I see many auto maker especially Toyota switching to a CVT that some car reviewers ( Edmunds etc) seem to hate. That could be that old school transmissions are more attractive to car enthusiasts whereas the CVT is just fine for the typical commuter.
What is the difference between these two, reason. For the switch and should CVT be avoided?
In: Engineering
A normal transmission has a finite amount of preset transmission ratios to choose from.
A CVT has a range of transmission ratio and you can select any ratio within the range, effectively “infinite” amount of gears.
This allows CVT to precisely choose the best transmission ratio for a given speed and load instead of hopping between ratios and run the engine less than optimal to cover in between, resulting in better fuel economy.
However CVT uses a metal friction belt/chain to transmit power, this creates a few issues.
* The belt may slip at high loads, so the highest power a CVT can transmit is limited, limiting them to mostly commuter cars.
* The belt is weaker than gears and may snap if the transmission control runs away and apply too much clamping force, making the CVT more delicate than other kinds of transmissions.
For these reasons CVT is limited to economy cars even though in theory it’s the best kind of transmission. Exceptions exist but are pretty rare.
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