Quick question for you cvt owners. If you are in sport mode in say 6th gear with the paddle shifters, cruising down the highway and floor the accelerator, will the cvt automatically downshift, or stay in the gear you have selected? This is one of the things I enjoy about a manual...the ability to accelerate in gear without a harsh downshift like in an auto tranny.

 

Its my understanding that the CVT will always right itself after a few seconds. Or at least that has been my very limited experience (had the car 4 days now).

 

In sport mode with a manually selected gear, pretty sure the car stays in the selected gear. Only time it changes gear for you in the manual mode is when you either get too slow decelerating and it shifts down a gear or you get near redline and it auto shifts up....

But generally, D with Eco mode off or S if you aren't concerned about saving fuel work well - the cvt is pretty good at "right ratio, right time"...

 

Yes, in sport-number mode it "stays in selected gear" and I confirmed this today by purposefully testing.

It will start to downshift automatically near 1300 RPM's when cold. Haven't tested redline yet.

In sport-number mode with paddles, it pretty much resembles a 7 speed manual except for the automatic high and low shifts.

Using the paddles is certainly more engaging and can serve a purpose, but I do notice my clutch leg feels a bit left out of the party. Just a different experience is all.

 

The ironic thing is that the F1 cars that the flappy shifters are emulating don't have clutch pedals. Their "clutch" is a button on the steering wheel.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. Sounds like a good system...gives you the benefits of a cvt but also the ability to control your ratio of you want, while protecting the engine.

 

It's not exactly a button but a lever, launch systems are forbidden so you have to use the lever to keep the clutch at the 'bitting' point at the start, and release it from there.
And the left foot is actively used in F1, they brake with the left foot like in karting.

 

It has it's drawbacks also, remember the CVT is a friction based system, if you accelerate hard in 7th at low RPMs you are pushing the CVT a lot, it might start slipping a little little bit causing premature wear, and probably the pulleys will be put by the computer at max pressure againt the belt trying to avoid slippage.

This is one reason why CVTs never try to get max acceleration al low revs (besides optimizing the engine).