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does chevy have any fixs for the cvt trans. mine does not go into low gear at stop. it's almost like its in second gear when pulling away from complete stop. shifts very eratic.has done this since new.very annoying somtimes it even slips when shifting.

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  • 1 month later...

The CVT in these cars is a regular 2 speed auto coupled to a CVT. How do you know it is not going into low? 

 

Here are a few quirks I have with mine. We have put approximately 9,000 miles on it and are fairly satisfied with the performance of the CVT overall. It takes some getting used to.

 

1.) It occasionally hesitates from a stop. This is not a throttle response issue (or doesn't seem to be, even though it is fly by wire). This typically happens after coming from a stop from cruising at a very high gear ratio and then "punching" it. I hypothesize that the 2spd is in low gear, but the CVT is stuck in a high(er) gear ratio. It takes a few feet of roll out to allow the CVT belt to slip down to a low gear ratio. If I always allow a few feet of roll out at idle before hitting the gas this does not happen (from my recollection). I learned this the hard way when we took the spark to the autocross. It easily cost me a few tenths lugging off the line. 

 

2.) When accelerating hard and then suddenly lifting the car experiences a momentum bump as it upshifts the CVT. After lifting the throttle it will accelerate FASTER than it does under WOT for a few mph. I have to be cognizant of this when accelerating quickly to the speed limit. I always lift 4-5mph before the speed limit.

 

3.) It does not "crawl" well at all. We have a steep driveway. Steep enough that it cannot idle up. Upon ingress with low momentum (necessary to prevent scraping of the front air dam) it will stall and more throttle is necessary. If too much throttle is given it will often "jump", accelerating very quickly. 

 

4.) The simulated shifts annoy me, as they are not necessary. I understand this is not a race car, but it is a small hatch so I enjoy driving it spiritedly (my other car is a Miata). It will also see several autocross events in its lifetime. Because the motor is low torque I would prefer the transmission take simple priority in its behavior: maximum acceleration at WOT, maximum MPG at constant speed, constant gear ratio at partial throttle. The simulated gear shifts do fool the average consumer. Among friends and family who do not know it has a CVT and are used to driving standard automatics; none have felt the transmission is different in any way. 

 

These are small fish compared to my real world numbers of 35mpg average, 45+ mpg highway (and both my wife and I have lead feet). It also out-accelerates the manual version and is plenty quick to 35-45mph (it is, after all, a city car). It also handles high speed cruising surprisingly well (though it takes some time to get there, that's the engine's fault). 

 

If your issues are outside of these common quirks I recommend you take it into the dealership for a service department test drive. While you are there ask to test drive a new spark for comparison. My 2016 has already been back for a new oil pan gasket and a noisy bushing. I almost feel bad for the dealership given I paid less than $10,000 for the car and 3rd party financed. That being said, I bought a new car with a warranty so I don't have to think about these things (I have two other vehicles with 100K+ and 200K+ to fill my automotive maintenance itch). 

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  • 3 months later...

So from what I've seen this is a common issue. CVTs get stuck in high gear ratios after a lot of high way driving. I read that the average CVT lifespan is 60,000 miles in mini coopers which is the only vehicle that's been around long enough to judge longevity. Either way it scared me enough to buy the manual. One thing I saw that helps the CVT is to avoid cruise control on daily use. It stands for constantly variable transmission and is built to change ratio, high way cruise control buts wear and tear into one ratio. If you always do 65 you might stretch the belt so from what I've seen just avoid doing the same thing over and over. Cruise at 65, then 70, then 60, then 75 or whatever just don't do 100 miles everyday at 65 mph. Also, for the guy who commented you clearly know your stuff with the CVT but the manual is always faster than a CVT when the manual driver knows what he/she is doing, always. Check out YouTube if you want proof, literally always. Just to add a little spice to this, a couple days ago I beat a Dodge Challenger in a drag race. He didn't know we were racing but when I took off he tried to chase and couldn't pass! (He had a pentastar V6)

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