coincidently sold my GK5 Fit recently for another daily, I hated the CVT so much the #1 priority for the next car was manual, followed by power/economy/practicality etc LOL. It is definitely `to each his own` but I grew to hate the CVT so much I dont think Ill be going auto again for quite some time, maybe never!

 

I've yet to drive a cvt I liked.. I even prefer the 5 spd auto in my Fit to them.

Haven't got to drive a honda CVT for any length of time but the rubber band snowmobile feeling tranny I just hate. I had several nissan company vehicles, that had the CVT, was fine around town, but on the freeway on hills just hated the lack of control of the enigne rpms and the poor engine braking characteristics.

The CVT works by slippage, the "belt" has to slip in the shivs for the ratio selection. They are also basically not a rebuild-able transmission.

If you are a relatively relaxed driver I think the CVT would server many folks well, I just drive too many open road miles and the fit is not my go-to car for that. When I do its nice to have real engine braking on 20 mile down hill stretches out of the mountains.

Drive what you like,,, Not what I like.. LOL

 

I was able to drive the back of the dragon and in sport mode a few months ago, there is plenty of engine braking. If you want a little more, just hit the left paddle shifter and you've got it on demand.

Let's be honest. 95% of fit drivers just wanted an inexpensive car to get them from point a, to point b so they bought the CVT. The other 5% wanted a more sporty stick shift car but couldn't afford something better lol.

I'm a 95%er. My fit is a commuter car. On the occasions I get a twisty section, I can use sport mode. The rest of the times, regular drive mode takes care of everything else.

 

this is exactly right, when replacing the fit we found just how good its use of cabin space was with larger cars not being able to match it. Economy, reliability and everything practical it was unfortunately totally awesome. So giving it up in the name of a little less boringness/power meant a few unwanted compromises.

If they made a fit with 180~200hp I would still be driving one (manual that is LOL).

 

I'll tread where angels fear to go and add my own take on your questions...

First, here's a good explainer (among many on the interwebs): Why CVTs are Awesome Transmissions

Sport mode simply changes the transmission ratio such that the engine is turning higher RPMs at a given speed (same as shifting to a lower gear on a manual). Since the engine makes more HP (up to a point) at higher RPMs, you have better acceleration, etc.

You can shift from D to S and back any time you want and it won't hurt anything, although if you do go to S at a high speed, the engine's really going to rev up, which may catch you by surprise the first time you try it.

As others noted above, you can use the paddles with either D or S. In D, they will temporarily change your ratio up or down, returning to normal CVT operation after a few seconds or when engine RPM returns to a certain range. I use the paddles in D to engine brake when coming to a stop, or when descending a hill, for example. You can also "up-paddle" in D, but there's usually no reason to do so - it would be like shifting to too high a gear on a manual.

When you first shift to S, the CVT continues to operate in "continuously variable" mode, albeit with higher engine RPM ratios. However, as soon as you hit the paddle (either up or down), it will move to one of seven pre-programmed ratios ("gears"), and will stay there until you paddle up or down again, or if you hit redline or drop to too slow of an RPM ("lugging the engine"), at which point it will automagically go to the next appropriate ratio.

I learned after a while that "blipping the throttle" like you would do with a manual makes for a crisper transition between ratios, otherwise, the "upshifts" feel slow and mushy ("downshifts" aren't as mushy-feeling). You can make it sound pretty darn close to a manual using this technique.

At highway speeds, normal CVT operation will actually give you a lower RPM than 7th "gear" with the paddle, so you'll actually get *worse* mileage using them at highway speeds. Sometimes I'll leave it in "7th," though, just for the near-constant RPM effect that you'd have with a manual. I say "near constant," because even in a fixed ratio with the paddles, you'll still get a slight RPM fluctuation.

This question is pretty much answered above, but I'd add that if you're highway cruising at speed and want to quickly bump to a ratio with higher engine RPM (such as to pass a vehicle), just bump your paddle down once or twice. All you're doing is eliminating the very short delay you'd have by just stomping the throttle and waiting on the CVT to automatically change ratios. Otherwise, for best fuel economy, simply leave it in D and drive the speed limit (or practice some mild hypermiling techniques).

In town, it can be fun to use the paddles in S for a bit, but it becomes more of a chore than it's worth if you're in heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic. I have the most fun with S mode paddle shifting when I'm on a nice twisty road, or running an autocross. For cruising or heavy traffic, let the CVT do the work.

Final thoughts on the CVT: All of my daily drivers over the years (going back to my 1971 Vega from high school days) have been manuals, so my Fit was my first DD automatic (and first CVT purchase) ever (my wife's cars have always been automatics). I've driven one other CVT (Nissan Versa), and the Fit's works *far* better with much less of the "rubber band" effect everyone talks about. The Honda unit is very flexible and can come "in the neighborhood" close to simulating the sound and feel of a manual with the paddles in S mode with some careful throttle work.

That said, it still doesn't have the direct engagedness of a manual, which can take away somewhat from the pleasure of driving when you're on a challenging road or track. The best use case for the CVT is if you're doing a lot of highway cruising or heavy traffic driving – it shines there.

For what it's worth, the four-door sedan that's replacing my Fit will have a manual transmission – along with a 415 HP LS3 engine and rear wheel drive…

es

 

It would be nicer if Honda made this with 'five' instead of 'seven' simulated 'gears', as I find it a bit harder to remember which 'gear' I'm in, like my previous manual cars. In the latter's case, I would know which gear I was in just by feeling the position of the shifter.

 

Or maybe we wanted a fun, sporty, stick shift car that we could actually carry something in (like a big screen TV or a Marshall head, a 4X12 speaker cabinet and a couple of electric guitars). Not everybody can afford (or wants) three or four different cars for different purposes. Some of us like to keep life simpler than that.

 

That's why I say to each their own.
I guess I'm to the "Automatic Transmission" stage of my life. Even though I love manual transmissions.

My Opinion, in comparison to an regular automatic transmission, I like the CVT, if only for the improved fuel efficiency. The driving feel seems pretty comparable "Automatic" to "CVT". Arguably with no shift points...smoother.

But I'm not trashing either manual transmissions or your standard automatic. Just saying, the characterization of CVT as un-fun to drive is not fair.

I do agree with you about manual transmissions. More engaging...fun to drive. But...
Guess I'm getting to the let's just shift it into drive and putt down to Wal-Mart age....
At some point you start to enjoy...less engaging...

 

Get off my Lawn ya zipper snapper!

Im 55 and its all about the drive. My fit is the only car out of 4 without a manual and the only reason I originally bought the fit was for my daughters to learn to drive in without fighting the clutch. Its headed off to college with one of them soon..

 

Here you go with my replies.

 

Nice Parent.
True story, but my Dad had me learn on a manual. By choice.

His logic being, once I learned how to "shift"...then driving an automatic would be....well...automatic.

BUT...
He had me learn on a manual transmission where he had replaced the clutch. And it was the trickiest, hair pin, reactionary clutch I have EVER driven.
Especially for a new driver, it was a nightmare to try to use.
My learning was very frustrating. Because I had nothing to compare it to.
Later, I drove other manual transmissions and they seemed SO EASY.

Only in retrospect did my Dad admit he knew the clutch on the vehicle I was trying to learn on was "difficult".

Oh well.
Once I learned...every other manual transmission seemed so easy to use.
Thanks Dad...well sort of...

 

Or lower. Or the same.