STarEagYL

Well, I really like the CVT - my favorite feature on my 2007 Maxima. I think it sports the best piece of software on the vehicle. The transmission attempts to detect how you are driving, and then "helps" you by choosing the RPM. If you drive it hard for a bit, then it will expect you to want to drive it hard some more. When you drive it less hard, it "learns" and pulls the revs back. Sometimes I do wish it had an "aggression" lever, but I do like the way it learns. If you want to control the revs, the Manual Simulator is pretty good - except that dashboard is so pathetic it's hard to see what "psuedo-gear" you are in - well, and wouldn't a steering wheel paddle be nice!

On the coasting situation (speed-up @ 20mph mentioned), the software is trying to determine if you'd like the engine to brake a bit for you (again, bring up the revs). This feature works really great on the hill near my house. I go down it at 45 without touching gas or brakes (in neutral I'd hit 80 before the bottom I think).

I make autonomous vehicles for a living and I'm rather impressed by their CVT.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

My mom's 2000 max saw redline every day and had 240k miles on it when it sold. Still ran/shifted like new and it only received regular maintenance and minor parts (MAF once, motor mounts). My car sees redline at least once every time I drive it and nothing's gone wrong so far at 70k (knock on wood).

As long as you keep your maintenance up to date it'll be fine. The engine is made to go to redline. That's why it's there. It'll stay at the proper operating temperature whether it's revving high or not. (trust me, I took my car to MSR where I never got below 4500 RPMs for 7 or 8 minutes at a time)

Conversely, it's NOT good to strain your engine before it reaches operating temperature. This (as most of you know) causes much more wear and tear as the cool oil doesn't provide as much friction resistance as it does when it's warmed up.

Lesson? Take your car to redline. It's fun.

bb700092

I too like the CVT a lot. I write softwares that learn (Artificial Intelligence) for a living and would like to see the CVT set itself up according to the driving habits of its driver. Thus, for a hard driver, it would respond differently compared to a soft one. Wouldn't it be great that my Maxima understands my driving and adjusts itself according to that? If two drivers drive the car and they have very different driving habits, the learnt knowledge can be stored using memory buttons just like the driver's seat and steering wheel arrangement.

Regarding the current maxima, I have this question for you. I own a 2007 SL with VDC. I find that when my foot is neither on the gas pedal nor on the brake, the car deccelerates until around the speed of 20mph after which it accelerates a little unexpectedly and of course undesirably. Note that the car is not on cruise control. It seems that some base RPM is catching up with the residual speed and making the car accelerate. I talked to a number of people including dealers and found that this is the way with all 2007 Maximas. Is this a flaw with the CVT or is it trying to do something?

jcalabria

It takes a while to learn, but you can control to a large degree which of the three maps the TCM uses by how you use the accelerator. I'm not just talking about light application vs stomping on it... you eventually learn to play it like an instrument.

I've notice some slight irregularities during coast-down as well, but its very mild... you almost wonder if you imagined it or not. I've pretty much chalked it up to the TC unlocking which makes it roll easier... I've never seen an RPM jump in that situation.

What I have noticed that is more problematic is that sometimes just sitting at a light with the brakes applied just hard enough to prevent the car from creeping, it will occasionally surge slightly and start to move... not any kind of wild unintended accelaration... just a slight surge that move the car if the brakes are just lightly applied. Anybody else?

bb700092

This is what I noticed. Suppose that I am travelling at 40mph and see the signal turning red. If I brake hard, the car comes to a dead stop without any problem. If I brake softly, the car gradually deccelerates until about 20mph and then tries to accelerate a little. At this point, I have to brake harder to make it come to a stop. Ideally, this acceleration should not happen and the car should come to a dead stop after some distance even if the brake is applied softly. I think, this problem is the same as the one I reported in my previous post.

However, I have never felt the exact problem that you are talking about. I will consciously give it a try.

gizzsdad

Amen to that Silver! Even though I do pretty well for mileage in my stick, I'd much prefer taller gearing through the range.

Interestingly, we just got an 07 Frontier for my wife w/6 speed and VQ40, which has the same bore as our VQ35's - but longer stroke. It runs about 1700-1800 in 6th at 60, as opposed to 2300 for my Max. She has gotten from 18mpg to 22.5, which is almost exactly what she got in her 97 Hardbody 2.4L four banger!(A much smaller and lighter truck!) We are very pleased with that, especially considering we only have about 1400 miles now.

While my perception is that the truck is not quite as torquey as my Max, I would have to admit that I find myself chirping the tires on take-off accidently quite a bit.