Village Nissan News & Reviews

For 2009 Nissan Canada's lineup of vehicles for the most part use our continuously variable transmission (CVT) and many satisfied customers will attest to its performance. The latest "Xtronic" CVT has amazed many skeptics of this type of gearless transmission. While other manufacturers CVTs feel slow-to-react, and rubbery once they do, they also seem to maintain an average high engine rpm. This is not the case with Nissan's CVT. With so many options available to consumers not only your standard 4-5spd automatics there are now even with 6-, 7 and 8-speed automatic transmissions available. So the question is, if back in the 50's we had 2 speed, in the 60's-70's we typically started to see 4 speed auto's and with the above mentioned 6- 7- and 8- speeds in production now, one would expect that since the manufacturers are offering more gears in automatic transmissions to handle a wide array of driving conditions, would it not be safe to say that an infinite number of gears to handle all driving situations would be the best choice when it comes to selecting you transmission?
 
Many have noticed that most current automatics are extra cautious and are always trying to get to top gear to conserve fuel. That can be annoying when passing as regular automatics always seem to search for the correct gear and I think we have all noticed transmission lag associated with a regular automatic. Many also dislike the gear surge typical of automatics when the engine revs up and you get that forward/backward whiplash feeling. Nissan's CVT reacts extremely quickly without that momentary forward g-load (shift shock), and with what feels like the correct engine rpm. The revs rise proportionate to the acceleration you select and you simply, take off. Nissan's software that controls the CVT is much more advanced than other manufacturers and overall is much smoother and significantly better tuned for both performance and economy.
 
Nissan's CVT is now making conventional automatic transmissions a thing of the past. Come in for a test drive to feel the difference.