CVT? What does it stand for?

"John" wrote

It's an industry-wide name - stands for Constant Velocity Transmission. It uses a system of segmented metal belts between variable pulleys to give a steadily changing ratio, rather than a set of discrete ones as normal. It's definitely fully automatic.

It's not new nor unique to Ford. The first car I recall was the Dutch DAF, back in the 60s or 70s I think. Subaru has offered it for some time, and now so does Toyota, Honda and several others.

I haven't driven one but I have read that it sounds weird at first because the engine stays at a constant speed with a constant throttle setting, regardless of speed. However, it does allow the engine to rev up when needed for power and then shift into a high gear for cruising. It apparently offers a slight performance and economy advantage over regular automatics.

There's lots of web links. Do a search.

I more or less agree with what you said, except for what the acronym CVT stands for, it is actually "Continuously Variable Transmission".

So you can just stick these things in D and off you go? No clutch or anything like on a manual?

I've not seen any Toyotas with this. Don't they just refer to their automatics as Auto or Free-Tronic for the semi-auto?

John

Constant Velocity Transmission I believe

Alex

I test drove a Saturn Vue that had CVT. Kinda like taking off in a small plane or accelerating in speed boat. Not a ton of off-the-line torque though. John

"Mark Olson" wrote

Serves me right for not checking before I type.