I recently went down to Houston this weekend for a mini vacation. I was running 90 mph the whole time which is about a 7 hour round trip. When I can back it seems like my acceleration is off. When I take off from a complete stop, the Mac seems like its trying to climb a hill. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

Are you talking about pretty immediately after the trip? Could be your CVT. Just like the ECU of the car can adjust itself over time, the cvt does the same. Long story short, if you regularly accelerate pretty hard, the cvt programs itself to give you quick acceleration. If you always drive gentle and don't accelerate hard, the cvt adjusts itself to be better suited for that. Spend a day or two pushing the pedal down a little harder and see if your problem goes away.

 

Yea it was immediately after the trip. I had it on cruise for most of the way. I'll try what you said and see if it adjust itself back. Thanks for the advice.

 

You're welcome.

Once you know to look for this behavior in the cvt, it's actually pretty obvious. For example, I typically drive fairly aggressive. I accelerate pretty hard, not racing, but still pretty hard. However I'll occasionally fill up my gas tank and make it a goal drive very gently and try to get the best gas mileage possible. Kind of a dumb game I play with myself, lol. Anyway, after driving around 400 miles with MUCH slower acceleration than usual, I'll fill up my gas, pat myself on the back for driving so responsibly for the last week or so, and then drive off like a bat out of hell again. For at least a day or so my car feels like its lagging a bit when I stomp on the skinny pedal. Doesn't take long to get back to normal though. Look for it and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

Thanks, I was a little nervous because i was driving pretty aggressive on the Houston highways and after searching the forum all I seen was "CVT failure". Hopefully that's not the case and it's just used to the cruise being on.

 

It's actually a learning transmission. It will respond and adjust to your driving style and it won't happen instantly if you go from granny mode to aggressive.
The Nissan tech mentioned this when I had the valve body replaced. He said it would take a day or more to adjust back to the way I drive.

 

It's day 3 and the lag is still there. I feel it when I backup also. I'll give it another 4 days and a new tank. It just feels like it's stuck in a low gear when shifting from 1st to 2nd. Hoping the transmission goes back to the way it was.

 

3 days, no change? And you've been (trying to) accelerate a little faster than usual? Hmm. Hope it fixes itself, but keep us posted. Good luck man.

 

Try resetting the ECU (pull negative terminal on battery and leave off for like a half hour). As others have said the car "learns" your driving habits and after a long drive with low RPMs mine acts a little sluggish as well. Only for a very short period though.

 

Ya, short for me too. By the next day it's usually back to normal. Good idea to reset the ECU. OP, what year is your max?

 

2010, just went over 28,000 miles this week. I'll try reseting the ECU when I get home from work.

I've been trying to step on it lately and it's still sluggish. An older mustang thought I was trying to race him the other day.

 

Since mines 2011, I've been a little oblivious to the problems with the cvt's, I know that some 09's have had problems that required a re-flash (?) to get the proper performance. Maybe there are some 10's with the same issue. I really don't know. But it is weird that its been apparent after a long trip, maybe there's just something wrong. Reset the ECU, then give that a couple days to adjust itself, then see your dealer if you've still got a problem.

 

Same thing happen to me. Went to Austin and back and my car started to feel really sluggish. Took it to the dealer and feels more responsive now. I asked the guy if they just unplug the battrry and he said they reset the ECU ane Mass Air Flow Sensor? I have a 2012 (:



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So I reset the ECU and the acceleration seemed to slightly change. I can still hear the transmission sounding like its winding up. There still seems to be a bit of a lag so I'm taking it into the dealership Tuesday

 

give your car time after you reset your ECU. Some people say 100 miles so it can erase the old map, memory etc... my tech told me this and some how it works every time. .

First reset your ecu (The way without disconnecting your battery) There's a crazy way to this but I don't have it handy with me now. Second put your car in sport mode (let the car do the shifting) Do this for about 2-3days or 100 miles and boom no laggy acceleration!

BUT like everyone said your car will eventually get slow if you try to save gas mileage lol


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Okay cool. I'll give it another 3-4 days. I drive around 30 miles a day anyways. I usually drive pretty aggressive so hopefully it doesn't happen again. Something about the Max makes me do it

 

Just an update, resetting the ECU seemed to work good. The Max is back to the way it was. I sometimes notice a slight decrease in acceleration when going from 1st to 2nd but that could be multiple things.

Thanks again guys.

 

Recently, I have experienced the same thing, Until I remembered like what Serpent, Ghozt, and some others already said. The CVT without a doubt definitely mimics how you drive. I was like..wtf is going on...then I started being my normal self and the car has been going quick ever since!

 

that is really annoying to me. I normally drive like a grandpa, but I like the feeling of the pedal response being good... so mine feels sluggish most of the time, but when I floor it, it still takes off like a bat out of hell