Can't get myself to love the CVT
 

I bought a 2012 Silver Premium/Tech Maxima toward the end of April. I have about 4000 miles on it so far. I've tried my best to love the CVT but I just can't. I try to drive it it efficiently as to maximize fuel economy but when you do that, it feels like you're taking off from a stop light in 3rd gear with a manual transmission.

Beside that, I absolutely love the car. The car just feels like it's being cheated by having a CVT in it. When Nissan tries to push the Maxima as a sedan that's more sporty than others it its class, they lose credibility by only offering a CVT in it. There is something to be said for hearing an engine climb to high RPMs and then find a higher gear and shift. It's a strange feeling to accelerate onto a highway and the loud drone of the motor just stays constant. I know a lot of it is psychological since I've only owned standard automatic transmissions and manuals in the past. It's just a shame to pair a 290 HP VQ engine to that tranny.

As I stated earlier, the car otherwise is fantastic. I love the fit and finish, it's so sharp looking and it rides great. I'll probably get flamed for my CVT rant but I just wanted to see what other's opinions are. Thanks.

have you tried sport or manual mode?

I can respect your thoughts about the CVT. I think a lot of it depends on your previous rides.

If you're coming from a decent car before your maxima, auto or manual, I can understand missing the sound and feel of that transmission. For me, I'm coming from a junky old 4-banger civic, weak engine with a crappy manual transmission. When I step on it in my maxima I love the sound and the constant feeling of power as the RPM's spike and then stay there. I have no desire to get that nostalgic feeling of gears actually changing.

That's just me. I know this conversation has been had many times in these forums, and i always like to give my vote of confidence and approval for the CVT.

Plus, this. I really like the paddle shifters especially.

I am digging it so far with over 2000 miles under my belt.
I like that I can launch with what seems like 10% throttle position or less and leave most everyone else behind. I consider it effortless acceleration.
I admit that it's an adjustment, the rev up with a reset is expected and it seems missing at times. If you decide to sell it and move on, check out the ford taurus sho. It doesn't look as good as the maxima, but it's awd, eco boost, luxurious, and the transmission behaves as expected.

Give it more time, it gets better. But I do have to say that the CVT is not always predictable in similar driving situations. It can totally surprise the sh*t out of you one minute and later it'll leave you wondering why it responded the way you didn't expect it to.:goofy:

i don't mind it my only problem is now when i drive other cars without CVT i feel like that cars are breaking when they shift because I'm not used to feeling the car shift

CVT ain't that bad... Works fine and does well with it being newer technology.. its a sedan and its not incredibly expensive ..I don't want a sports car.. ibalways been a fan of the maximas and I stick by it for that reason alone....I don't mind it, though sometimes I feel its performance varys from time to time but it could just be me and my impatience ....

I'm not a guy who's had much nice rides so for me this is the mountain top...everything is relative... I imagine most people who hate the CVT must at one point had a faster or nicer ride to compare the max with...or they are slightly jealous of a friends more expensive ride

I had a 2006 Maxima before this and I believe I have a nicer car than any of my friends so it really has nothing to do with jealousy, just displeasure with the CVT. And the car is fairly expensive, although I didn't pay this, the car did sticker at over $40k.

Just thought to myself it would be cool to have the option to stay in sport mode no matter where you place the shifter.

IMO, the CVT tranny is a love it or hate it deal. I for one love it, for its smoothness, I don't always want to feel the jerk, slow gear change, downshifting of the traditional AT.

Nissan didn't build this car for it to be raced down the strip trying to get 12's. It's 4DSC is a marketing scheme for its sports like characteristics nothing else. Want something more sportier, faster, meaner, etc... buy another car.

I know i have said this before i am not a fan of CVT but I LOVE everything else about the car so I bought one.

In a perfect world it would have a DCT but that is not reality so i deal with it for 2 more years till I turn it in

Took me almost a year, but I grew to love the CVT. Especially when I think of the gas saved by not having to change gears.

We must keep in mind that fuel efficiency is the reason the automotive world is gradually moving to CVTs in more and more vehicles. The CVT is already a more efficient tranny than manuals and Automatics, and will become even more efficient as it continues to evolve.

I am not a huge fan of the CVT either, but love everything else about the car and cant see myself driving anything else. Before I got my maxima I drove my mom's Rogue and a CVT on a V4 is just annoying, so now I don't mind the maxima's as much.

What was the reason for them to put a CVT in the maxima? Was it for a smoother ride and no jerky motion when it shifts? If so, they nailed it. But if it was for fuel economy, they could have done much better.

As people have suggested, I love manual and sport modes (however I am sure it affects the fuel economy in a negative way)

oops didnt see your post there, lightonthehill

You are correct that the sport and manual modes use more gas.

As for the fuel economy, you may be too hard on Nissan.

Nissan engineers told us back in 2008 that they calculated that this 3600 pound 7th generation with 290 HP would have gotten approximately 2 MPG less with either a manual or automatic. That may not sound like much difference, but with much stricter fuel requirements looming, it was essential that Nissan get their new in several vehicles in order to find any flaws as they move forward with improving it.

Anyone here who majored in physics understands very quickly that, with a shifting tranny, there is an instant of time at every shift where the engine is running, but there is NO PROPULSION OF THE CAR TAKING PLACE. That is why there will come a time when CVTs not only achieve markedly better fuel efficiency, but also better acceleration.

Every car I buy from now on will have a CVT.

Thank you for your wise words, lightonthehill.

I know I shouldn't compare the two different engines, but I was looking at the Infiniti website and their G37 sedan with 328 HP weights 3628 lbs yet their fuel economy is listed as 19/27, while our maxima's is 19/26 with 290 HP and 3568 lbs.

yeah you'll get over the sound of it accelerating; keep an eye on the speedometer and you can see the car likes to move

Oh snap!

Maybe the engine has new technology that makes it more efficient...so pairing that engine with a CVT would then net even better MPG?

I don't remember ever stating that I bought the Maxima hoping to do 1/4 runs at 12 seconds. I simply stated that a $40k car should have a better option for a transmission. You can certainly achieve those MPGs through other means. I also didn't mention being dissatisfied with the appearance of the car or anything else. Thanks.

i have to say that I agree.....not in love with the CVT coming from an '03 6MT. I have ~1300 miles on the odo so far.

The one place where I notice it most is when I start from a stop, the revs immediately jump up to 2000-2500 RPM. Then as I speed up to 10 mph or so keeping constant pressure on the gas pedal, the revs decrease to 1200-1500 RPM making it feel really sluggish.

I wish the revs increased linearly with the position of the gas pedal instead of automatically changing RPM's with the constant pedal position. I think that would give a better, more responsive, more driver controlled feel to the car, and I wouldnt miss my 6MT as much.

I love my CVT great gas mileage and much better then feeling shifts...

Yes you are correct, however, my answer wasn't directed to anyone in particular, if the shoe fits wear it. Any one thing can be better but its not, it is what it is, its a Nissan not a benz or a bentley or a Royce etc...

In my state people dont like getting passed on the highway. CvT + Hp = easy pass and their failed attempt to close the passing window.

I used to have a 5 speed and 6 speed tranny and I'm in-different, the CVT feels just as good. Fast enough for me even with my car dumped on 20" wheels.

Please be reminded that a NISSAN was the fastest production car in the world under a $mill. a couple years ago. I believe its about # 3 now.

I couldn't agree more. The sluggish feeling when taking off from a stop is probably the biggest thing that gets me.

To all you people comaplaining about CVT ... did you read up on it first and just bite the bulltet cuz of the body? Did you test drive and hate it thenvor hate it over time? I'm just trying to figure out at what point did it become an issue or was it an issue even before you purchased ...

I think its relative to the person also... I'm extremely satisfied with the max (including the cvt) cuz I'm an easily satisfied person ... I drive a 1996 ford explorer in the winter and am very satisfied

Its not just a feeling. If you see any review on 0-30mph times on cars with CVT its typically slower than similar hp car with traditional auto.

As others have explained, it's because the CVT was designed for efficiency not power... if you really want that "rock you back in your seat" acceleration yeah I'd go for a manual because nothing will be quite like that.

Personally, my car is great at all speeds but occasionally the CVT tries to do its own thing and it turns into a slush bucket - nothing that manually changing over to a "gear" and punching it doesn't fix

People with egos should avoid the maxima. It isn't the best at anything it does.
It's just really awesome at everything it does. :D

I love the CVT, it is very smooth. If you do not like the acceleration of the CVT put it in the sport mode by moving the gear shifter to the left, your RPM and acceleration will improve but your MPG will go down. You need to decide what is more important to you. Most of the time I drive in normal mode but change to Sport mode in heavy city traffic.

this is totally irrelevant to the subject at hand, and this statement isn't 100% accurate and I am not going into it.

Back in 2010 drove a new Maxima SV at the time and did not like the way the car drove at all. Ended up buying a 2010 TL SH-AWD. Wife drove it for 2 1/2 years and wife hated it. Test drove a 2012 Maxima SV and the wife loved it and I thought it was a big improvement over the 2010 model. I think the CVT has come a long way since it first came out. It does take getting used to how it shifts, but I don't notice any problems with acceleration as others have said if you punch it, it goes. And when all else fails I like manually shifting it via the shifter. I'm not a paddle shifter type of guy and never have. I'm old school.

Its weird alright but when you go through a tunnel and it just keeps revving at that sweet spot its not so bad lol. i prefer to drive in DS mode only though. yea it might be a bit jerky for city driving but its better then nothing lol

Whats the big difference as the 12 has the same CVT etc as the 10 (unless it did not receive that update that some have done), the new 13 Alti has the new and improved CVT.

I knew coming into taking out a lease on the max that the cvt was the only reason why even after I agreed to lease it I still went to 2 other car dealers on my way to sign, Honda and Subaru. Overall I love the car almost 3 months in, but the transmission is my least favorite thing majority of the time. I do love it for highway acceleration though, and the smoothness but I just miss running through the gears from a stop. Can't be perfect I guess and I don't dislike it nearly enough to hate the car, it's just the biggest drawback to an awesome car

[QUOTE=MONTE 01&97 SE;8626622]Whats the big difference as the 12 has the same CVT etc as the 10 (unless it did not receive that update that some have done), the new 13 Alti has the new and improved CVT.[/QUOTE

It was like September of 2009 when I test drove the 2010. At the time of the test drive, the car just felt very sluggish compared to the 2003 Maxima that we still own as a matter of fact. Just was turned off by the drive.
I had heard over the course of the last couple of years that Nissan had made some improvements to the CVT so I gave it another try as my wife hated her TL. When we drove the 2012, did not notice any lag in acceleration and the power seems to be there when I want it. Although my wife would not have bought the car.

I'm looking forward to trying the 2013 Altima V6. The existing CVT has a torque limiter and likes to lug. If it were more responsive, I wouldn't have any issues with it.

Switched from a 06 Charger R/T to 2012 SV Prem Tech. Love the Max so far (1k miles) and still getting adjusted to the CVT. Love the smoothness and acceleration but I hate coming to a stop and the engine/tranny slowing down which feels like a hard downshift into a low gear...