While some people say you can’t teach a dog new tricks, this saying does not stand true when it comes to transmissions. What is CVT? It was more than 500 years ago that the continuously variable transmission — also referred to as a CVT — was conceptualized by Leonardo da Vinci. And nowadays, this transmission has practically replaced the traditional automatic transmission. Over the years, the technology that this transmission uses has been greatly refined and improved. There are many car automobile manufacturers that use CVT technology, including Honda. Let’s take a quick look at the advantages of CVTs and the driving experience you can expect when you hop behind the wheel of a car that operates on a CVT transmission.
What is CVT?
CVTs are built with fewer parts when compared to their conventional transmission counterparts, and it is because of this that they are less expensive to manufacture. With a lower manufacturing price comes a lower selling price, meaning the price savings is passed down from the manufacturer to the consumer. In addition, the acceleration that this type of transmission is able to provide leads to a reduction in waster power, which then translates into greater fuel efficiency.
Another major advantage of buying a vehicle that has a CVT is that it requires minimal maintenance. In fact, the only part of the transmission that will need routine maintenance is the belt. With that being said, a belt usually costs less than $50 depending on the make and model of the vehicle, but still yet, this is very inexpensive, especially being that the belt will likely only need to be replaced one to three times during the lifetime of the vehicle.
Why is it that a CVT requires less maintenance? Well, it is mostly because there are fewer parts as we mentioned above. And because there are fewer parts, this means there is much less heat and friction taking place while the transmission is operating. All in all, you can expect a CVT vehicle to be much more economical than ones with traditional automatic transmissions.
What is CVT driving like?
When you drive a car with a regular automatic transmission, there is a good chance you will experience shift shock — a jerking feeling when the car shifts from one gear into another. And while the shift itself is not bad, it does reduce fuel mileage. When driving a car with a CVT, though, shift shock does not occur. Instead, the transmission will continuously vary the gear ratio, thus going smoothly from gear into another; this both reduces shift shock and increases fuel efficiency. It’s a win-win.
If you’re thinking about buying a car with a CVT, you should definitely do so because there are so many benefits.