We need to end this.

"Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert" (joshuagilbert)
07/10/2014 at 23:17 • Filed to: Problems

"Dude.....what the hell. When's it gonna change gear?" - My friend Sean after our short, jerky sojourn in my grandfather's Forester.

I hate this. Do you hate this? You should. Because CVT.

DISCUSSION (22)

All Motor Is Best Motor > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/10/2014 at 23:22

Despite what any ignorant idiot will tell you, the CVT in the Nissan Maxima is actually good. Yes, I have experienced it first hand, from the driver's seat.

Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/10/2014 at 23:25

Kinja'd!!!

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/10/2014 at 23:25

I too have experienced it, and it was absolutely shit. It felt like the clutch was slipping the whole way. But there was no clutch.

ly2v8-Brian > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/10/2014 at 23:31

Kinja'd!!!

ly2v8-Brian > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/10/2014 at 23:31

Kinja'd!!!

Blanks galore

Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert > ly2v8-Brian
07/10/2014 at 23:40

What options are those for? WILL I EVER KNOW.

Vicente Esteve > ly2v8-Brian
07/10/2014 at 23:46

You have a blank button

And you

and you!

All of you have a blank button!!

Textured Soy Protein > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/10/2014 at 23:52

I've driven 3 Nissans with CVTs. I rank them thusly:

1. I had a '11 or '12 Altima as a rental car on a trip to Florida for a friend's wedding, that my gf and I decided to extend into a weekend-and-change mini vacation and do a bunch of touristy stuff. We drove all over Boca, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm, etc and I honestly really didn't mind driving that car. It was a perfect rental car. Comfy, roomy, good cup holders and power outlets, good on gas.

2. My gf had an '08 base-base-base model Sentra with no cruise control. It was alright around town. We took it on a road trip from Madison to Memphis and back because at the time I had a Mazdaspeed 6 and she can't drive stick. It was annoyingly difficult to maintain a constant speed on the highway without cruise. Not sure if it was the throttle calibration, the CVT, or some combination of the two. But it took too much effort just to keep going the same speed.

3. I had a '13 Altima rental, chosen based on my previous favorable experience with the '11 or '12 rental Altima. Except this was the new style of Altima, and it has by far the worst throttle/transmission calibration of ANY CAR I'VE EVER DRIVEN. I would press the gas a little bit to accelerate a little bit, and it was like the car would fight me and rush up to a higher "gear" ratio to counteract my pressing the gas. Like it was saying "oh you didn't mean to accelerate with that little throttle input, did you?" I had to floor the thing to get any acceleration at all. I haaaaaaaaaaated that car. In the 2 times since then that I've rented a "full size" from Enterprise, I've actively avoided their Altimas because of this bad experience.

Textured Soy Protein > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/10/2014 at 23:54

While you may like your car just fine, not all CVT-equipped Nissans are created equal. My experience with Nissan CVTs has been...varied. I've driven 2 generations of Altima, and a Sentra. Some have been decent, some have been infuriating. No experience with the Maxima though.

On the other hand, I don't think you should try and reach and call anyone who has something bad to say about your car an ignorant idiot.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Textured Soy Protein
07/10/2014 at 23:57

It's not my Maxima. My friend owns it, but he's let me drive it on occasion. Other than feeling slightly rubberband-y it's a little rocket. The thing hauls. It's fast and responsive when you need it to be, but otherwise is completely unobtrusive and let's you just -go-.

Textured Soy Protein > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/10/2014 at 23:59

I have a feeling your and my definitions of "rocket" and "hauls" are rather different.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
07/11/2014 at 00:00

So you don't like it because it feels different to an automatic? What did you expect, the same thing? The CVT in the Maxima is quick and responsive whenever you need it to be. Otherwise it just gets out of the way so that you don't even notice it. And having access to the ideal spot in the rev band leads for some surprising acceleration. Another neat aspect of the trans in the car is that on the highway it makes the car just fly at small touches of throttle. It kind of fools you into thinking the car is more powerful than it really is. Not saying that it's entirely a good thing, but it's fun on its own.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Textured Soy Protein
07/11/2014 at 00:03

Not everyone has access to 500 HP cars, you know. For a 30,000 dollar 4 door sedan, the Maxima is a fast car. It's certainly a lot faster than my 260 HP Acura CL Type S. I've driven a Buick Regal GNX, and I've driven a Saturn Sky Redline, both quick cars. The Saturn's certainly faster than the Maxima, but the Maxima is no slouch.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Textured Soy Protein
07/11/2014 at 00:06

I've driven a '13 rental Altima in Cali. I can say that the Maxima's throttle/CVT calibration is much more sporting than the Altima's. In the Maxima, at highway speeds you touch the throttle and instead of it "rushing to a higher gear ratio" it leaps forward like it's downshifted.

Makoyouidiot > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/11/2014 at 00:16

My Mother-in-law has an '11 Sentra SR with one...it's not so bad, once you stop waiting for it to shift and get used to it. I think of it like a plane or boat, where throttle input basically just determines rpms. Helps to adjust when coming out of my cars and into her Nissan (if we go anywhere, I am the preferred driver)

Textured Soy Protein > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/11/2014 at 00:45

I know this is semantics and not very important. But I've met too many schmucks who fancy themselves car guys and always over-exaggerate their cars' supposed capabilities. Like this one tool I used to work with who got a several-years-old Mk4 VW R32 and went around the office bragging about how it was a rally car.

Over-exaggerating's just not my style. Especially when it comes to cars, where there's always going to be someone else with a faster one.

When I had a Mazdaspeed 6 and some folks would be like "omg awd turbo I bet that thing is so fast!" I would say "yeah it's kinda quick, I like it," and not try to talk it up. If in the course of conversation with non-car people I mentioned I like cars, I would invariably be asked what I drove, and I did a lot of explaining, "so there's the regular Mazda 6 family sedan, and then there's the Mazda speed 6 which is the awd turbo version for idiots like me."

Same thing with the 135is I have now, which seems to incite all manner of wannabe car guys into talking about the thing. Just today I had two different parking lot conversations about it. "Oh that's got the turbo? That exhaust sounds MEAN!" To which I reply, "yeah it's a pretty fun car, I like it."

Hence why I don't call regular cars, rockets.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/11/2014 at 00:52

My Mom got a rental Rogue with a CVT and was thoroughly annoyed by it. She is not a car person by any means, she even like Avengers.

fhrblig > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/11/2014 at 01:26

The CVT in our Juke is ok. It's a substantial improvement over the car it replaced, a Suzuki SX4 with the (terrible) 4-speed auto. I haven't driven my mother-in-law's SX4 with the CVT, so I don't know how that one is.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Vicente Esteve
07/11/2014 at 01:56

I don't!

Seriously, there's no blank buttons in any of our cars.

Burrito de EJ25 > Joshua "Dr. Science" Gilbert
07/11/2014 at 02:11

X-drive and heated seats!

Vicente Esteve > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
07/11/2014 at 11:09

Sweet. The only ones are in my fathers Tacoma (Which are for Hill Decent Control, and other 4WD Equipment) and my sisters Jetta that has 5 blank buttons in front of the gear selector, but thank wikipedia I found out! The newest one only has one of those buttons for the ASR. It looks like this: Blank, ASR, blank, blank, blank.... It would drive me crazy

Yourcommentisincrediblydumb > All Motor Is Best Motor
07/11/2014 at 14:29

Kinja'd!!!