) warranty, for the subsequent owners it is
5yrs/60K.
(Additionally, there is practically no "bumper-to-bumper", large
portion of the coverage of the "limited" warranty ends within the 1st
year.)
Kia's "industry-best" warranty is a similar gimmick.
Anyway, - I am glad Mark for you. Despite the headache, at least you
didn't suffer as much of the financial hit...
And the most intriguing question (for this list):
Are you going to buy some new lens with the unexpected ~$4K?
;-)
Igor
Mark C Sat, 15 Jul 2017 20:46:26 -0700 wrote:
Just over a year ago I posted about the failure of my Subaru CVT
transmission, and appreciated the advice I got here.
Yesterday I received a notice from Subaru that they have
retroactively extended the warranty on the CVT's to 10 years / 100K.
The letter included a claim form to get reimbursement for out of
pocket repair costs for those of us who had their CVT fail. Subaru
picked up 50% of the cost to replace my transmission but I was still
out of pocket about $4000 - good on Subaru to step and cover this
problem.
Mark
