By
texasrolla, May 6, 2015
What is the concensus on Corolla CVT ?
Is it more reliable and durable and smooth and quiet than the traditional 4-speed Automatic?
Car reviewers are suggesting, without much reasonable complaination, the Automatics are dinosaurs.
But with so many complains about CVT in general, should I just follow the herd into CVT anyway.
CVT are getting more and more popular due to higher fuel efficiencies and better performance from smaller engines. Some manufacturer's like Nissan, have actually pushed CVT to almost all of their offerings. CVT technology has been around for a long time, so it had been pretty well vetted - shown to be very reliable.
That said, doesn't mean that they are well liked. Because they favor efficiency above all else, they have a certain behavior that some people just can't get used to. Some CVT manufacturers have tried to address this by having "virtual" gears, so that the tachometer rises and falls like it does on a conventional automatic. Some have addressed the droning / motorboat noise from the engine and transaxle running at peak RPMs. Performance-wise it is great, from an audible standpoint, sounds like someone farting down a tube. Again, manufacturers have addressed this with pumping an inverse waveform through the speakers to help cancel the sounds or some cases, make the car sound different inside the cabin.
Myself, I'm torn between them. From the engineer / scientist perspective - I see great utility in a CVT design. But from an owner / operator standpoint - see more value with audible and physical aspect of separate gears.
I've had bad experience with timing belts and heard horror stories of CVT belts on scooters; so I don't like the idea of using rubber belts to transmit power.
I have this horrible vision of the CVT belt snapping when you're in a bad neighborhood and there's a race riot.
I used to have a scooter and it was CVT. The belts need replac like every few thousand miles. Kind'a pain if you put a lot of miles on it.
Yeah, these CVTs are different than that scooter - all steel belts in the Toyota K-series CVT.
These steel belts will likely last as long as conventional transaxles as long as you keep the fluid in good shape and temps in check (same applies to standard and conventional automatic transaxles).