CVT Tranny vs. Conventional Tranny

[RacingManiac]

What exactly does CVT(Continuous Variable Transmission...or something like that...) work and what's it's adv. disadv over the conventional manual/automatic/paddle shifter?

[gimpyben]

They get really good gas mileage, I know that much. The Civic HX has one I believe.

[RacingManiac]

I thought the new A4 is coming with one....

[gimpyben]

Really? Toroidal or belt?

[RacingManiac]

huh?
I read it somewhere that the new Audi A4's non-quattro version will have some kind of CVT for the automatic tranny version. That's all I know....

[Shaman]

CVTs fascinate me. I wish I had one that could stand up to big torque, because when you think about it, a CVT has the potential to keep a motor pushing at its maximum power at all times, rather than the compromises we have today.

I also think that a CVT could very well solve many of the crises we have today with pollution and economy.

[Dylan_Michael]

Toyota's Prius has one..I think that by 2010 most cars will hav them.

[Shaman]

I think so too, but I have also heard that they are having problems making CVT applications that will take real torque. Given that I love power, that doesn't suit me well.

[TheDinger]

Well, the CVTs now have trouble standing up to lots of torque, but the new Audi unit is supposed to be able to handle quite a bit(over 200 ft-lbs I believe). Nissan's CVT which is currently in development is supposed to be able to handle over 300 ft-lbs. So it's slowly getting better.

[Shaman]

A CVT hooked to AWD with 650lb/ft of torque is what I'm after. No, I'm not kidding. I want that sumbitch to motivate!

[TheDinger]

Dude, you'll have a hard time finding a 5-speed automatic that can handle that much torque, not to mention a CVT.

[hondakiller]

cvt's are awesome, they are the perfect racing tranny if they can handle the power. a race car with a cvt versus the same car with a manual or paddle shifter would beat the crap out of it because the engine would ALWAYS be making max power while the other engine would slip in and out of its peak power points.