Re: Audi's CVT

[Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>]

"Michael Theuri" <mikesoft@europa1.conwaycorp.net> wrote:

>Just read about Nissan's CVT which is going to be the first CVT in a
>production unit in a passenger car. It won't be coming to the US or anywhere
>else though, its going to be in the Japan only Luxury model the Nissan
>Cedric. Comes as an option costing $2.5K.

Sorry to disillusion you, but in Europe we've hardly been without a CVT
since its invention in the '50s (although popularity was so low you
wouldn't know it). When DAF (the inventor) went belly-up in '76, the
production-ready DAF 77 was made into the Volvo 343- Europe-only. This had
an evolutionary version of the CVT. Be very glad this car (motorized Zimmer
frame) didn't come to the US.
Meanwhile, the metal drive belt CVT (DAFs made do with less-reliable
rubber, nicknamed 'garter-belt drive') was productionized by a separate
company and CVT versions of the Fiat Uno, Nissan Micra and other small cars
appeared on the roads. A downside of the CVT was that engines larger than
1.8 litres had too much power to use it- a problem which was fixed only
last year. Now Nissan has introduced the first CVT with fixed ratios in
their Primera (European version of the Infiniti G20), just ahead of Audi.
Maybe Europe is finally ready for this radical concept to replace the old
power-sapping auto transmission. It's indeed smooth (being stepless), quick
and lightweight compared to a conventional auto trans.
Not that I'm considering giving up my manual transmission...

Tom