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does anyone like the cvt?


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On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 5:38 PM, Bobby MSME said:

Yes indeed the CVT has a 2 speed gear box as far as I know, and it attempts to change gears at about 40mph. My 2017 does the exact same thing. I usually do not notice it since I drive like there is an egg between the gas pedal and my foot :lol:

 

Do you (or anyone else) notice this more in winter? I figure when a transmission is still cold it might sound like a harsher shift than when its warmed up? I noticed it last summer when I bought the car, but it seems like the shift is slightly louder when you're in a cold start on a winter morning.

 

I suppose this is not a question for the many people here who live in Florida.

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Keep those great posts coming! You have experience with the  Spark, which I do not. So I learn from your posts. When I was (much) younger and had houses with garages, I have done everything DIY from b

i drive this thing like its a sports car and haul ass in it.. i definitely dont baby it in anyway but i do take good care of her.. every car youll ever own these days will have some sort of recall reg

took some getting used to but now i love it. drove an impreza with a cvt for few day smooth as silk compared to this thing but i like the sparks cvt better.. making it louder does make it funner.. for

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On 3/25/2018 at 9:35 AM, sparkto said:

 

Do you (or anyone else) notice this more in winter? I figure when a transmission is still cold it might sound like a harsher shift than when its warmed up? I noticed it last summer when I bought the car, but it seems like the shift is slightly louder when you're in a cold start on a winter morning.

 

I suppose this is not a question for the many people here who live in Florida.

You are right about those of us living in places like Florida with practically no cold weather. The car behaves the same all year round. But A/C in the car is a necessity.

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On ‎3‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 10:50 AM, Bobby MSME said:

You are right about those of us living in places like Florida with practically no cold weather. The car behaves the same all year round. But A/C in the car is a necessity.

 

Its slightly more noticeable on a very cold start, but then again any transmission would probably need some warm up time when it gets below certain temps. This past winter wasn't particularly bitter cold here, but it has certainly lingered around until April.

 

I'm just glad its a feature and not a bug, I haven't had any problems with the transmission what-so-ever, it just takes getting used to two step CVT, it is an experience I never had with any other vehicle.

 

P.S. the only thing I don't like about Ontario is how much salt they pour down. When I lived in Manitoba, it could certainly get a grade colder there than here, but they used sand. Vehicles never really rust there. I wished more locations would use sand, salt just corrodes everything.

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  • 3 months later...

I like the CVT for the efficiency and acceleration advantages. It's so possible to drive the car very smoothly. It's a different driving style as it has no go off the line. I have to anticipate gaps with roll out. This is non ideal as it often can cause hesitation in other drivers. I try to avoid it wherever possible. However, if I've been attempting to make a left hand turn for 5min and cars are stacking up behind me ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

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On 4/6/2018 at 10:40 PM, sparkto said:

P.S. the only thing I don't like about Ontario is how much salt they pour down. When I lived in Manitoba, it could certainly get a grade colder there than here, but they used sand. Vehicles never really rust there. I wished more locations would use sand, salt just corrodes everything.

LOL  when we lived near Portland, Oregon, it was hilarious to see cars sliding and slipping with 3-4 inches of snowfall. With 6 inch snowfall, the city would shut down for several days! Because they fear salt is bad for environment, so they throw rock pebbles on streets. Guess what, windshield repair business is huge there.

 

I spent 23 years working in city of Chicago driving from Downers Grove to SE corner of Chicago, a 70 miles round trip. I missed may be a total of 4 days of work in 23 years due to snow. 3 of those days were in mid 1960's when Chicago had a record snow fall. Because Chicago salts the heck out on streets. But yes the undercarriage of cars and bodies of cheap cars had mucho rust.

Edited by Bobby MSME
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Love it!!!   I just purchased a 2019 Spark in December of 2018.  To break it in, I drove it on a 435 mile each way roadtrip.  I

was not aware of the effect the CVT would have, but sure noticed that going up or down a steep incline on I-70 and I-15

in Utah, the speed did not vary over 2 miles-per-hour for what I had the cruise set for.  I thought that was way cool!!!

On my last trip to Mesquite (from Grand Junction, CO) the car averaged 48 MPG to Mesquite and 44. MPG coming

back.  I am SO IMPRESSED!

 

 

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On 4/6/2018 at 10:40 PM, sparkto said:

 

Its slightly more noticeable on a very cold start, but then again any transmission would probably need some warm up time when it gets below certain temps. This past winter wasn't particularly bitter cold here, but it has certainly lingered around until April.

 

I'm just glad its a feature and not a bug, I haven't had any problems with the transmission what-so-ever, it just takes getting used to two step CVT, it is an experience I never had with any other vehicle.

 

P.S. the only thing I don't like about Ontario is how much salt they pour down. When I lived in Manitoba, it could certainly get a grade colder there than here, but they used sand. Vehicles never really rust there. I wished more locations would use sand, salt just corrodes everything.

On 6/19/2019 at 7:50 PM, Ray G Tennancour said:

Love it!!!   I just purchased a 2019 Spark in December of 2018.  To break it in, I drove it on a 435 mile each way roadtrip.  I

was not aware of the effect the CVT would have, but sure noticed that going up or down a steep incline on I-70 and I-15

in Utah, the speed did not vary over 2 miles-per-hour for what I had the cruise set for.  I thought that was way cool!!!

On my last trip to Mesquite (from Grand Junction, CO) the car averaged 48 MPG to Mesquite and 44. MPG coming

back.  I am SO IMPRESSED!

 

 

My 2017 SPark LS is powered adequately by the bigger engine than some previous years. So yes, these newer Sparks seem to handle highway speeds with ease and seem better suited for the CVT. After 2-1/2 years my Spark sprints out rapidly from standing start.

On 6/19/2019 at 7:50 PM, Ray G Tennancour said:

Love it!!!   I just purchased a 2019 Spark in December of 2018.  To break it in, I drove it on a 435 mile each way roadtrip.  I

was not aware of the effect the CVT would have, but sure noticed that going up or down a steep incline on I-70 and I-15

in Utah, the speed did not vary over 2 miles-per-hour for what I had the cruise set for.  I thought that was way cool!!!

On my last trip to Mesquite (from Grand Junction, CO) the car averaged 48 MPG to Mesquite and 44. MPG coming

back.  I am SO IMPRESSED!

 

 

 

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I'm about to  do filter/fluid change on the CVT on my 2017 Spark LT...

 

I noticed there are 2 filters (one inside the pan, the other on the side of the case).

I noticed that the frame rail blocks removal of the pan, is this a problem...?

 

 

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I have noticed this quirk since about 37,000+ miles (now have 58,000+ miles):

 

when car momentum is driving the powertrain, pushing down on the throttle causes engine rpm to increase (it's not really a slip or a flare)...

then if you keep applying and/or increasing the throttle, the engine rpm drops back down;

otherwise if you release the throttle, you get a firm jolt/lurch from the CVT.

Does anyone know what is going on here (a technical description)...?

 

Edited by joecar
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On 10/1/2019 at 3:52 PM, joecar said:

I have noticed this quirk since about 37,000+ miles (now have 58,000+ miles):

 

when car momentum is driving the powertrain, pushing down on the throttle causes engine rpm to increase (it's not really a slip or a flare)...

then if you keep applying and/or increasing the throttle, the engine rpm drops back down;

otherwise if you release the throttle, you get a firm jolt/lurch from the CVT.

Does anyone know what is going on here (a technical description)...?

 

I noticed this right away in my new 2017 LS  with CVT of course. My guess is it is a quirk in the software which controls CVT actions. The software has to correlate several inputs from sensors and gets confused. I learned to not press gas pedal down hard when car is moving forward at slow speed in cruising mode (not pressing gas pedal) and I want to accelerate from that situation. If I press the gas pedal gradually, instead of stomping on it, everything works fine. This quirk does not appear when car is moving above 25 mph. 

Edited by Bobby MSME
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On 10/1/2019 at 3:46 PM, joecar said:

I'm about to  do filter/fluid change on the CVT on my 2017 Spark LT...

 

I noticed there are 2 filters (one inside the pan, the other on the side of the case).

I noticed that the frame rail blocks removal of the pan, is this a problem...?

 

 

 

No problem plenty of room.

 

146Transmission.JPG

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On 10/2/2019 at 1:11 PM, Bobby MSME said:

I noticed this right away in my new 2017 LS  with CVT of course. My guess is it is a quirk in the software which controls CVT actions. The software has to correlate several inputs from sensors and gets confused. I learned to not press gas pedal down hard when car is moving forward at slow speed in cruising mode (not pressing gas pedal) and I want to accelerate from that situation. If I press the gas pedal gradually, instead of stomping on it, everything works fine. This quirk does not appear when car is moving above 25 mph. 

Thanks for your reply.

 

On my car the quirk happens at freeway speeds (50+ mph) and gets more pronounced as speed gets higher.

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On 10/21/2019 at 4:08 AM, joecar said:

Thanks for your reply.

 

On my car the quirk happens at freeway speeds (50+ mph) and gets more pronounced as speed gets higher.

My 2017 Spark LS has a recall notice in effect to update software. You may want to get that done if not already.

My car has no quirks above 20 mph, so I am thinking to bypass this recall which is safety related. I am already the world's safest driver (hahaha my wife does not agree) having had zero accidents in 59 years of driving.

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