I've had three vehicles with CVT transmissions. I absolutely love the concept. My first was a Saturn Vue. It had the "Van Doorne" type variable pulley and belt, like the one used in your van. Instead of an electromagnetically actuated clutch, GM used a torque converter to allow for a slip coupling between the engine and transmission. GM being GM, it was troublesome, and I got rid of it after only 30k miles. The other two were planetary CVT's in the hybrid drivetrains of a Toyota Prius and Ford Escape. Their design uses the hybrid system's electric motors to get the vehicle moving from a stop, so no slip coupling exists on either one. Subaru had issues with the CVT in the Justy, which was of the same design as your van, including the use of the electromagnetic clutch. Another peson I knew back in my H.S. and college days, had a CVT equipped Justy. She hated the fussy nature of that clutch. CVT's hold an engine at a constant RPM while accelerating, so the engine can seem to moan, and feel like a badly slipping torque convertor under hard acceleration. This is simply their nature, especially if you have a heavy foot. With the VUE, I found that I could play with the throttle to utilize torque over RPM to accelerate the vehicle. This eliminated much of the quirkiness of the CVT in my experience, and made the SUV pull much harder than the manual tranny version my neighbours own. I'd recommend you install a tachometer in your van, so you can use it to get a feel for the tranny.
Actually the Subarus come with a tach, unlike the suzukis, so i'm lucky. When driving at 50km/h it's around 4000rpm, the tach goes to 7/8 being the red zone so i'd never made it go past 6krpm.. I find that the cvt, probably the E-clutch is responsible for a fairly uncomfortable ride at 0-5km/h, such as in bad traffic. Overall i find that with a foot off the gas the car actually will be trying to slow itself down, not coast, so what happens at low speeds like that is i give it a little go then pull off the pedal and it grabs and sucks the speed back.. seems like something that might be in the nature of the beast. Generally it's alright, it's actually super punchy in rough terrain situations (esp 2nd gear) because you have immediate access to all the torque available. Here's a question: Is it a bad idea to use the low gear to slow around corners or if stopping suddenly? This is of course what you would do in a manual.. I'd been doing that in my van often enough.. It seemed the best way to control the vehicle actually.. That and i have a bit of a trigger finger and want the shifting freedom heh...
CVT's don't have gears. If you have some type of paddle shift that mimicks set gears, then using your "2nd gear ratio" won't hurt anything.
Thats funny what you say about the Saturn CVT. My dad's retired from Saturn and I believe he said its actually a Honda tranny. I know the V6 engine is Honda. -Greg
The Saturn CVT was no Honda tranny. GM claimed 10 years of development when they intdroduced it on the VUE. The transmission was built at a plant they built in Hungary.
My bad. Its the 5 speed auto on the V6 that is a Honda tranny. I forgot the CVT was only for the 4cyl. It was off topic anyway.
Topic Shmopic, it's all good fun. I heard CVTs are making a comeback in more expensive cars with larger engines, due in part to the theoretical fuel efficiency supremacy. They were originally deemed unpopular and "lacking power" because they were first introduced in vehicles with less than 2L displacement.. How durable is the steel belt that drives the pulleys?
Several carmakers that have tried the Van Doorne type of CVT has had issues. GM had the steel belts fail in their transmissions. They fixed them under warranty, extended the tranny warranty to 100k miles, and then phased them out of the vehicles. Mini had computer problems that caused the engine to "yo-yo" up and down the RPM range under steady cruising. I don't know if they are still offering it in the Mini now or not. Honda had issues with premature failure in theirs. I don't know the specifics of the failures. They seem to have worked them out. The unknowns at this point are Ford (non hybrid vehicles), Nissan, Chrysler, and Audi. The steel belt is supposed to be a lifteime component.
I don't have the issues you brought up about problems at slow speeds, but I just wanted to comment about what you mentioned with not coasting down. I believe this is because of the all wheel drive in the auto sambars. I have the 3-speed auto and as soon as I take my foot off of the throttle, it slows down which feels a little like when using your engine to break/slow down on other vehicles. (and all of my regular breaks are completely good/functional, for those who are wondering) So I believe all auto trans subarus just don't coast real fast due to the all wheel drive system. I honestly don't mind at all because it saves me from having to use my breaks as often. Just a thought.
