Muslenutz

While its no secret many would like a larger option then the CVT, but this post is focused on your thoughts on your experience with the CVT. My wife has a 4cyl Rouge, while it takes a minute to get going how does this compare to the cvt of the new max. What does it feel as your driving it in different situations? PLease share!

CT Maxima

The way a CVT works is at odds with the human senses. We are trained on discrete-gear based trannies. A CVT at WOT will seek the maximum torque point and work from there. The engine howls like a slipping auto tranny and is disconcerting. But there is no doubt that the CVT achieves maximum acceleration.

In normal driving, where maximum torque is not demanded, the CVT seeks to minimize rpms to cut fuel consumption. It does a great job in this mode.

I sometimes downshift with the paddle shifters to engine brake. This engages Ds mode and if I manually upshift to 6th gear, it will stay in Ds mode beyond a reasonable amount of time. I have been caught, sans torque, when the CVT does not automatically downshift. The work-around is to shift to Ds or N at the end of engine braking and then back to D. In this driving situation, the CVT has not figured me out yet.

1sik4dsc

iTrader: (1)

so far my experience with the cvt has been great, the only thing is the amount of horsepower it can hold. I know us 7th gen max owners always want more h.p and torque, eventually more and more performance parts will become available, but we will probably be limited to what we can do due to the cvt.

lightonthehill

First, be aware Nissan/JATCO completely redesigned this '09 Maxima CVT, and drivers who have driven both this '09 CVT and prior CVTs are rather emphatic that this '09 Maxima CVT is the best they have driven.

It took me about three months to understand what the CVT was doing at each moment. But the more I drove, the more I understood, and the better I liked it. Now it has become my favorite tranny.

I absolutely LOVE that I can cruise along at 45 MPH with the RPMs at a gas-sipping 1.1k, yet still have the torque necessary to ease me up gentle hills without slowing down or increasing torque very much. I have full control over the RPMs with just my toe.

In elapsed time runs, the CVT is very slightly slower off the line than a manual or shifting auto. But once rolling, where the manual and shifting autos have tiny breaks in acceleration at each shift point, the CVT keeps right on accelerating. As a result, in maneuvers such as accelerating quickly from 40 MPH to 80 MPH to pass, the CVT bests all other trannies.

I loved the old manuals (at least until traffic became gridlock and my left knee ceased to function properly), and was also satisfied with automatics (once the slop of the early 1950s was engineered out). But now I am a CVT lover. The train of life moves on, and I don't want to be left at the station.

Muslenutz

I deffinetly noticed it slow off the line in the test drive, but then it became a rocket! ANyone ever race it stock next to a similar 300 horse car

swatcop

Just wish there was an option to switch on switch off!

KillaKam

I actually like the CVT... When someone wants to mess around with me all I do is floor it and they still have to take the time to shift when my car just goes thanx to the CVT... But the part that is going to suck just like 1sik4dsc stated it does suck that the CVT is limited as to what performance parts that you can put onto it; hopefully someone can find a way to put a turbo or something onto this car keeping the CVT in-tacked from any damages