CVT Transmisson

BallisticSquid

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I was leery of a CVT but when I did some online research, it seemed that the issues people had were mostly with Nissans. General consensus seemed to be that Honda CVTs were among the good ones. I have found "S" mode handy for long descents down hills to keep speed in check rather than practically riding the brake all of the way down. On highway driving, I find the CVT will jump to a higher RPM quickly when trying to accelerate quickly.

It took me a little bit to get used to driving the CVT, but I like it now. Driving my wife's car (Toyota Highlander with a conventional automatic) was strange after driving my Civic.
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max

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i have had many manuel cars in my younger days. toyota celica, 240z, mazda rx3 etc.. but they all seem to need to a clutch replacement right at around 150,000 miles or so. so far all my automatics both standard and cvt have never needed any service whatsoever.
 

MrMonkey

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My 2018 Hatch Sport is the first CVT I ever own. So far its not bad, you'll get use to it. I have to admit, my Sport Hatch CVT pulls pretty good when I floor it. Love the feel of that torque.
 

fslaugts

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My 2018 Hatch Sport is the first CVT I ever own. So far its not bad, you'll get use to it. I have to admit, my Sport Hatch CVT pulls pretty good when I floor it. Love the feel of that torque.
This is are first CVT also. 2Liter. We looked first at the Hyundai Elantra because I wanted the old transmission. Hyundai drove great. but we like the Honda better over all. I drive the car leisurely, because I don't really like the feel or sound when pushed. Great gas mileage. I hope the CVT is as tough as the old Auto's., I never serviced any of the old autos and drove like a crazy person. They are rugged and the CVT will have a hard time being there equal.
 


frontlinegeek

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The weakest automatic transmissions in Civics were the 2001 model year. I had one of those and didn't find out that the transmissions were weak until more than 15 years later. They crapped out at about 110,000 miles and 10+ years of use.
I got to find this out personally too. 2001 had a hard tranny failure at 250k KMs.

Ive known a few people with problems on their CVTs. Mainly with nissans though but that was enough for me to stick with a 6sp.
Jatco transmissions are almost the undisputed worst transmissions on the planet.

Exhaust manifold is not a separate item. It's part of the aluminum head assembly.
Furthermore, the cats are actually separate rather than part of the exhaust manifold so the cost of changing those, if they fail, will be far lower than in the past. (Looking at you 2001 Civic)

General consensus seemed to be that Honda CVTs were among the good ones.
There was one early model of CVT that they had that was apparently less than reliable but nothing bad heard since it. Weber Auto guy has generally nothing but good things to say about the Toyota and Honda CVTs.


As for me...

30,000 KMs in and most of it is city. No issues or complaints that matter for anything. The only thing I have noticed is that under certain coasting to a crawl and then accelerating will result in a noticeable delay before the transmission gets back into an appropriate gear ratio. Only happens about once every couple months so it is super rare.
 

jayzon831

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45000 highway miles so far on my '17 hatch with KTuner and CAI. No problems with the CVT, but still too soon to tell.
 

shoegazer

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This is my first CVT as well. And I resisted it mightily until I had no choice (knee injury). When Honda announced the Sport trim with the paddle shifters; I was in. I could live with the auto; but I insisted on 'shifting' on my terms.

Three weeks in; I have yet to master the 'shift points' on the CVT in manumatic mode. The software is inconsistent from ratio to ratio. I cannot get out of 'first' until I break 2000 RPM's. Beyond that; I can pretty much 'shift' at will. But sheesh... it's almost impossible to avoid the jerkiness between the throttle on/off. And, for now, I'm appreciating the smooth and silky operation of the fully automatic mode. The car requires a fairly aggressive pressing of the gas pedal to signal that you want to pass/merge/etc... But it gets the message. Then it just slips back into the 'sane driver' mode without you even noticing. Even with the semi-hard acceleration; the system feels like it's easy on the CVT. No hard transitions or jerks; unlike the sport mode when I control the 'shifts'.

2.0 engine.
 

gtman

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My first CVT as well. Honda has done a pretty good job with it. Sure, it takes some getting used to, but the fact it keeps you where you need to be in the powerband is great.

I've been running both Hondata and Ktuner base tunes and it's been a champ.
 

MrMonkey

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I
This is are first CVT also. 2Liter. We looked first at the Hyundai Elantra because I wanted the old transmission. Hyundai drove great. but we like the Honda better over all. I drive the car leisurely, because I don't really like the feel or sound when pushed. Great gas mileage. I hope the CVT is as tough as the old Auto's., I never serviced any of the old autos and drove like a crazy person. They are rugged and the CVT will have a hard time being there equal.
I was strongly considering the Elantra Sport but all the dealership around my area were sold out of the 2018. They said the 2019 isn't ready yet. I was like that's more inventory management. Not knowing how to replenish your car when out of stock. I was like F this, Civic Sport it is.
 


gtman

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Funny you said that. Back in 2017 when I was car shopping I wanted an Elantra Sport with the DCT. They were impossible to find and I just gave up and bought my Civic. Hyundai's US inventory on the Sport sucks.
 

Charley-TX

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....
Note : The CVT in the turbo models is more robust than the CVTs in the N.A. models. The Turbo engines generate a lot of torque and would require a more robust transmission. We won't know which of these trannys are more durable for many years.
What he said in this thread!
The 1.5 Turbo civic uses the same CVT the Honda accords do. If the CVT can handle the larger heavier accord, it will be just fine in the civic.
If you are concerned, many insurance companies offer mechanical breakdown insurance at minimal cost (covers itup to 100,000 miles). If I recall it was $8 extra or $18 on a 6 months policy.
 

wokeupgrumpy

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Just shy of 56K on my 2016 LX. That's mostly highway. Just changed the fluid but have had no issue so far and I am not easy on my cars. I do stay on top of maintenance so maybe thats why I get away with driving them hard at times.
 
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Jimmyson27

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I was leery of a CVT but when I did some online research, it seemed that the issues people had were mostly with Nissans. General consensus seemed to be that Honda CVTs were among the good ones. I have found "S" mode handy for long descents down hills to keep speed in check rather than practically riding the brake all of the way down. On highway driving, I find the CVT will jump to a higher RPM quickly when trying to accelerate quickly.

It took me a little bit to get used to driving the CVT, but I like it now. Driving my wife's car (Toyota Highlander with a conventional automatic) was strange after driving my Civic.
What do you mean takes time to get use to it?
 
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Jimmyson27

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Just shy of 56K on my 2016 LX. That's mostly highway. Just changed the fluid but have had no issue so far and I am not easy on my cars. I do stay on top of maintenance so maybe thats why I get away with driving them hard at times.
What kind of maintenance?
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